2019-20 Catalogs

For highly motivated undergraduate students who are already looking ahead to graduate school, USM offers an Accelerated Graduate Pathway to the MPPM program that allows you to begin graduate study while completing your bachelor's degree, saving you time and money -- which means you'll be ready for a career that much sooner, with your bachelor's and master’s degrees in hand.

In order to gain full admission into the MPPM, a student must meet the following admission standards:

• Choose a major in Geography-Anthropology, Environmental Planning and Policy, Economics, or Political Science (Political Science track only).
• Earn at least a B for all courses in these majors, as well as in any 500-level graduate courses taken while an undergraduate.
• Earn a cumulative GPA of 3.0 at time of matriculation into graduate program.
• Complete the following courses with grades of B or better: a course in Statistics that meets USM’s Quantitative Reasoning Core Requirement, a course in Microeconomics (or a course equivalent to ECO 102 or higher).

Anywhere from 3 to 18 credits of 500-level MPPM courses can be taken at the undergraduate level. Students may begin taking coursework in the PPM program in the summer after completion of the junior year.  

How to Apply:

• On the Common App, select your preferred choice of major; then you will see the following option: “Please indicate your interest in one of the following accelerated pathway options at the University of Southern Maine” from which you can select a Pathway.

• In the University of Maine System application, select your First Choice Major; then you will see the following drop-down menu: Accelerated Graduate Degree Pathway (First Choice Major), from which you can select a Pathway.

• If you are a Transfer or Continuing Student, please contact the University of Southern Maine Advising Office to meet with an academic advisor who can review your previous coursework and determine your eligibility for entering an Accelerated Graduate Pathway. Please call (207) 780-4040 or email usm.advising@maine.edu.

Course Requirements for the Accelerated Graduate Pathway - Economics to MPPM

Matriculated Economics to MPPM students with at least 84 undergraduate credits may take six of the following seven courses prior to completing their undergraduate degree:

PPM 512 Sustainable Communities

PPM 510 Governance, Democracy, and Policy-making

ECO 523 US Labor and Employment Relations

ESP 526 Environmental Economics

ESP 527 Natural Resource Economics

GEO 502 Gender, Work and Space

GEO 503 Economic Geography

Course Requirements for the Accelerated Graduate Pathway - Environmental Planning and Policy to MPPM

Matriculated students in the Environmental Planning and Policy program who have completed at least 84 undergraduate credits will be eligible to enroll in the following courses at the graduate level:

Group A: Environmental Science and Policy Courses

ESP 326/526 Environmental Economics

ESP 327/527 Natural Resource Economics

ESP 340/540 Environmental Regulations

ESP 417/517 Site Planning and Assessment

ESP 421/521 Natural Resource Policy

ESP 470/570 Solid Waste Planning and Policy

Group B: Policy, Planning, and Management Courses

The following MPPM courses may be taken without prerequisite:

PPM 510 Governance, Democracy, and Policymaking

PPM 512 Sustainable Communities

PPM 515 Organizational Theory, Management, and Leadership

PPM 640 Public Financing and Budgeting

Graduate credit is granted upon satisfactory completion of the additional work as assigned by the course instructor and achieving a grade of B or higher.

The following MPPM courses may be taken with the indicated prerequisite:

PPM 601 Applied Data Analysis and Statistics

     Prerequisite: MAT 120 Introduction to Statistics

PPM 611 Economics for Policy, Planning, and Management

     Prerequisite: ECO 102 Introduction to Microeconomics

Requirements:

• Complete all requirements for the BA in Environmental Planning and Policy as detailed in the undergraduate catalog.
• Up to 18 credits from among the cross-listed and approved ESP-MPPM courses listed can be taken by the senior year. Students then enter the MPPM program with 18 credits of requirements remaining, allowing completion of the MPPM degree in one additional year of full time study.

Course Requirements for the Accelerated Graduate Pathway - Geography-Anthropology to MPPM

Students in their junior year in the Geography-Anthropology program who have completed at least 84 undergraduate credits will be eligible to enroll in the following courses at the graduate level:

Group A: Geography-Anthropology Courses

The following GYA courses will be available for graduate credit to GYA to MPPM students:

GEO 303/GEO 503 Economic Geography

GEO 320/ GEO 520 Conservation of Natural Resources

GEO 350/ GEO 550 Geography of International Development GEO 402/ GEO 502 Urban Geography

GEO 455/ GEO 555 Gender, Race and Class in the City GEO 305/GEO 505/GEO 605 Remote Sensing

GEO 308/GEO 508/CPD 608 GIS Applications 1 GEO 408/GEO 518/GEO 618 GIS Applications 2

GEO 481/GEO 581 Megacities and Global Planning Issues

ANT 315/ANT 515 Ethnographic Methods: Ethics and Practice

ANT 308/ANT 508 Environmental Archaeology

ANT 360/ANT 560 Public Archaeology

ANT 355/ANT 555 Public Interpretation in Anthropology

Group B: Policy, Planning, and Management Courses

The following MPPM courses may be taken without prerequisite:

PPM 501 Planning Theory

PPM 512 Sustainable Communities

PPM 507 Elements of Plan Making

PPM 508 Dispute Management

The following MPPM courses may be taken with the indicated prerequisite

PPM 550 State and Regional Economic Development

Prereq: GEO 203 Urban and Regional Development

PPM 601 Applied Data Analysis and Statistics

Prereq: MAT 120 Introduction to Statistics

Requirements:

• Complete all requirements for the BA in Geography-Anthropology as detailed in this catalog.
• All GYA to MPPM students will take PPM 612/PPM 512 during their senior year.
• Up to 18 credits from among the cross-listed and approved GYA-MPPM courses listed earlier can be taken by the senior year. Students then enter the MPPM program with 18 credits of requirements remaining (allowing completion of the MPPM degree in one additional year of full time study.)

Cross-listed courses may be curriculum requirements of the MPPM and GYA programs as follows:

Curriculum Requirements: BA in GYA

Courses in Group A (see below) may be used to meet the GYA requirements for Methods or Topical Electives within specified GYA tracks (provided they are taken from a minimum of two different professors) or other general electives within the major.

Course in Group B (see below) may be used to meet requirements for electives at the 300 level or above.

Curriculum Requirements: MPPM

The following courses in Group A count as electives in the MPPM Sustainable Development & Geospatial Technologies concentration

GEO 303/GEO 503 Economic Geography GEO 305/GEO 505 Remote Sensing

GEO 308/GEO 508 Geographic Information Systems 1

GEO 408/GEO 518 Geographic Information Systems 2

GEO 320/GEO520 Conservation of Natural Resources

GEO 402/GEO 502 Urban Geography

GEO 481/GEO 581 Megacities and Global Planning Issues

ANT 306/ANT 506 Public Archaeology

ANT 308/ANT 508 Environmental Archaeology

ANT 315/ANT 515 Ethnographic Methods

The following courses in Group A count as electives in the MPPM Public Policy concentration

GEO 302/502 Gender, Work and Space

GEO 455/GEO 555 Gender, Race and Class in the City

GEO 308/GEO 508 Geographic Information Systems I

GEO 408/GEO 518 Geographic Information Systems II

The field experience/internship elective for GYA may be used to meet the public service internship elective for MPPM provided the internship is taken during the Senior Year, meets the requirements for the MPPM public service internship experience and is approved by the MPPM chair (or designee) prior to beginning the internship.

Course Requirements for the Accelerated Graduate Pathway - Political Science (Political Science track) to MPPM

Requirements:

• Complete all requirements for the BA in Political Science (Political Science track) as detailed in the undergraduate catalog.
• Up to 18 credits from among the approved 500-level PPM courses listed can be taken during the senior year. Students then enter the MPPM program with as few as 18 credits of requirements remaining, which would allow completion of the MPPM degree in one additional year of full time study.

For students in the Accelerated Graduate Pathway from Political Science to MPPM, the following three courses count as Political Science upper level electives: PPM 510 Governance Democracy and Public Policymaking, PPM 515 Organizational Leadership, or PPM 534 Managing Cities, Towns, and Counties. Other PPM courses will count as university electives.

A student may take any other PPM 500 level course, such as the following:

512 Sustainable Communities

522 Intro to ARC/GIS

531 Measuring Performance in the Public and Nonprofit Sectors

560 Crisis and Risk Management

550 State and Regional Economic Development

570 Argumentation and Advocacy