Beginning this fall, Dillard University will start the Urban Water Management Certificate Program, the first of its kind in the state of Louisiana. The program is designed to train students hoping to apply for water management jobs in private industries and through government agencies.
Urban Water Management encompasses the control, development, design and application of water supplies with urban environments, more specifically at the municipal level.
“In addition to providing the skills to protect cities from floods, water-induced infrastructure decay such as sinkholes, and water-borne illness, Water Management is also an ever-expanding industry in terms of job growth in both the public and private sectors,” said Dr Robert A. Collins, a professor of Urban Studies at Dillard. “This program will help to put New Orleans on the cutting-edge of the Urban Water Management Industry nationwide.”
Students who join the program will be required to take the following new courses: Introduction to Urban Water Management (URB300) and Urban Water Management Seminar (URB400) as well as selecting two out of the three electives: City & Metro Planning (URB206), Introduction to GIS (URB335) and Urban Land Use Policy (URB412).
Most certificates of this kind are accessible by universities on the East coast, such as Columbia University and New York University. Dillard, a historically Black university, decided to implement one of their own programs to teach its students about the geology of its geographic region.
The Urban Water Management Certificate Program is not a degree-seeking program, but the completion of the four courses will count as general electives credits for any Dillard student, according to university officials. Dillard is also planning to expand the certificate program as a continuing studies program for individuals who work in fields such as urban planning, government, architecture, hydrology, policy, construction management and structural engineering.
