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Department of Environmental Resources Engineering
Advising

ERE students will meet with their Faculty Advisors at least twice per year to discuss their academic program and professional preparation. Use your Faculty Advisor to discuss academics and plan for your career; you might troubleshoot problems, differentiate between the various engineering and technical electives, consider research opportunities, discuss an academic minor or club, review a resume, and plan for summer internships or jobs. Develop and use your own leadership and management skills to prepare for your academic advising sessions, as discussed below, and complete your ERE program curriculum.

Student Preparation for Academic Advising

Make sure you have completed the first 5 steps in this list before arriving at your academic advising meeting. After your advising meeting, proceed to succeed!

  1. Review the ESF Registration Information to learn more about the course registration process. Confirm you understand the ESF Academic Policies as they relate to academic integrity, course enrollment, performance, withdrawal, religious holidays, etc.
  2. Review the ESF Catalog for B.S. in ERE degree course requirements, and track your completion of those requirements with Degree Works, located at MyESF. 
  3. Identify constraints on what courses you can take based on your obligations for Financial Aid and Accessory Instruction limits.
  4. Browse and add courses to your shopping cart using MySlice. 
  5. Schedule an advising meeting to remove your registration hold, bringing a completed Registration Form and any needed petition forms to the meeting. 
  6. Use the advising meeting to cover course and career preparation issues. Leave the session with a plan to succeed and a signed registration form. Take that Registration Form to the Registrar to remove your registration hold and then complete the MySlice registration to officially enroll in the courses.
  7. Succeed in your courses by using the Academic Success Center and peer tutoring, writing center, and math lab, and abiding by the ESF Student Handbook and Academic Integrity.

Specific Courses and Directed Electives

The curricular requirements contain specific courses (e.g., ERE 132 Intro to ERE, APM 205 Calculus I) and directed electives (Earth Science, Biology , General Education, Engineering Fundamentals, Engineering, Technical).

  • Course sequencing is presented by semester in the curriculum plan.
  • Course descriptions are available for ESF Courses and Syracuse University Courses.
  • Additional courses in all elective areas may be available by petition.

Engineering Electives

You need to take three Engineering Electives, which are defined by their focus on theory and application of scientific principles and quantitative skills to monitor, assess, or design in the environmental resources engineering profession. Some of these courses are only available to seniors, and many require pre-requisites. To prepare, you take a design course your freshman year and take core engineering courses your sophomore and junior years.

A list of approved courses is provided in the Upper Division Electives table in the ESF Catalog.

Technical Electives

You need to take two Technical Electives, which are defined by their application of techniques, theory, and skills to advance competence in the professional practice. These courses build on the engineering curriculum. A list of approved courses is provided in the Table of Upper Division Electives in the ESF Catalog, ERE.

Earth Science and Biology/Ecology Electives

All ERE students are required to take an Earth Science elective. A list of approved courses is provided in the Lower Division Electives table in the ESF Catalog. Additional courses may be available by petition.

Students who entered ESF in or after fall 2021 take a Biology elective. A list of approved courses is provided in the Lower Division Electives table in the ESF Catalog. Students who entered ESF prior to the Fall 2021 semester are required to take the narrower Ecology elective (EFB 320, EST 220, FOR 232, FOR 332, FOR 334, FOR 442, BIO 345 or FST 202), but can petition to take a course from the expanded biology list. 

Engineering Fundamentals Elective

Students who entered ESF in or after fall 2022 take an Engineering Fundamentals elective. These courses introduce or reinforce basic concepts and theory within the engineering sciences. A list of approved courses is provided in the Upper Division Electives table in the ESF Catalog. Students who entered ESF prior to the Fall 2022 semester are required to take ERE 380 Energy Systems Engineering, but can petition to substitute this with a course from the Engineering Fundamentals or Engineering Elective lists. 

General Education (Gen Ed) Courses

All SUNY students are required to complete courses within a variety of knowledge and skills areas as well as achieve  competencies in critical thinking and information literacy.

Students in the ERE program are required to take 30 general education credits, across a minimum of 7 of the 10 knowledge areas. All ERE students satisfy four areas—Communication, Mathematics, Natural Science, and Humanities— by taking required courses in our curriculum:

For students who entered ESF prior to the Fall 2023 semester,the remaining three areas are obtained by taking courses from at least three of the remaining areas:

  • Social Sciences
  • American History
  • Western Civilization
  • Other World Civilizations
  • The Arts
  • Foreign Language

For students who entered ESF in the Fall 2023 semester or later, the remaining three areas are obtained by taking a required course in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice and courses from at least two of the remaining areas:

  • Social Sciences
  • US History and Civic Engagement
  • World History and Global Awareness
  • The Arts
  • World Languages