Online Sustainability Certificate Program

What is Sustainability?

Sustainability is a forward looking multi-disciplinary perspective that addresses both current and long-term economic, social, and environmental relations and concerns. It refers to the studied and planned use of human and non-human resources, with the goal of providing for future generations while maintaining quality of life today.

The Sustainability Studies Certificate Program

The online Sustainability Studies Certificate Program is a multidisciplinary approach in which students gain an understanding of the theory and practice of sustainability. Students must complete 12 undergraduate credits to be eligible for certificate completion.

This program is available for both full time students and working professionals. Courses taken in this certificate program can lead towards a minor in Sustainability Studies at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Sustainability Studies looks to discover and examine humanity's philosophies and practices, past and present, as they relate to the natural and social world, and consider what new or alternative philosophies and practices might be capable of providing a sustainable, balanced, and ethical future for the planet and its inhabitants.

The certificate in sustainability will provide students with a number of practical skills and opportunities that will make them more marketable to potential employers, including private businesses that have greened their production methods, public agencies, think tanks, and non-profit organizations. These include:

• The addition of an important knowledge base to their present baccalaureate degree.
• The ability to identify unsustainable practices and to offer the latest science and technological solutions to reduce the impact of these practices.
• The opportunity to affect contemporary policy implementation at the local, regional, national, and global levels.
• A deeper understanding of the local and global challenges to sustainability from economic, environmental and social perspectives.

What You Study

This Certificate Program is available online. Online learning allows the student to juggle the demands of work, school and family to reach your educational goals without compromising your work or family time.

Each course is 3-credits. There is one required course for this program: Principles of Sustainability and 3 electives. The following elective courses include:

• Sustainable Living
• Environmental Law
• Environmental Policy
• The Politics of Everyday Things
• Climate Change
• The Environmental Effects of Globalization
• Human Ecology
• Environmental Measures and Models
• Planning Sustainable Communities
• Marine Law and Policy

Summer 2008 Courses

IST 444 - Topic in Indic Studies
3 credits
Advanced topic related to Indic philosophy, art, culture, science, religion, music, history, and/or culture and traditions. Topics that may be offered include Epics of India, Women of India, Vedic Astrology, Gita, Social Customs, religions of India, Mahatma Gandhi and nonviolence. The goal of each course will be to introduce special topics and discuss their relevance to the modern global society. May be repeated with change of content.

Section 7101 - Topic: Sustainable Living
Class #: 3109
Status: Closed
Tuition & fees: $ 744.00
Instructor: Gerber, John
This section is a online course.
Summer 2008 - 1st 5 Week, 05/27/2008 - 06/30/2008
Learn to live more lightly on the planet. An introduction to global challenges and practical solutions related to energy, food, land use, water and air, waste, housing, and community health. This class will help students make personal and professional decisions supporting the three interconnected objectives of sustainability; economic vitality, environmental integrity, and social equity. PLEASE NOTE: This is an online course.

PSC 235 - Environmental Policy
3 credits
Environmental Policy will explore the decision making process that underlies most of our current environmental laws and regulations in the U.S. Students will learn about the process of environmental decision-making from an incentive-based approach and alternatives analysis. Topics such as air, water, hazardous substances, climate change, and environmental justice will be discussed. Students will interpret a current proposal to use charge systems to implement environmental policies. The course is meant as an introductory theme into environmental policy. There is no course pre-requisite.

Section 7101
Class #: 3107
Status: Closed
Tuition & fees: $ 744.00
Instructor: McGuire, Chad
This section is a online course.
Summer 2008 - 1st 5 Week, 05/27/2008 - 06/30/2008

PSC 347 - Environmental Law
3 credits
Prerequisites: Upper-division standing
Environmental Law explores the foundation of legal principles that apply to U.S. environmental laws. Students will learn the basic premises of environmental law, and then apply these premises to current environmental issues. The goal is to expose students to a broad understanding of the scientific and socio-economic elements that go into environmental regulations. Current environmental issues, such as climate change, will be discussed. The course is meant as an introduction into environmental law. There is no course pre-requisite.

Section 7101
Class #: 3108
Status: Enrolling
Tuition & fees: $ 744.00
Instructor: McGuire, Chad
This section is a online course.
Summer 2008 - 2nd 5 Week, 07/07/2008 - 08/06/2008

For More Information

Please contact Susan Jennings, Office of Campus and Community Sustainability, at 508-910-6484 or sjennings@umassd.edu. Course descriptions, dates and times can be viewed here .

Upcoming Fall Courses include:  Principles of Sustainability, Marine Law and Policy, Environmental Measures and Models, the Environmental Effects of Globalization, and Environmental Policy