GPIDEA Coordinator
Department of Continuing and Distance Education
Wecota Hall Box: 506
605-688-4154
e-mail: gpidea@sdstate.edu
The Agricultural and Environmental Law certificate offers undergraduate students an opportunity to learn about a variety of legal concepts, focusing on agriculture, rural communities, and the food industry. The 15 credit certificate addresses legal concepts pertaining to water quality, land-use and other environmental concerns. Additionally, students gain an appreciation of the challenges created by an expanding population on food production and renewable energy resources. The goal of the program is to provide undergraduate students an opportunity to gain a more complete understanding of the laws that may impact their careers and personal activities.
The collaborative, multi-institutional on-line program expands and diversifies the educational opportunities that universities can offer their students. Additional courses offered by instructors from other regions of the nation and an opportunity to interact with geographically-dispersed fellow students will broaden the perceptions of program participants. Many universities do not have the resources to individually offer such a rich and diversified program.
The Agricultural and Environmental Law certificate program requires students to study a core set of legal concepts, and it offers students several emphasis areas or curriculum tracks by which to achieve the program’s learning objectives, based on the students’ interests and experiences.
The range of legal questions individuals will encounter during their career and lifetime will continue to expand as more demands are placed on natural resources. A broader, more comprehensive understanding of a greater variety of legal concepts is needed to effectively participate in public and private decision making. The Agricultural and Environmental Law certificate program expands the opportunity for degree-seeking students as well as life-long learners to enhance the knowledge of law, emerging legal issues and the impact nearly all private and public decisions.
