Program Overview

Sustainability Assessment and Planning Certificate

The Sustainability Assessment and Planning Certificate program is designed to help students develop valuable skills in measuring, regulating, and reporting an organization's natural resource use and environmental impact. Students learn to apply approaches used by sustainability professionals in government, industry, nonprofit, and other sectors to document and improve sustainability practices.

Overview

Students in the certificate program develop skills to help organizations measure, regulate, and report their natural resource use and environmental impact. The program focuses on applying approaches used by sustainability professionals to document and improve sustainability practices.

Related Programs

• Master's:
  • Environmental Science and Sustainability (MS)
• Certificate:
  • Environmental Law and Policy Certificate
  • Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Certificate

Curriculum

The curriculum consists of the following courses: | Course List Code | Title | Hours | | --- | --- | --- | | ENVS 451 | Introduction to Sustainability Concepts & Impacts | 3 | | ENVS 452 | Sustainability Assessment & Reporting I | 3 | | ENVS 453 | Sustainability Assessment & Reporting II | 3 | | ENVS 454 | Sustainability Plan Development & Reporting | 3 | Total Hours: 12

Suggested Sequence of Courses

The suggested sequence of courses is as follows:

Year 1

• Fall:
  • ENVS 451: Introduction to Sustainability Concepts & Impacts (3 hours)
  • ENVS 452: Sustainability Assessment & Reporting I (3 hours) Total Hours: 6
• Spring:
  • ENVS 453: Sustainability Assessment & Reporting II (3 hours)
  • ENVS 454: Sustainability Plan Development & Reporting (3 hours) Total Hours: 6 Total Hours: 12

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

• Understand the foundations of sustainability science and its economic and ethical values.
• Learn common methods for gathering data on an organization's baseline environmental footprint and the most effective strategies for improving environmental sustainability.
• Gain experience in crafting sustainability assessments, calculations, project pitches, and sample reports.

Graduate & Professional Standards and Regulations

Students in graduate and professional programs can find their Academic Policies in Graduate and Professional Academic Standards and Regulations under their school. Any additional University Policies supersede school policies.