Report on Mark Coleman Fellowship Program
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Environment
College of Arts & Sciences
University of Oklahoma
2005

 This is a report to donors and friends of the Mark Coleman Fellowship in the College of Arts & Sciences of the University of Oklahoma. This report will describe its operations; summarize its financial structure; and conclude with an assessment and plan for the future.

Purpose of the Program

The Mark Coleman Fellowship was founded as a summer internship program in 2001. Its purpose is to demonstrate to students the value of a multidisciplinary approach to environmental issues. The program emphasizes the role that a number of different professional perspectives bring to the resolution of actual or potential environmental disputes. The student becomes familiar with various categories of stakeholders that often are involved in environmental issues, their differing interests, and also the styles of communicating those interests that each may employ. The student should come away with an appreciation of the need for effective communications among stakeholders from different backgrounds and exhibiting different interests. By interacting with professionals in the field and persons representing various environmental interests, the student could be expected to gain a first-hand appreciation of the challenges to and opportunities for effective communications among various interests. Students may be able to learn such things as:

• How stakeholders may be able to bring value to the solution of an environmental problem
• The complexity of solving environmental problems in the “real world”
• Communication challenges among stakeholders that arise from different backgrounds and specific interests
• Professional challenges owing to different training and work experiences
• How legal and political factors may affect government stakeholder positions and communication
• How economic factors may affect private party stakeholder positions and communication
• The importance of good science and competent environmental engineering advice in crafting solutions to environmental problems
• Legal and ethical considerations faced by environmental lawyers and their clients
• Avoidance of bad faith in the resolution of issues
• How effective communication can be facilitated among all stakeholders in an environmental issue

The student should come away from the experience with an appreciation of the various interests that are common to almost any environmental problem, how those interests are expressed, and tools that may be employed to resolve them. If these goals are achieved, the student may be well prepared to make a contribution to the community by participating effectively in the resolution of environmental issues and disputes.

 Operation of the Program

The Coleman Fellowship program is operated by the Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Environment program( IPE) within the College of Arts & Sciences. The program is headed by Professor Deborah Dalton. The IPE program offers students the opportunity to enroll in a minor on environmental issues within the context of science, engineering, philosophy, sociology, and other degree-offering disciplines. IPE is also beginning to offer an Environmental Studies major through the Planned Program option at OU. The Coleman Fellowship offers three hours of IPE credit.

Advisory Committee to the Program

An advisory committee assists the IPE director by commenting upon plans for the program, helping choose yearly topics for study, and facilitating interest in the program among members of the community. The members of the 2005-2006 advisory committee are: Judy Duncan, Assistant Director, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, Oklahoma City; Ron Jarman, environmental consultant, Apex Environmental, Oklahoma City; Ken Williams, Hall Estill Law Firm, Tulsa; and Mike Wofford, Environmental and Regulatory Manager, ConocoPhillips Alaska, Anchorage, Alaska.

2004-2005 Program

In 2004-2005, the program was changed from a summer internship to an in-semester fellowship to allow for greater participation by the student body and supervision by faculty, better coordination with the IPE program, and more time for the student to study the chosen environmental issues in-depth. Previously, the program only allowed participation by summer students, greatly restricting the available pool of student talent. In addition, a summer program to some extent robbed the student of the opportunity to collaborate with the IPE student body, faculty, and others contemporaneously with the study period. The in-semester program has been proven to solve each of these problems. The program runs through both the fall and spring semesters. This allows more time for collaboration with students, faculty, and environmental professionals and stakeholders, as well as more time to prepare and make the public presentation that the program requires at the end of the fellowship period.

Attached to this report is the paper of the student who was awarded the fellowship in 2004. In 2004-2005, the student’s work revolved around the study of one of the most important environmental issues in Oklahoma, the Tar Creek Superfund Site. All elements of the program were successfully completed, including the public presentation to faculty, students, and members of the community. The student interacted during 2004-2005 with a large number of stakeholders and professionals involved in trying to resolve the Tar Creek issues. The goals and objectives of the program were met in 2004-2005.

Program Evaluation by the Student

 The program is interested in continuous improvement. At the end of each yearly process, the student is asked to comment upon the program and how it might be improved. In 2005, the successful student made the comment that the student should be recruited earlier in the fall semester so that more time could be given to the interaction with stakeholders and the research work. The student explained that this is especially true if the chosen student is a senior who is working on a capstone experience, since the senior’s time is very much taken up with that additional work, along with all the other work involved in completing degree requirements.

The earlier recruitment and start-up described above for 2005-2006 should mitigate these issues. In addition, there will be a focus on recruiting both senior-and junior-level students to apply for the fellowship. The director will evaluate each student for all factors that should lead to success within the program, including the student’s workload outside the program during the year.

Financial Report

Funds for the program are donated to and administered by the University of Oklahoma Foundation within an account specific to the Mark Coleman Fellowship program. The fund title is The Mark S. Coleman Environmental Internship. As of the beginning of August, the balance in the account is $4420.86. This should enable us to award up to two Coleman Fellowships in the upcoming year if desired, and if two qualified students emerge.

2005-2006 Program

The change in the program to an in-semester fellowship occurred late enough that the student recruitment process was somewhat delayed into the later part of the 2004 fall semester. In 2005, the recruitment process will begin immediately upon the return of students in August-September, allowing the selection of the student in October. The student will be provided with the selected topic to which the student’s research work will conform. The remainder of the fall semester will involve mostly background study, identification of and introduction to significant players in the issue in the community, government, the legal profession, and the environmental engineering or consulting community. In the 2006 spring semester the student will interact with stakeholders and professionals involved in the issue, prepare the research paper, and make the public presentation on the student’s experiences and findings.

Topics are chosen at a meeting of an advisory committee to the pr ogram in the summer prior to the award of each fellowship early in the fall semester. The Advisory Committee met in June. The idea of focusing on Native American environmental issues was unanimously agreed upon. With the idea that up to two fellowships might be awarded, two related topics were identified for the 2005-2006 program: a simple survey and analysis of what the primary environmental issue(s) are for a select number of Oklahoma tribes; and an exploration of the tribal interests related to Tar Creek Each student would work independently on one of these topics, though they are likely to share information and contacts. We hope to attract a student from the Native American Studies program at OU, though this is not a requirement.

Attachment: Jessica John’s 2004-2005 Fellowship Research Paper and public presentation (Power Point)