Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering

Current Students

**Prospective Students: For information about upcoming prospective student events click here**

Current Environmental Sciences and Engineering (ESE) students can find the following departmental resources on this page.

Course Planning Worksheets – BSPH, MS, MSEE, MSPH, MPH EHS, PhD
Courses – semester schedules, ENVR 400, and more
Student Handbooks
Submitting Your Final Work – Thesis, Technical Report, Dissertation
ESE Grade Appeals Process, ESE General Course Exemption Form
Daniel A. Okun Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Student Travel Award
Additional Resources – addressing student concerns, listservs, and more

Use the “QUICK LINKS” navigation to jump to more resources and information.

Course Planning Worksheets

BSPH EHS Course Planning* (link redirects to UNC Catalog)
*Students should primarily use Tar Heel Tracker for their course planning needs. Tar Heel Tracker can be accessed in ConnectCarolina (under “Academics,” from the drop-down menu select Tar Heel Tracker). Learn how to use this tool.

Assured Enrollment and Pre-ENHS: Pre-Requisites Course Planning Worksheet (PDF)

Engineering for Environmental Change, Climate, and Health Minor** (link redirects to UNC Catalog)
**Students should primarily use Tar Heel Tracker for their course planning needs. Tar Heel Tracker can be accessed in ConnectCarolina (under “Academics,” from the drop-down menu select Tar Heel Tracker). Learn how to use this tool.

MSEE Research Track – Course Planning Worksheet (PDF)

MSEE Professional Track – Course Planning Worksheet (PDF)

MSPH Course Planning Worksheet (PDF)

MS Course Planning Worksheet (PDF)

MPH EHS Course Planning (link redirects to the MPH EHS Concentration Overview and worksheet)

PhD Course Planning Worksheet (PDF)

Courses

Find our Semester Schedules, information about ENVR 400, and more here.

Student Handbooks

BSPH EHS Handbook

Master’s Handbook (MS, MSEE, MSPH)

MPH EHS Handbook

Gillings-wide Doctoral Handbook

MSPH Practicum

ENVR 981 (Practicum in Public Health): The practicum is a planned, supervised and evaluated practice experience. MSPH students must complete a 45-hour practicum as part of the degree program. The practicum should be a meaningful project in a professional setting, under the supervision of a qualified Preceptor who is a practicing Public Health professional and is identified ahead of time. The practicum may be paid or unpaid. Students should enroll in ENVR 981 in the semester that they plan to submit their practicum products. ENVR 981 may be taken for a variable number of credit hours (minimum 1 credit), depending on the scope and duration of the proposed practical experience.

Prior to beginning the Practicum, the students will submit the following items in a learning agreement (Practicum Proposal Form):

Practicum working title and summary that generally describes the proposed project title, student’s role and activities you will be engaged in at your practicum site and how the practicum addresses your academic and career goals (min 250 words)
Two ESE MSPH competencies that will be achieved through the practicum
A work plan with time estimates and estimated completion dates beside each task
A description of proposed products. As a part of your practicum, you must produce at least two products for the practice setting, which demonstrates and allows assessment of competency attainment. Describe (with some specificity) what you anticipate those two products will be.

For more information about the Practicum in Public Health, please refer to the ESE Master’s Handbook.

The Practicum Proposal Form, Student Practicum Evaluation Form, and Practicum Preceptors Evaluation Form can be found on the ESE Graduate Students Canvas site (Files > Practicum). Please contact ESE Student Services to gain access to these resources.

Practicum Proposal Form and required supporting materials (at least 4 weeks before starting the practicum)
Student Practicum Evaluation Form (no more than 3 weeks after completing the practicum)
Practicum Preceptors Evaluation Form (no more than 3 weeks after completing the practicum)
ENVR 981 syllabus

These forms should be submitted via the ESE Practicum – Submission Portal.

Submitting Your Final Work – Graduate Students

All graduate programs offered by the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering require the completion of a project. Doctoral students write a dissertation, MS students a master’s thesis, and MSPH, MPH and MSEE students complete a technical report. Submission guidelines as follows.

Thesis (MS) and Dissertation (PhD)

Please refer to the graduate school’s submission instructions. After the thesis or dissertation is revised to the faculty advisor’s satisfaction, the student will upload it to the ProQuest Theses and Dissertations database (note that there is a fee). The Graduate School will review it before it is published and may require some revisions (usually formatting) from the student.

The ESE Student Services needs the confirmation email from the submission system, and notification from the advisor that it was ready to submit before any paperwork is processed. Submit both here.

Technical Report (MSPH, MPH, MSEE)

The Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering requires that the student submit:

A digital (PDF) copy uploaded to the Carolina Digital Repository (CDR) using this form. These will be checked by the student services office before being published on the CDR site. Embargoed reports will become “active” in the system after the embargo ends. The student should check with their advisor to see whether they want a paper copy.

ESE Grade Appeals Process

The Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering follows the University’s policy on grade appeals as outlined in the Graduate and Undergraduate Student Handbooks. Please take the time to read the Student Handbook that applies to you.

Appeals Process from the Graduate School Handbook

ESE General Course Exemption Form

Students should complete this Exemption Form when they need an exception to a ENVR course. Students should take the lead in completing the top portion of the form and obtaining the instructor’s signature. Students can find a list of ESE course competencies here. Students should submit this form to Academic Coordinator, Jennifer Joyce Moore, to obtain the additional required signatures. If you have any questions about this process, please contact esestudentservices@unc.edu

Daniel A. Okun Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Student Travel Award

The Daniel A. Okun Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Student Travel Award assists Environmental Sciences and Engineering (ESE) students with travel support to countries and communities around the world, rendering assistance to the community in engineering aspects of water, sanitation and hygiene while enhancing their educational experience. Support is open to all degree seeking students while preference will be given to Bachelor of Science in Public Health students or Environmental Engineering students when possible. One or more awards are granted annually totaling a maximum of US$2,000. More information.

Additional Resources

ESE General Exemption Form.

Addressing Students Concerns. Your well-being and positive student experience are important to us. Please visit and bookmark this page for reference. We are committed to addressing issues in a fair, timely and professional manner. We know it will not be possible in some cases, but to help us achieve the best outcome, we ask students to follow the 5 steps below whenever possible:

Step 1: Contact your instructor, the individual with whom you have a concern, or your faculty mentor as appropriate. Most concerns can be resolved through discussion between the person(s) involved. If you are uncomfortable interacting directly with the person(s), or if the concern is not resolved satisfactorily, proceed to step 2.
Step 2: Discuss the matter with your department’s Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) or the ESE Academic Coordinator. If you have consulted with the DGS, or designee, and still believe the matter has not been dealt with satisfactorily or equitably, proceed to step 3.
Step 3: Discuss the matter with your department chair. If you believe the matter has not been dealt with satisfactorily or equitably, you can proceed to step 4.
Step 4: Schedule a meeting with Charletta Sims Evans, the SPH Associate Dean for Student Affairs (simsevan@email.unc.edu), if you need further consultation.
Step 5: If the issue is still not resolved and you are a graduate student: schedule a meeting with Kate McAnulty, the associate dean for student affairs in The Graduate School (kmcanulty@unc.edu). Undergraduate students, contact the Office of Dean of Students.

Opt-in listservs:

Jobs Listserv (envr_jobpostings@listserv.unc.edu). Use this link to subscribe. Once on the page, select “show more” and scroll down until you find the list name.
ESE Weekly Student Newsletter (esestudentservices@sph.unc.edu) – Use this link to subscribe.

The latest edition of “Survive and Thrive (PDF)” may be of interest, especially to incoming students. Originally compiled by health policy and management doctoral student Jason Mose, it is aimed at international students, but has a lot of valuable information about studying at UNC-Chapel Hill and living in the area.

If you have any questions, please contact ESE Student Services ESEStudentServices@unc.edu.

Contact ESE Student Services

Jennifer Joyce Moore
ESE Academic Coordinator
esestudentservices@unc.edu