University of Arkansas Sustainability Minor Approved for Fall 2011

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas will begin offering an undergraduate minor in sustainability for students, who may declare the minor as early as Aug. 15.

In spring 2010, Provost Sharon Gaber appointed professor Stephen Boss, director of the university’s environmental dynamics doctoral program, to lead a faculty committee representing each college and school as well as the Associated Student Government president to develop a curriculum for a sustainability minor. Their work resulted in a proposal that recently received approval from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education.

“It was the intention to create a minor accessible to every University of Arkansas student regardless of discipline, yet still have meaning and academic identity as a minor in sustainability,” Boss said.

Boss and Tahar Messadi, associate professor of architecture, will be co-directors of the program. Interested students are encouraged to contact either Boss or Messadi for enrollment in the minor. Those students will receive notification when they may officially declare at the beginning of fall 2011 semester.

 “This is a critically important initiative that we envision will prepare our students to be knowledgeable citizens in a changing global society,” said Gaber. “The University of Arkansas is currently a leader in sustainable practices and sustainability research, and we want to be certain that our students have the opportunity to learn about sustainability in addition to their major fields.”

In 2007, the University of Arkansas was among the first 100 signatories to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, a pledge by the institutions to reduce greenhouse gasses through a broad array of sustainability initiatives. Those initiatives are being incorporated into the university’s curriculum.

The 2011-12 Catalog of Studies describes the purpose of the minor in sustainability as providing foundational knowledge and skills related to the emerging discipline of sustainability. The minor is organized around four thematic areas reflecting strength in scholarship of University of Arkansas academic colleges: Sustainability of social systems, sustainability of natural systems, sustainability of built systems and sustainability of managed systems. The required coursework is broadly interdisciplinary and accessible to virtually every University of Arkansas student, regardless of major, with a capstone course in foundations of sustainability. The program is administered through the Office of the Provost.

“Working with the committee that developed this minor was among the best experiences I’ve had as a faculty member at U of A.” Boss said. “They were excited and committed every week during the last year to create an academic offering that is unique among Arkansas colleges and universities. Messadi also acknowledges the pivotal support from numerous university tiers in the successful launch of this program. “We hope many hundreds of U of A students will take advantage of this opportunity and incorporate the sustainability minor into their schedule of studies,” he said.