City Trees

On March 1, 2020, a new leadership team was formed with Dr. Zhu Hua Ning as the Department Chair and the PhD Degree Program Leader, Dr. Kamran Abdollahi as the Bachelor Degree Program Leader, and Dr. Yadong Qi as the Master Degree Program Leader. To promote shared governance, the Department established an External Advisory Committee and nine departmental standing committees. In December 2020, the Department reached a significant milestone in the history of SU as it became the nation's first Urban Forestry Bachelor Degree Program accred- ited by the Society of American Foresters (SAF). The SAF Accreditation is a form of quality assurance that declares to the professional community and to the world at large that SU's Urban Forestry Bachelor Degree Program meets the quality standards set by the profession. In conjunction with the SAF Accreditation, in 2020 the Department conducted a comprehensive self-evalu- ation and assessment of all three-degree programs (B.S., M.S., and PhD) and prepared strategic plans for 2020-2025. The Department also established six specific program learning outcomes to enhance teaching and learning. To support student education, research skill training, and career readiness, faculty members secured $1.23 million in new external funding and initiated six new projects in 2020. The teamwork among departmental faculty has yielded fantastic results in curriculum enhancement and broad- ening student career options. In November 2020, with Urban Forestry as a core/foundation, the Department created three new concentrations: Environmental Studies, Geospatial Technology, and Natural Resources Sustainability. These were approved by the University along with twelve new courses that are aligned with the current national trends and job markets. To increase student enrollment and retention, our department developed and implemented recruitment and retention plans and in the fall of 2020, undergrad- uate enrollment increased by 25%. After a semester in the Introduction to Urban Forestry class, newly recruited freshman Kolin Bilbrew said, "The class is very interesting and contains a lot of information about management and planning. I also love that urban for- estry can expand into other majors in a wide variety of ways." Freshman Massey Jones said, "I have been enjoying the learning experience, especially around the SU Urban Forestry faculty (left to right): Zhu Hua Ning—Professor, Department Chair, and PhD Degree Program Leader; Kamran Abdollahi— Professor and Bachelor Degree Program Leader; Yadong Qi—Professor and Master Degree Program Leader; Yemane Ghebreyessus—Professor; Yaw Twumasi—Associate Professor; Chris Chappell— Assistant Professor; Veronica Manrique—Assistant Professor; and Vanessa Ferchaud—Adjunct Faculty. 2020 Department Highlights 2020 Department Highlights 12 CityTREES

• Cover