Sage Kiernan-Sherrow | News Editor
The first of its kind in the state, Western has collaborated with Oregon Coast Community College to design an Aquarium Science program focused on combining foundations in biology and business and applying them in the field. A career-directed degree, Western’s Head of the Biology Department, Michael Baltzley, recognized the need for a program that would offer students real-world experience before entering the field.
“When I went into biology … I didn’t know where that career was going to take me … you need specific training and volunteer hours for many positions, which provides little income and is impractical. As such, this degree would have been very attractive to me,” Baltzley commented.
Baltzley partnered with OCCC’s Aquarium Science Coordinator, Larry Bowles, to create the joint program, the foundations of which were already operative at OCCC as both two-year and four-year degrees with certification, both “well-respected programs with advisors all over the country that helped design the programs,” according to Baltzley.
At Western, the Aquarium Science degree requires students to take their first three years of biology and business courses at Western, before applying to transfer to OCCC for their final year of in-class training in preparation for the workforce.
“The problem with an Associates degree is that you run into a ceiling when you are trying to get promoted,” Baltzley said; through Western’s Aquarium Science program, “there are more opportunities for advancement.”
While the program was officially approved by Western’s Board of Trustees on Nov. 20, it has yet to be approved by the Provost Council which is set discuss approval during their meeting on Jan. 6. Upon approval, the final decision will be made by the Higher Education Coordinating Committee sometime in February. The program itself, however, will not appear in the catalog until next fall. Baltzley suggested that students interested in the program should contact biology professors and their advisors to begin modifying their schedules for the Aquarium Science degree in order to get a head-start. He also says that he welcomes student input on the program in the meantime.
Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu
