Sustainability minor introduced

10/10/08 - With faculty members from a wide range of disciplines working together, the University of Rhode Island, for the first time, is offering a new minor in sustainability. "It is about making people aware of personal choices," communications Professor and coordinator of the new minor, Judith Swift said.

The minor will focus on local and global issues that relate to social equity, the environment, and the economy.

Subject areas range from general education requirements to advanced courses and include, but are not limited to, political science, communications, biology, economics, anthropology, sociology, geology, oceanography, honors classes and many more.

"The person who is educated is in a position of leadership," Swift said. The program wants to help students develop a vision of personal and global responsibility of stewardship of the Earth and all its resources and inhabitants.

According to Swift, students will examine and discuss difficult issues, and practice problem-solving skills through internships and research. Students will learn how to solve the complex problems facing the world's diverse ecosystems.

The minor focuses on three main subject areas: environmental sciences, social justice and economic sustainability. Since the minor draws on an assortment of disciplines, it allows students to create a minor that is based entirely on their own interests.

"We've made it something that any student can come in and get a customized learning experience," Swift said.

The minor is a regular 18-credit program. Twelve of the 18 credits must be at the 200-level or higher. It also requires an internship in the area of outreach, which may account for up to six of the 18 credits.

In addition there is a three-credit capstone course in which students will work with a faculty advisor on a project. The capstone course may be taken at the same time as the internship.

Swift said she thinks that it is important for students to get this type of training so that they will possess the skill necessary to compete successfully for careers after college. "There was a time when you were labeled as a tree-hugger and dismissed," Swift said. "Now business owners are listening to consumer demand."

URI faculty members conceived the idea for the environmentally friendly minor following the 2001 Honors Colloquium, A Just and Sustainable Future: Overcoming Boundaries to Action. With the popular rise in interest for the stability of the environment and the current 2008 Honors Colloquium, the program finds more faculty and students willing to collaborate.

According to Swift, the minor took a long time to finally materialize. Faculty members, representing different departments, submitted the proposal to a lengthy approval process. At the last faculty meeting, the deans of the various colleges finally approved the proposition, which meant that students were able to start enrolling for this fall.

Swift said the Sustainability Council has been working on projects on campus to reduce URI's carbon footprint. They are trying to set up efficient park 'n' rides, bus lines and are encouraging students to carpool.

Swift said there are no existing plans for the program to grow into a major, but she fully expects that it will in the future. There are approximately 17 students enrolled in the minor and Swift expects more to come following the 2008 Honors Colloquium.

"I think it will show students that there are things they should care about for their own sake and the sake of those they care about," Swift said.

Course descriptions and schedules will be made available online soon.