I. Title of Certificate
Graduate Certificate in Sustainability

II. Catalog Description
Graduate students completing the required course work (and receiving a grade of "B" or higher in all the courses) will be awarded a "Graduate Certificate in Sustainability". This Certificate formally recognizes curricular breadth in the following areas: i) policy, societal, and economic systems, ii) environmental systems, and iii) industrial systems. The student has the opportunity to achieve specialized education in engineering, forestry, science, social sciences, humanities, business, and economics.

III. Rationale
Society, the environment, and economic/industrial development - the "triple bottom line" - are inherently interconnected, both domestically and worldwide. Without fundamental changes, our future is in jeopardy. Healthy survival requires a sustainable future, one in which human and industrial systems support an enhanced quality of life by recognizing and seeking to understand this interconnectivity. Change must begin in the place where most change is born - within our nation's universities.

Despite growing recognition of the importance of achieving the triple bottom line, graduate education has historically not reflected this reality. Our colleges and universities continue to train students to be experts in narrow disciplines, with little or no emphasis on the broader potential impact of decisions outside that discipline. This outcome is reinforced by traditional funding sources that require supported graduate students to be committed to the dictates of the project sponsor. Graduates often retain their myopic view of the world as they pursue careers. Mechanical and chemical engineers design products and plan manufacturing processes based on performance and economics, seemingly without consideration for potential societal or environmental consequences. Business people are focused on quarterly profit statements and the bottom line, frequently with little regard to society or the world around them. Environmental engineers and scientists often fail to consider the economic and societal implications of their actions. Social scientists and policy makers regularly make decisions that are poorly grounded on a technical basis. The segregated thinking of these individual disciplines leads to confusion, conflict, and disagreement, ultimately resulting in poor decisions.

Several years ago, faculty members from a diverse set of disciplines at Michigan Tech recognized this gap in the traditional education paradigm and began collaborating on sustainability issues. Their collaborative activity became the Sustainable Futures Model that will serve as the thematic basis of this proposed Graduate Certificate. The Sustainable Futures Model focuses on research and education in four areas: (1) environmental systems, (2) industrial systems, (3) societal systems, and (4) integrative initiatives that bring together all three of these areas. The Sustainable Futures Model is a meta-disciplinary endeavor that combines information/insights from multiple disciplines and perspectives.

Recognizing the importance of this effort, Michigan Tech recently formed the Sustainable Futures Institute (SFI) to realize its vision. (http://www.sustainablefutures.mtu.edu/)

IV. List of Courses and Requirements
This Certificate requires a total of 15 credits. Students must take Sustainable Futures I (ENG5510/SS5510) and Sustainable Futures II (ENG5520/SS5520) and a minimum of one class from each of the three other categories and obtain a grade of B or higher in each of the courses. At least 9 of the total certificate credits (course and research credits) must be at the 5000-level or higher. This Certificate is only open to students enrolled in a graduate program.  The current list of courses can be found at:

http://www.gradschool.mtu.edu/trackforms/GC(SFI)1.pdf