GRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN SUSTAINABILITY
From climate change, deforestation, ocean acidification, global species loss, and the challenges of industrial agriculture and environmental injustice, a host of critical ecological, economic, and social challenges now demand the urgent attention of professionals with integrated, practical, and ethically-informed training in fields as diverse as the sciences, public policy, the humanities, and business administration.
In 2022, Microsoft published the critical document “Closing the Sustainability Skills Gap: Helping businesses move from pledges to progress” which emphasized that 1) employers must move quickly to upskill their workforce through learning initiatives focused on sustainability knowledge and skills, and 2) the world must prepare the next generation of workers for the sustainability jobs of the future!
The University of Delaware’s Graduate Certificate in Sustainability rises to this call to provide traditional students and mid-career professionals with the chance to advance their education to successfully understand complex real-world problems and explore cutting-edge solutions which they can apply to their careers in research, government, or the private sector.
Our certificate program has four components including 1) an interdisciplinary introductory sustainability course to understand the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org), 2) a course in ecology and the environment, 3) a course in humanities and ethics, and 4) a course in government, policy, and economics. We have purposefully provided many courses to choose from to allow the students to tailor their experience to their career pathway.
Program Requirements:
The Graduate Certificate in Sustainability requires satisfactory completion of four (4) graduate level courses (12 credits). *some courses are less than 3 credits and thus students will be required to take more than 4 courses to reach 12 credits.
Sustainability Foundation:
Ecology and the Environment:
One of the following:
- CHEG 613 – Topics in Energy and the Environment Credit(s): 3
- CHEG 625 – Green Engineering Credit(s): 3
- CIEG 645 – Industrial Ecology Credit(s): 3
- CIEG 662 – Transportation Sustainability Credit(s): 3
- ENWC 656 – Conservation Biology Credit(s): 3
- GEOG 622 – Resources, Development and the Environment Credit(s): 3
- GEOG 632 – Environmental Hydrology Credit(s): 3
- GEOG 657 – Climate Dynamics Credit(s): 3
- GEOL 621 – Environmental and Applied Geology Credit(s): 3
- PLSC 630 – Urban Ecology Credit(s): 3
- MAST 609 – The Ocean and Climate Change Credit(s): 3
Humanities and Ethics:
One of the following:
- ANTH 605 – Environment and Human Health Credit(s): 3
- ANTH 640 – Disaster Anthropology Credit(s): 3
- BINF 815 – Ethics, Business and Communication Credit(s): 3
- COMM 658 – Science Communication Credit(s): 3
- COMM 811 – Communication and Ethics Credit(s): 3
- GEOG 630 – Food Geographies & Food Justice Credit(s): 3
- GEOG 649 – Environment and Society Credit(s): 3
- PHIL 648 – Environmental Ethics Credit(s): 3
- SOCI 671 – Disasters, Vulnerability & Development Credit(s): 3
Government, Policy, and Economics:
One of the following:
- ENEP 625 – Energy Policy and Administration Credit(s): 3
- ENEP 626 – Climate Change:Science, Policies & Political Economy Credit(s): 3
- ENEP 661 – Sustainable Energy Financing Credit(s): 3
- ENEP 802 – Electricity Policy and Planning Credit(s): 3
- ENEP 810 – Political Economy of the Environment Credit(s): 3
- ENEP 824 – Sustainable Energy Policy and Planning Credit(s): 3
- ENTR 661 – Corporate Innovation & Intrapreneurship Credit(s): 3
- ENWC 613 – Wildlife Policy and Society Credit(s): 3
- FASH 691 – Socially Responsible Apparel: Global Policy Credit(s): 1
- FASH 692 – Sustaining Global Apparel Supply Chains Credit(s): 1
- FASH 699 – Producing Environmentally Responsible Apparel Credit(s): 1
- FINC 658 – Corporate Governance Credit(s): 3
- MAST 639 – Renew Energy and Climate: Law, Regulation and Environment Credit(s): 1-3
- MAST 662 – Climate Change: Policy, Equity and Mitigation Credit(s): 3
- POSC 818 – Environmental Politics and Policy Credit(s): 3
- UAPP 706 – Plan Sustainable Communities & Regions Credit(s): 3
Green Economy
Between 2018-2022, jobs in sustainability and the environment in the United States have grown by over 237%, per a World Economic Report.
