Sustainability and Business

The Sustainability and Business program considers and applies environmental, social, and financial concerns to create a more sustainable world. You gain the knowledge, experience, and ethical grounding to play a leadership role within a public or private company, nonprofit organization, or an entrepreneur.

More specifically the program:

• Prepares you for ethically and socially responsible roles in sustainability and business professions and society.
• Develops your ability to recognize, analyze, and solve problems with an awareness and appreciation of human connections with the rest of nature.
• Helps you achieve personal and career goals.
• Prepares you for entry-level positions in either the private or public sector and/or to prepares you for coursework at the graduate level.

The B.S. in Sustainability and Business is offered jointly by the Environmental Studies and Business programs within the College of Arts and Sciences. It is designed to be interdisciplinary and to offer students numerous opportunities for collaboration and experiential learning, and for applying their skills in real-world settings. The first-year experience includes a Green Learning Community.

CAS Core Requirements and Major Requirements

Program Required Courses including Green Learning Community: First Year

Program Required Courses to fulfill CAS Core Requirements for Social/Global Awareness: Second Year

Additional Required Courses for the Major

Electives

Additional Information

1. Students may choose to tailor the last two years of course selections to their specific interests. For example, in close consultation with their academic advisor, they may select upper-level business and environmental studies electives that would result in an informal concentration in one or more areas including Non-Profit Sector, Corporate/Public Sector Sustainability, Small Business/Entrepreneurship.
2. Students are strongly encouraged to participate in study abroad. Academic advisors will help tailor a student’s program to create opportunities for study abroad.

Students in this major can participate in the pre-health graduate school preparation tracks.

The Sustainability and Business learning outcomes are as follows:

1. Know fundamental principles of business and ecology and apply these to sustainability initiatives within private, public, and/or civic organizations/enterprises.
2. Integrate the environmental, social, and economic aspects of sustainability and apply that integration to solve concrete challenges.
3. Identify and measure the economic, social, and environmental risks and rewards (triple bottom line) of new ventures in sustainability, and compare short-term economic risks and returns with long-term expected benefits.

The Green Learning Community

All entering first-year Sustainability and Business Students, together with other environmental students, participate in a year-long learning community focused on the fundamental themes of environmental studies. The Green Learning Community integrates courses as follows: 4 credits of biology, 3 credits of literature (or an appropriate substitute), 3 credits of economics, and 3 credits of environmental issues for a total of 13 credits over two semesters. This interdisciplinary approach enables students to understand more clearly the complexity of environmental issues and at the same time improve skills in critical thinking, writing, oral communication, research, and the use of computers. Experiential learning activities are central.

Internships and Careers

Internships provide students with an opportunity to practice learned skills in an actual work environment with the guidance of the CAS internship coordinator, who helps students match their interests with a work experience that might take place locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally. Internships provide career exploration and can help establish professional networks that lead to career opportunities upon graduation. The particularly applied focus of the Sustainability and Business majors requires students to do two internships during their four-year undergraduate degree. The interdisciplinary nature of the Sustainability and Business major is reflected in the wide variety of careers open to graduates in the non-profit, corporate, and public sectors. Employment opportunities include Corporate or Municipal Sustainability Officer, Green Business Manager, Community Economic Development Manager, Environmental Affairs Officer, Green Entrepreneur, and Sustainability Program, Developer.

See Undergraduate Admissions.

See Undergraduate Admissions.

TUITION AND FEES

Tuition and fees for subsequent years may vary. Other expenses include books and housing. For more information regarding tuition and fees, please consult the Financial Information section of this catalog.