In response to a growing need, The University of Montana created the NRCR Program. It is the only graduate-level certificate program in the Rocky Mountain West (if not the nation) specifically designed to provide students a working knowledge of the theory and practice of collaboration, consensus building, and conflict resolution as they apply to natural resources and the environment. Students will learn how to:
- foster meaningful citizen participation;
- promote deliberative dialogue;
- negotiate effective agreements;
- resolve multi-party disputes;
- design and manage collaborative processes; and
- practice collaborative leadership.
More specific learning objectives and expected competencies are explained in this booklet.
The NRCR Program is co-sponsored by the School of Law, the School of Business Administration, the College of Forestry and Conservation, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Graduate School. It is administered by the College of Forestry and Conservation and directed by the Public Policy Research Institute.
Eighteen credits are required to earn the Natural Resources Conflict Resolution Certificate. There are 3 required courses:
- Forestry 473, Collaboration in Natural Resource Decisions, 3 cr, graduate level
- Law 613, Natural Resources Dispute Resolution
- Practical Experience, 3 cr, which may be fulfilled by participating in the Advanced Natural Conflict Resolution Seminar, Law 679
Interested students must also complete 9 credits from at least two different departments or schools. The listed possibilities:
- Law 641, Negotiations, 2 cr
- Law 672, ADR, 3 cr
- EVST 531, Citizen Paarticipation in Environmental Decisions, 3 cr, graduate level
- Forestry 595, Advanced Problems in Natural Resources Policy, 3 cr, graduate level
- COMM 595, Rhetoric and Environmental Controversy, 3 cr, graduate level
- Law 679, Advanced Natural Conflict Resolution Seminar, 2 cr
Thus, interested law students would have to take Forestry 473, one of the non-law electives, and all the listed law courses to qualify for the certificate. Law students can take 6 credits of non-law graduate courses, if approved by the Law School's Academic Standards Committee. |
