Red Rocks Community College Receives National Science Foundation Grant For Green Collar Curriculum Programs – The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Advanced Technological Education Program has awarded a grant to Red Rocks Community College (RRCC) in response to a proposal submitted by the college, “Sustaining a Green Collar Workforce: An Interdisciplinary Approach.” The award has been approved as a continuing grant for a period of three years, totaling $850,000. The grant project has two primary objectives, the first being to expand the preparation of the workforce for careers in renewable energy, and second, to develop sustainability curriculum that will be integrated throughout career and general education courses. RRCC will work closely with multiple industry and education partners that include the Colorado School of Mines, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Jefferson County Schools, Jefferson County Workforce Center, and the National Science Foundation’s Center for the National Advanced Technology, Environmental and Energy, in Bettendorf Iowa, to expand industry-aligned curriculum that prepares students for career opportunities in energy and environmental technology. Red Rocks Community College is located in Lakewood, CO.
Chatham University Forms The School of Sustainability and the Environment – The new School will provide innovative, interdisciplinary education and research opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and professional students to better prepare them to identify and solve challenges related to the environment and sustainability. the School of Sustainability and the Environment will have at its core a focus on research and problem-solving. The University will draw upon its diverse undergraduate and graduate faculty as well as its outreach centers – the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship, the Pennsylvania Center for Women, Politics, and Public Policy, and the Rachel Carson Institute – to develop academic and co-curricular programming. The first program offered through SSE will be the University’s newest graduate program, the Master of Arts in Food Studies. The Master of Arts in Food Studies is designed to provide students with a deep understanding of the issues surrounding food such as the environmental costs of food production and distribution, cultural issues, sustainability of communities, and safety of the food supply. lasses will begin in spring 2010 at the Eden Hall Farm Campus and Shadyside Campus, and will include courses in Studies – with courses such as Agricultural Production Systems; Food Processing, Industrialization and Waste; Food, Sustainability and Health; Food and Culture; and a Capstone Project.
University of Denver Launches a Sustainability Minor – Starting in fall 2009, undergraduates from most fields of study across campus can compliment their major with a minor in sustainability tailored to work with their selected major. The program is one of a handful of such offerings at campuses across the country. creating the new minor took about a year. Many of the courses were already offered through a variety of campus departments, but they hadn’t been connected and brought together. The program is designed so each student can apply sustainability to his or her own field. Given the broadly interdisciplinary nature of the minor, an advisory board responsible for administering the program will be comprised of a group of faculty representatives from the undergraduate units.
Students entering the program will take a common “gateway” course then branch off to customize the degree with four courses selected from the three themes of sustainability. Students complete the program by taking a final capstone seminar that will bring them together to work as a team on a service-learning or research project focused on a problem related to sustainability. The seminar will include a speaker series that will be open to the University community. Even without broadcasting the first offering, more than 20 students found the gateway course and have signed up for the fall. Looking ahead, there are plans to begin discussing the creation of an interdisciplinary graduate program in sustainability. As the world demands more expertise, DU could fill a niche with a level of training students will need to succeed.
