U Albany Rolls Out Sustainability Minor, Bus Tracker
The university launched an undergraduate minor designed to provide students with a foundation in the environmental, geopolitical and social aspects of sustainability, and installed a new GPS bus system to provide real-time arrival data to riders.
The Ohio State U Offers Sustainability Minor
After the launch of a major by the same name, the new Environment, Economy, Development and Sustainability minor is a multi-disciplinary program designed to provide a foundation in sustainability concepts and theory.
Erie CC Opens Green Building Training Center
(U.S.): The recently opened Green Building Technology Center will house training in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and workforce development in emerging green building technology. With funding assistance the building was constructed with renewable energy and energy efficiency techniques and equipment.
Iowa State U Offers Online Green Roof Course
The new eight-week class, lead by the university’s extension office, covers design, installation and management of high rise gardens. Iowa State University has nine green roof installations.
Wheelock College Introduces Environmental Studies Major
In response to the growing popularity of environmental studies and sustainability, the college’s new undergraduate academic track explores interdisciplinary topics around social, cultural and scientific issues, and natural sciences.
U Maryland, Ohio State U Develop Student Literacy Assessment
In an effort to understand what students know about sustainability when they enter college, the universities have developed an Assessment of Sustainability Knowledge (ASK) tool of 28 questions, available for any higher education institution to use.
Penn State Debuts Online Renewable Energy Masters
(U.S.): Due to growing interest in the renewable energy market, the university has developed a program to provide students with foundational knowledge in renewable energy and sustainability systems. Students of the new program, Intercollege Master of Professional Studies in Renewable Energy and Sustainability Systems, study with faculty from multiple academic units.
Virginia Tech Launches 2 Sustainability Programs
(U.S.): The College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences now offers a minor in diversity and community engagement. Housed within the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, sustainable building performance and energy management is now a concentration in the building construction major.
Kennebec Valley CC Debuts Sustainable Ag Program
Debuting this fall, the new two-year program is part of a recent $150,000 grant from the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation that will help the college revitalize a defunct dairy farm and train a new generation of farmers who want to be part of Maine's growing local food economy.
Quinsigamond CC to Offer Clean Energy Job Training
Part of $924,233 in clean energy job training grants awarded by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center for low and moderate-income individuals, the year-long program will introduce out of school, unemployed or underemployed youth to clean energy concepts.
Linfield College Debuts Sustainable Food Systems Internship
(U.S.): Spearheaded by a recent graduate and the university's sustainability coordinator, the program exposes students to the history, business and politics of food through guest lectures and field trips, as well as hands-on experience with planting, tending and harvesting crops at local farms.
Virginia Tech Launches Environmental Informatics Major
(U.S.): Based in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, the new undergraduate major will bring together information technology, data analysis, natural resources, geospatial science and ecological modeling.
Chatham U, EARTH U Partner for One-year Grad Degree Programs
EARTH University graduates now have the opportunity to enroll in one-year master’s degree programs at Chatham’s School of Sustainability and the Environment. The one-year Master of Sustainability and Master of Arts in Food Studies programs are designed specifically to prepare EARTH graduates to address sustainability and food system challenges.
Cincinnati State Starts Sustainable Ag Mgmt Certificate
Starting in the fall, the certificate program will involve students in a new campus food cooperative. Students will train at a local farm, growing the produce for the cooperative that provides 26 weekly boxes of farm-fresh produce to the campus and surrounding community.
U Georgia Costa Rica Earns Sustainability Innovation Award
(Costa Rica): The university was recently honored by GoAbroad.com with the 2013 Innovation in Sustainability Award at the NAFSA: Association of International Educators annual conference. The award recognizes institutions, organizations and individuals who are creating initiatives to move the field of international education forward and to commend leaders in the community for their efforts to go beyond the conventional.
Kennesaw State U Launches Culinary Sustainability Degree
With this new bachelor's degree, students will examine food waste reduction, waste stream redesign and energy reduction through lighting and cooking equipment choices. The goal is to begin the new culinary program with 150 students this fall and grow to 400 students in four years.
Black Hills State U Debuts New Sustainability Master's Degree
Offered entirely online, the Master of Science in Sustainability is designed to provide students with an understanding of environmental (natural) systems, economic and social systems, legal frameworks, and policy making to help organizations meet sustainability related challenges.
Kalamazoo Valley CC Announces Wellness, Sustainable Food Focus
In partnership with Bronson Healthcare Group and the Kalamazoo Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, the college has announced plans for a new culinary and wellness campus focused on community wellness and sustainable food production.
Elon U to Offer Minor in Poverty and Social Justice
Tying into the university's recent partnership with the Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty, the new fall 2013 program offers a foundation for understanding the multi-factorial causes and realities of poverty, the opportunity to study the root causes and structural patterns that contribute to poverty, and focuses on processes and strategies of poverty alleviation from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.
U Mass Amherst Students Help Pilot Online Carbon Conscious Tool
While beta-testing Earth Deeds, a new online service to enable groups to measure and manage their environmental impacts, four students in this semester's "Sustainable Living" class estimated their class' carbon footprint, raised $876 as part of a teamfunding campaign to acknowledge this impact, and spearheaded class participants to commit to actions and lifestyle changes that would prevent about 55.9 metric tons of carbon emissions.
Chatham U Creates Executive Master in Sustainability Leadership
(U.S.): The university’s School of Sustainability and the Environment has launched a new 16-month Executive Master in Sustainability Leadership program for professionals looking to strengthen their ability to advance sustainability in a range of professional settings. This 30-credit program can be completed in under two years, is designed for those who want to advance their careers or transition to careers in sustainability, and combines online coursework with period visits to the university’s zero net energy Eden Hall Campus.
SUNY Cortland to Offer M.S. in Sustainable Energy Systems
(U.S.): The university has announced plans to offer a new Masters of Science in Sustainable Energy Systems beginning in fall 2013. The program will offer advanced training in the physics of renewable energy, courses geared to build professional skills in areas such as economics and communication, and a culminating internship. Two grants from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation totaling more than $15,000 helped fund curricular development and a market needs assessment.
California State U Fresno to Offer Water Mgmt Masters Program
The university has created a professional science masters degree in water resource management. Some of the courses to be offered include geospatial technologies, climatology, water economics, hydrological systems and natural and agriculture uses of water. The new degree requires students to have a Geographic Information Systems certificate or the equivalent work experience.
RISD Pilots Nature-Culture-Sustainability Studies
The Rhode Island School of Design has created a pilot program in Nature-Culture-Sustainability Studies (NCSS). This two-year program aims to ascertain levels of student interest in NCSS and create a pathway of study which would allow students to compliment and add focus to work explored in their major areas of study.
Ecotech Institute Announces New Facility Management Program
This associate degree program will prepare students for careers in the field of facility management, focusing on the operation, maintenance, analysis, auditing and cost of energy management systems. The program was developed in coordination with the International Facilities Management Association and is designed to train students for facility management jobs that emphasize sustainability.
San Diego State U Students Partner with Solar Company for Project
Electrical engineering students have partnered with Sullivan Solar Power to create a senior design project. The renewable energy company is providing a group of students, called “Growing in Solar,” guidance and counsel on a weekly basis to analyze the design and implementation of solar technology. The company has also provided students two sets of solar panels for research.
U Houston to Offer Sustainability Minor
(U.S.): The university has created an interdisciplinary minor in energy and sustainability as part of a strategic plan to enhance and expand its energy-related educational and research initiatives. Courses to be offered include sustainable development, the environmental biology of Texas, the economics of energy, introduction to air pollution, international energy politics and an energy-related writing class.
Cornell U to Launch Sustainability Major
The university’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will debut a new environmental science and sustainability major this fall. The major will take an interdisciplinary approach to environmental science, examining both biological and physical sciences as well as the social dimensions of sustainability. Students will have the opportunity to specialize in concentrations including biogeochemical sciences and environmental policy and governance.
Tulane U's New Law Program to Focus on Sustainable Development
The Law School and the Payson Center for International Development have partnered to create a new law and development graduate degree. Students will receive multidisciplinary training in sustainability, development, international human rights, and comparative environmental law.
U Iowa Creates Wind Energy Certificate
The College of Engineering has created a new wind energy certificate program. The interdisciplinary program courses include “Wind Turbine Aerodynamics” and “Spatial Analyses of Wind Energy.” Students will also receive hands-on experience at the Wind Power Lab.
American U Cairo to Offer Sustainable Development Graduate Degree
(Egypt): The university has created a new master of science in sustainable development. The interdisciplinary program integrates all aspects of development and students will work together to carry out community-based projects to help resolve some of Egypt’s most pressing environmental and social issues.
U Queensland Creates Living Laboratories Initiative
(Australia): The Living Laboratories initiative aims to connect sustainability projects with teaching to provide real examples of student learning. The first site was completed in November 2012 and involved the planting of 2,000 trees on campus, with the help of over 60 student and staff volunteers. Projects planned for the future include revegetating land that was damaged by floods, capturing methane from a pig farm to create electricity, and stimulating the regrowth of mangroves along a riverbank.
Seattle U Launches Center for Environmental Justice
The primary goal for the newly launched Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability will be to promote scholarship by faculty and students and support them as they engage with others in the community on projects related to environmental justice. The center will adopt an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach, crossing boundaries of different colleges and schools.
2 Universities Join MUM’s Sustainability Consortium
In 2012, eight universities whose MBA programs feature courses in sustainable business formed a consortium under which their students can take summer courses on sustainability from the other members. Antioch University New England and the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater have joined the Consortium this year.
U Illinois Springfield to Offer Environmental Studies Degree
Starting in Fall 2013, the new Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies will equip students with the analytical tools for understanding and engaging in concerns related to the natural and social world. The program will offer multi-disciplinary curriculum with interdisciplinary learning goals, incorporating the natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities; to ensure that graduates will gain a holistic understanding of complex environmental concerns and their natural, social, and ethical implications.
U Kentucky Launches Sustainability Studies Major
The College of Arts and Sciences will debut a new major in environmental and sustainability studies beginning in fall 2013. The degree is designed to provide students with a foundation in the natural and physical sciences, providing a holistic understanding of the economic, environmental and social components of sustainability.
Drexel U to Offer Sustainability Minor
(U.S.): The new minor, Sustainability in the Built Environment, will provide students with the tools needed to analyze future projects from a sustainable perspective. The program will collaborate with Drexel Smart House and offer community engagement design electives.
Marylhurst University Offers M.S. in Food Systems and Society
The university has announced plans to offer a new Masters of Science in Food Systems and Society beginning fall 2013. The graduate degree program will focus on ideas and practices for improving health, equity and sustainability in the food system.
