Program Overview

Overview

The Sustainable Business Co-Major is an 18-credit hour program available to Miami Herbert Business students. This interdisciplinary program provides students with an introduction to business concepts of sustainability, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards for financial decision-making, sustainability reporting, impact investing, environmental economics, and additional perspectives from the science/technology or policy/social fields.

Curriculum Requirements

The program consists of the following required courses:

• ACC 336: Integrated Reporting (3 credit hours)
• BUS 204: Intro to Corporate Sustainability (3 credit hours) or BSL 306: Introduction to Corporate Sustainability
• BUS 428: Multidisciplinary Action Projects (Capstone course) (3 credit hours)
• ECO 345: Environmental Economics (3 credit hours)
• FIN 236: Sustainability and Finance (3 credit hours)

Major Choice Course

Students must select three credit hours from the following Sustainability Science/Technical Courses or Sustainability Policy/Social Issues Courses:

• Sustainability Science/Technical Courses:
  • ARC 362: Environmental Building Systems I
  • ARC 363: Environmental Building Systems II
  • BIL 103: Introduction to Ecology
  • CET 240: Environmental Quality Control
  • CET 340: Introduction to Environmental Engineering
  • ECS 111: Introduction to the Earth's Ecosystem
  • ECS 232: Ecological Principles and Environmental Applications
  • ECS 312: Environment Assessment
  • ECS 433: Conservation in Practice (taught in the Galapagos)
  • MBE 518: Reef Coral Biology, Ecology, and Conservation
  • MBE 542: Oceans and Human Health (permission of instructor required)
  • MSC 107: Life in the Sea
  • MSC 108: Environmental Oceanography
• Sustainability Policy/Social Issues Courses:
  • AAS 350: Black Leadership in the U.S.
  • APY 435: Anthropology of Nature and Environment
  • ECO 307: Public Economics
  • ECO 351: Economics of Development
  • ECO 379: The Political Economy of Growth
  • ECO 443: Economic Analysis of Energy and Commodity Markets
  • ECS 113: Introduction to Environmental Policy
  • ECS 302: Perspectives on Environmental Decision Making
  • ECS 310: Sustainable Living
  • ECS 332: Ecology and Land Use in the Galapagos
  • ECS 352: Environmental Ethics
  • ECS 357: Global Food: A Hands-On Approach
  • GEG 331: Sustainable Development
  • GSS 201: Introduction to Gender and Sexuality Studies
  • GSS 202: Introduction to LGBTQ Studies
  • GSS 315: Gender, Race, and Class
  • GSS 348: Mental Illness, Gender, and Psychiatry
  • JMM 592: Special Topics in Journalism and Media Management (Sustainable and Social Media Management)
  • MSC 220: Climate and Global Change
  • MSC 313: Coastal Law
  • POL 322: Environmental Politics and Policy
  • POL 370: Global Energy Politics
  • POL 545: Environmental Policy Making
  • SOC 303: Social Inequalities

Program Requirements

• No course may double count in any other major, minor, or cognate.
• All specific coursework for the major area of specialization in Sustainable Business must be completed with a grade of “C-” or higher.
• A minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 is required for all specific coursework taken in the major area of specialization.
• All courses must be taken within the current pre-requisite structure.

Capstone Course

• BUS 428 is intended to be an integrative, experiential, project-based capstone course that requires students to apply their knowledge and insight gained from the coursework contained both in their degree program and in this co-major.
• Students need to have completed BUS 204 and to have attained "Junior status or higher" in order to enroll in this class.

Additional Requirements

• Students who are required to take FIN 320 for their major or minor plan of study do not take FIN 236 for the Sustainable Business co-major. Instead, they must take an additional major choice course from the Science/Technical or Policy/Social Issues course list.
• FIN 236 may not be taken as a choice course to count toward any Finance-related major or minor.
• Many other relevant upper level courses with prerequisites, and Special Topics courses may be available at or offered by other UM Schools and Colleges. These may be approved to satisfy the appropriate "Science/Technical" or "Policy/Social Issues" course requirement, after consultation with the Vice Dean.