MNN - Mother Nature Network

Arizona State University (ASU) is expanding its sustainability education offerings with a new minor in sustainability that is available to all undergraduate students that aren’t already enrolled in a degree program with a sustainability concentration. ASU is home to the nation’s first dedicated School of Sustainability and is consistently recognized as one of the nation’s greenest campuses. This new minor will help boost ASU’s reputation as a one-stop destination for sustainability education.

 

The minor in sustainability is similar to other minor tracks at ASU requiring students to complete a total of 18 credit hours in this concentration. The curriculum includes two core courses – Introduction to Sustainability and Advanced Concepts and Integrated Approaches in Sustainability. Students can then choose to take courses in two out of four available themes:

Courses in these four themes come from a variety of disciplines and include Chemistry & Society, Construction and Culture: A Built Environment, Geologic Disasters and the Environment, and even Microeconomic Principles. Additionally, six upper-division elective credits must be taken to fulfill the requirements of ASU’s minor in sustainability.

"The demand already exists for sustainability education. The minor allows students unable to commit to a sustainability major to apply sustainability principles and practices to their own field of study," says Chris Boone, associate dean of education for the School of Sustainability. "An increasing number of companies and agencies ask for students with a sustainability background, and the minor in sustainability is designed to offer a path for students to create their own jobs in the area of sustainability," Boone said. Source: ASU

I can personally attest to the demand for sustainability education at ASU. I would have loved to have participated in the School of Sustainability’s degree offerings but the course schedule did not work with mine. Instead, I completed a writing degree and graduated in May of this year. I only wish that this minor in sustainability was first offered in the fall of 2009 instead of this fall.

 

For more information on the program, visit ASU’s minor in sustainability information page.