The Curriculum Office has received notification from the New York State Education Department of Approval for the new program, Sustainability Certificate, at Monroe Community College beginning fall 2008 semester.
Sustainability, which is grounded on the conviction that societies should develop ways to meet their present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to provide for their own needs, is a field of concern and inquiry that overlaps a vast array of disciplines. Rather than focusing on one particular area of concern, the certificate in sustainability is designed to provide students with a broad understanding of the issues, topics, and disciplines that sustainability encompasses. Courses in the certificate program will focus on the social, economic, institutional and environmental aspects of sustainable development as they relate to both human society and the non-human environment. The objectives of the certificate program are three fold: to introduce students to the ways that different disciplines affect and are affected by the field of sustainability; to help students understand the complex web of cause and effect that interconnects those disciplines; and to connect an understanding of sustainability to larger issues of energy, the environment, social and economic justice, agriculture, etc.
In contrast to MCC’s stand-alone, vocational certificates, the sustainability certificate is designed to complement the college’s associate degree programs by allowing a given student to earn credit toward his/her degree while at the same time pursuing what amounts to a minor field of study in sustainability. The certificate requires students to complete 16-20 credits of coursework relevant to the study of sustainability; students will complete at least one approved course in each of three core areas (natural science, social science, and humanities) and may choose the remaining six credits from the list of core courses or from a list of approved electives. Sustainability is becoming a priority in a number of fields, including business, agriculture, law, natural science, and technology. This certificate will provide evidence that a given student has completed a coherent course of study in the emerging field of sustainability.
Stuart Blacklaw
Curriculum and Program Development
09/02/2008 |