Students may be able to declare a minor in sustainability as early as next spring, as a faculty and student committee has begun examining how a sustainability minor could be structured and implemented.
Outgoing Provost Nariman Farvardin charged the committee with presenting a proposal by the end of this semester on the minor, which would incorporate courses from multiple colleges and be available for students of any major.
The minor would likely offer a long list of elective courses so students can customize their track to fit their particular interests and include group activities and real-world experience, committee members said.
“This is going to provide an opportunity for students to learn about major sustainability issues, study the problems and think about solutions,” said Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Mahlon Straszheim, who chairs the committee. “It needs to be open to all students, it needs to be interdisciplinary, it needs to have a lot of choices, and we really want there to be a sense of community where they can join in activities across whatever they’re thinking about.”
In an interview earlier this month, Farvardin said he emphasized to the committee the importance of the minor encompassing a wide range of fields.
“I do not know of one program in the university that takes all the credit for every aspect of sustainability,” Farvardin said. “By its very nature, it runs across many disciplines, from the sciences to policy, and I think a good sustainability minor must have strong participation from across the campus.”
He also insisted the committee be responsive to student needs, as the original idea for the minor, he said, came from students.
The committee’s sole undergraduate student representative, Michelle Kim — a junior environmental science and policy major who also serves as vice chairwoman on sustainability for the Student Government Association — said her fellow committee members have been very receptive to student input thus far and will be meeting with a student focus group later this week. She added that this minor should be a huge draw for students with a variety of interests.
“Sustainability is far too often mistaken with environmental science, but it affects how we live, how we eat, how we work, so I think it touches a lot of students’ interests,” Kim said. “We want to make it as flexible and with as much choices as possible.”
As Farvardin is leaving the university today to assume the presidency of the Stevens Institute of Technology, the formation of the minor will fall under acting Provost-designate Ann Wylie. Wylie, who chairs the University Sustainability Council, said she is more than ready to carry the torch.
“Education is an important part of the sustainability initiative, so to focus attention through a minor on a very important topic for America’s future, I think, is totally complementary to our objectives as a university,” Wylie said.
Environmental student activists have also expressed excitement about the possible minor.
“I think it’s a great idea,” said UMD for Clean Energy spokesman Sam Rivers. “To move toward a more sustainable world, everyone in the community has to know how to do it. If you really want to stir up change, you have to teach people what they have to do.”
And Rivers is hoping the availability of the minor will only increase student participation in sustainable activities.
“In UMD for Clean Energy, I think about half of us are environmental science and policy majors,” he said. “So if the sustainable minor brought in people in majors that we don’t have, that sort of thing would be really great.”
However, Kim said, even as the university is considering the creation of a sustainability minor, it’s not clear how much the administration is focused on the environment in such projects as the East Campus development. Hopefully, she said, this minor will take the university a step further in the right direction.
“It’s easy talking about sustainability in a conference room, but we need to practice what we preach,” Kim said. “Maybe while we’re creating this minor, we’re raising awareness so the university will be a little more serious about its commitment to its sustainable practices.”
Before the minor can be created, it must be approved by a number of departmental, college-wide and university-wide bodies, including the University Senate’s Programs, Curricula and Courses Committee and the full senate.
villanueva at umdbk dot com
