Undergraduate Catalog 2017-2018

Sustainability Certificate

The sustainability certificate gives students an additional accreditation, along with their degree, to enter dynamic worlds of commerce, science, social work, and policy that will continue to be developed in the near future as the global environment becomes more prominent on everyone’s agenda.  As we seek to train the engaged citizens of tomorrow, we hope to prepare them for a rapidly changing environment, with economic opportunities based on technologies that don’t exist today, and with an ever stronger commitment to social solutions that do not exclude sub‐groups or sub‐species. This certificate supports the goals of the GC Sustainability Council to “encourage the attitudes, choices and habits that support sustainability at the institutional and personal level in the Georgia College community and connect civic responsibility to learning experiences, both inside and outside the classroom through community service, education and outreach.”

Specifically, the certificate will produce students able to:

  • describe the global manifestations of sustainability across culturally diverse regions;

  • examine specific applications of social, environmental, and economic policies and their impacts on human societies;

  • model the world, including ecosystems, economic systems, and socio‐political systems;

  • evaluate individual and collective lifestyle impacts and identify political and ethical variations;

  • characterize energy and material systematics from physical, ethical, and economic viewpoints;

  • assess campus and community sustainability strategies and actions;

  • describe issues of sustainability within the geographies of contested spaces;

  • explore our campus and community through service learning and community outreach, while examining our institution as a potential laboratory for sustainability; and

  • demonstrate and advocate environmental responsibility in a human context.

These outcomes will be met through several learning objectives and activities, including reflection papers, data collection and analysis, interviews, research projects, and team tasks. The students will be involved in outreach, service learning, and peer education, for example the National Wildlife Federation’s Eco‐Rep Program, whereby they would engage other students on campus to conduct interviews, provide training, and implement sustainability solutions. The service learning component would assist the G.I.V.E. Center, ENGAGE, and the Office of Sustainability.

Certificate Requirements

Core-Level Introduction

Satisfactorily complete the following course:
IDST 2050Sustainability

3

Total Credit Hours:3

Economics Course

Satisfactorily complete one of the following courses:
ECON 2100Economics and Society

3

ECON 2105Principles of Macroeconomics

3

ECON 2106Principles of Microeconomics

3

Total Credit Hours:3

Ethics or Humanities Course

Satisfactorily complete one of the following courses:
BUAD 2172Business Ethics

3

PHIL 2010Survey of Philosophy

3

PHIL 2020Logical & Critical Thinking

3

Total Credit Hours:3

Ecology Course

Satisfactorily complete one of the following courses:
BIOL 1120Biodiversity

3

BIOL 2800Ecology

4

ENSC 1000Intro to Environmental Science

3

ENSC 1050Sustainability and World Pop

3

ISCI 2001Life & Earth Science

3

Total Credit Hours:3-4

Upper-Level Economics Course

Satisfactorily complete one of the following courses:
ECON 3440Comparative Economic Systems

3

ECON 3650Public Choice Theory

3

ECON 3680Nat Resource & Environment Eco

3

ECON 3840Economic Growth

3

MGMT 3141Principles of Management

3

MKTG 3161Principles of Marketing

3

Total Credit Hours:3

Upper-Level Ethics or Humanities Course

Satisfactorily complete one of the following courses:
ANTH 4600Rise & Fall of Civilizations

3

GEOG 4250Geography of Health

3

GEOG 4400Resource Use

3

GEOG 4450Environment & Society

3

KINS 3353Intro to Environmental Health

3

ODED 3510Foundations-Environmental Edu

3

PHIL 4410Ethical Theory

3

PHIL 4680Environmental Ethics

3

POLS 4415Environmental Policy

3

SOCI 3446Social Stratification

3

Total Credit Hours:3

Upper-Level Ecology Course

Satisfactorily complete one of the following courses:
BIOL 4705Population & Community Ecology

3

BIOL 4710Biogeography

4

BIOL 4725Community & Ecosystem Ecology

4

BIOL 4740Environmental Conservation

3

BIOL 4870Wildlife Management

4

CHEM 3510Biochemistry

3

ENSC 3050Environ Prob & Sustain Solut

3

ENSC 3200Eco & Environment Geology

4

ENSC 3680Natu Resources/Environ Ecology

3

ENSC 4150Environmental Hydrogeology

4

ENSC 4600Soil & Environmental Quality

4

ENSC 4705Population & Community Ecology

3

ENSC 4710Biogeography

4

ENSC 4740Environmental Conservation

3

GEOL 3200Econ & Environmental Geology

4

GEOL 4150Environmental Hydrogeology

4

GEOL 4600Soil & Environmental Quality

4

Total Credit Hours:3-4

Sustainability Capstone

Satisfactorily complete the following course:
IDST 4995Sustainability Capstone

1 - 4

Total Credit Hours:3

Total Credit Hours: 22-27

Undergraduate certificates may only be earned and will only be awarded in conjunction with a bachelor's degree. They will not be awarded as an independent credential.