U Kansas Offers Undergraduate Certificate in Sustainability
Students from all disciplines can now pursue a certificate in sustainability that aims to bring a lens of sustainability to their future career. Requirements of the certificate include completing a selection of interdisciplinary coursework, an experiential learning component and a final reflection. The experiential learning requirement will involve participation in 60 hours of service, research or fieldwork with a campus department, community organization or business on a project or effort related to sustainability.
Virginia Tech, RIT Win Cradle to Cradle Product Design Challenge
A student from Virginia Tech recently won the award for best student design with a computer backpack made from 60-70 recycled plastic bags and organic cotton capable of reducing the plastic waste and carbon emissions by taking advantage of embodied energy already in the processed plastic. Rochester Institute of Technology's Engineers for a Sustainable World Team won the best use of Autodesk Fusion 360 by developing a recycled broom with a bristle head made form biodegradable material that can be replaced independently of the broom's other components. Autodesk allowed the team to compare and conserve materials through the animation feature, promoting a Cradle to Cradle approach to design.
U Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Offers New Sustainability Minor
Six academic units at the university now collaborate to offer a new campus-wide sustainability minor through the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment. The purpose of the Sustainability, Energy and Environment Fellows Program (SEE FP) is to promote systems-level thinking about energy and sustainability, and foster the development of an integrated view of the economy, society and the environment. The fellows program will prepare students for pursuing careers in the corporate sector, nonprofit organizations, government agencies and environmental advocacy groups.
Rochester IT Students Create Enviro-Friendly Product Packaging
As part of a design competition, students from the packaging science department partnered with industrial design and graphic design students to re-work packaging designs for two Wegmans products, orange juice and Greek yogurt, with more sustainable materials. The challenge resembled those that would be found in the workplace, and provided the students with hands-on skills in project management, marketing and incorporating sustainable designs in product development.
Smeal MBA Sustainability Case Competition Names Five Finalists
The University of Texas at Dallas won the $10,000 prize for first place. Duke University walked away with $5,000 for finishing second. Penn State was awarded $2,500 for third place. Teams from Dartmouth and Texas Christian University were the other finalists. These five teams were selected from a pool of 28 after pitching their presentation about corporate environmental affairs at IBM to judges from IBM, PepsiCo and SKF.
Penn State Unveils New Online Undergraduate Sustainability Certificate
The new online undergraduate certificate in Earth sustainability is offered through the university's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. The four courses required to obtain the certificate allow students to work with large data sets about climate change, water and food supplies, and natural hazards and conduct lab activities.
Furman U Develops Online Sustainability Science and Full Cost Analysis Course
In keeping with its mission to promote interdisciplinary research and teaching in support of sustainability, the university recently launched the free, open-source, online learning module for undergraduate and introductory graduate-level course that explores problem-solving with systems thinking to account for the economic, societal and environmental costs of a problem.
U California Names Faculty Climate Action Champions
As the university steps up efforts to eliminate its carbon footprint, it has named Faculty Climate Action Champions at each campus to work with students on projects aimed at building community engagement and awareness, and helping the university achieve carbon neutrality by 2025. The recognition comes with a $25,000 award, to be used for a project during the academic year.
Saint Mary's College California Students Live as Migrants
Students recently engaged in an immersion program on local food production systems in Salinas, California that required them to live off food stamps and with assigned families. The program hosted discussions on food justice, fair trade and the ecology of food production.
Enrollment in Food-Related Courses & Degrees Rises
Civileats.com released a partial compilation of universities and colleges that offer degrees and courses in food. The article discusses the surge in demand in recent years for food as an academic subject. Among other areas, students are interested in learning about food equality issues, the local and organic food movement and food policy.
U Utah Offers Graduate Certificate in Sustainability
Launched in January 2015, the university's Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Sustainability is open to any University of Utah graduate student or non-degree seeking student with a bachelor's degree. The intent of the certificate is to expand career opportunities and increase students' capabilities to be agents of transformational change within their communities and institutions.
University World News: 'Open Education the Sustainable Way in the Knowledge Age'
The recent article from University World News says most models of higher education are based on the presumption of perpetual growth. The author argues that the only way to widen access to tertiary education sustainably is through an open access model, and that education is key to creating models of growth that do not rely on scarce resources.
Virginia Commonwealth U Students Use UCI Cycling Championships to Study Recycling
Students in a class organized by the university’s Office of Sustainability will log, map and analyze tweets sent by the 450,000 spectators anticipated at the upcoming UCI Road World Cycling Championships and will use geographic informations systems to produce maps, study the location of existing recycling resources, and create proposals on how to guide crowds toward resources with signage.
California State U System Funds Sustainability Curriculum Development
The university's systemwide Campus as a Living Lab (CALL) program provides up to $12,000 to each campus to support the redesign of an existing course that ties in sustainability and campus facilities. This year, 21 teams from 19 universities received grants supporting water conservation, energy and waste reduction, and enhanced partnerships with local utilities.
U Toledo to Offer Disability Studies Major
The university's new undergraduate major in disability studies will be based on a 21-credit set of required courses that include an introduction to the field, courses on disability culture and a course on the history of disability in the U.S. The program at Toledo will join minors at Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University and the University of California at Berkeley.
Kapi'olani CC Students Build Solar Cart
The community college's team of Engineers for a Sustainable World built the cart to demonstrate how science, technology, engineering and mathematics can be applied towards building a more sustainable campus. The apparatus has the ability to provide 0.5-kilowatt-hours of AC electricity.
U California Riverside to Launch Sustainability Science Degree Program
Offered through the Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies, the interdisciplinary bachelor of science degree will focus on challenges to sustainability such as climate change, air and water pollution, toxic contamination, energy demands, economic growth, agricultural production, and environmental degradation.
RIT Professor Wins Excellence in Teaching Sustainability Award
Associate professor Brian Thorn will be presented the Sustainable Development Excellence in Teaching Sustainability Award by the Institute of Industrial Engineers. The award recognizes him for leadership, innovation and teaching sustainability principles within the university’s industrial and systems engineering program, and integrating ways to apply that learning in real world situations.
U Vermont Adds Sustainability Requirement
Starting with this fall’s freshman class, Class of 2019, sustainable approaches and practices will be built into the university’s curriculum across departments, and woven into co-curricular activities, so there will be several ways for students to fulfill the new requirement.
Aquinas and Bard College Join Summer MBA Sustainability Consortium
The two colleges recently joined the summer MBA Sustainability Consortium that allows member schools to offer their summer MBA courses to other members so students may use their home institution's financial aid. Membership in the consortium is free and open to accredited colleges and universities.
U Vermont Earns Recognition for U.N. Sustainability Education Program
Vermont’s Greater Burlington Region recently received official designation as a Regional Center of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development by the United Nations' University Institute for Advanced Studies of Sustainability, including the University of Vermont's service-learning partnerships with local schools and non-governmental organizations.
Energy Department Announces 2015 Race to Zero Finalists
The 2015 Race to Zero Student Design Competition had 33 teams from 27 U.S. and Canadian universities competing to design cost-effective, zero energy homes for mainstream builders. The competition encourages students to work with builders, developers, and community leaders to meet stringent design requirements and create marketable, affordable concepts. The grand winner was University of Minnesota.
Maharishi U Management Environmental Law Class To Be Taught By Leading Experts
"Making Peace with the Earth," a course on global environmental law and food policy will feature top experts, including Ved Nanda, JD, the director of International Legal Studies at the University of Denver and a leading international law scholar and global activist. Guests include Bill Goldstein, A. Thimmaiah, Vandana Shiva, John Ikerd, John Fagan and more.
Maharishi U Offers Master's Program in Sustainable Living
During the first year of the program, beginning fall 2015, students will spend half their time in class and half in the community addressing challenges. The second year will be entirely devoted to a major community project, with one option being a 25-month hitch in the Peace Corps.
U Nebraska-Lincoln Pilots Campus Energy Audit Course
The first-time class allows students to work with the university's energy projects engineer to interview building users, review energy usage data, and document building conditions during a series of walkthroughs. The collected information will be used to generate a final report that includes a list of possible improvements.
Arizona State U Convenes Educational Task Force on Sustainability
The university's new National Sustainability Teachers’ Academy educational task force for sustainability aims to bring teams of elementary, middle and high school teachers from across the nation together to focus on solutions-based curriculum with an emphasis on urban systems. University sustainability scientists and scholars will help coach and lead hands-on sessions on solutions surrounding food, water, energy and climate.
California State U Monterey Bay Opens New Sustainable Degree
The new bachelor of science in sustainable hospitality management provides students with local, regional and global perspectives on current and pressing sustainability issues and problems within the hospitality industry. Concentrations exist in sustainable hotel, resort and event management, and sustainable ecotourism management.
Georgia Tech Selects Sustainability-Centered Undergraduate Focus
As part of the university's accreditation process, Serve, Learn, Sustain has been chosen as its newest Quality Enhancement Plan, which seeks to improve undergraduate education by developing academic courses and experiences that combine community involvement with sustainability, and by focusing on global challenges in critical areas of energy, environment, water resources, food security and global health.
Portland State U Launches Graduate Certificate in Public Design
The university's School of Architecture's new certificate in Public Interest Design aims to prepare students in sustainability, community development and architecture to aid underserved populations through sustainable, human-centered design methods via in-classroom studies and hands-on field experience, working directly with communities in need.
U Maryland Offers Free Sustainability Classes to Students
Called Sustainable Tuesdays, the series combines a pre-existing class with weekly guest speakers from the architecture, planning and preservation school that students can attend. The two semester-long classes about sustainable living can be attended without adding extra credits to their course load.
U Alberta Launches Sustainability Scholars Graduate Program
(Canada): Supporting the university’s Sustainability Plan 2012-2016, the new programs' objectives are to create opportunities for sharing information and ideas between graduate students and the city professionals, to advance professional development opportunities for graduate students at the university in the area of sustainability, and to inspire graduate students to apply their learning to real world city challenges.
Boston U Offers Energy & Environmental Concentration
Offered as part of the university's MBA program, the purpose of the new Energy and Environmental Sustainability concentration is to provide students with an understanding of sustainability-related challenges that businesses face, how business can adapt to these challenges, and how to identify, evaluate and act upon the opportunities created by these changes.
Pace U to Unveil Environmental Policy Graduate Program
The new two-year masters program beginning in fall of 2015 aims to provide an understanding of the complex relationships between natural science, law and management, and how to use the tools of these disciplines to develop appropriate responses to complex environmental issues.
U Alberta Commences New Sustainability Certificate
The newly offered Certificate in Sustainability is a new student credential for undergraduates that aims to transfer historical literacy, educate about the systemic nature of sustainability challenges, and enable application of sustainability literacy at a personal, academic and professional level. Students are required to take 15 hours of courses from specified areas.
Indiana U South Bend Incorporates Sustainability Studies Degree
The university is now offering a Bachelor of Art degree in Sustainability Studies, designed to introduce students to the basic concepts of sustainability, offer a wide variety of ways to practice sustainability, and give them hands-on experience that will prepare them for jobs in the emerging green economy. The curriculum includes internships, opportunities for research, and a seamless transition from the classroom to the workplace or graduate school.
Cedar Valley College Commences Living Lab Initiative
Utilizing the sustainability learning opportunities available to students on campus, the new initiative, with four focus areas: buildings, energy, transportation and community, will give college students hands-on work skills complementing their academic and technical programs.
College of Charleston Launches New Diversity Major
The university's Office of Institutional Diversity helped manifest the new African American studies major, the goal of which is for students to gain not only understanding and knowledge of African American history and culture, but comprehend the African American experience in the context of American and Western history.
CUNY Brooklyn College Launches Major in Urban Sustainability
(U.S.): The college's new Bachelor of Arts program examines the dynamics between social and natural systems as well as the trade-offs among environmental, social and economic sustainability, and offers concentrations in economics, environmental science and sociology.
