Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 46.39
Liaison Weston Dripps
Submission Date March 1, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Amherst College
AC-3: Undergraduate Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Laura Draucker
Director of Sustainability
Office of Environmental Sustainability
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Majors and Degree Programs

Does the institution offer at least one sustainability-focused major, degree program, or the equivalent for undergraduate students (I.e. an interdisciplinary academic program that concentrates on sustainability as an integrated concept)?:
Yes

Name of the sustainability-focused undergraduate degree program:
Environmental Studies major

A brief description of the undergraduate degree program:
Majors should recognize the major environmental challenges we face--climate change, loss of biodiversity, and depletion/degradation of natural resources. Majors are also expected to recognize that understanding these challenges requires knowledge of the underlying physical and biological processes involved as well as the complex ways these processes interact with cultural, political, and economic forces. We expect majors to possess the basic statistical techniques that are required to evaluate research in both the natural and the social sciences. We expect majors to have acquired a degree of literacy in the relevant discipline (natural and social sciences and humanities) that enable them to critically evaluate public debates about environmental policy and policy options.

The website URL for the undergraduate degree program:
https://www.amherst.edu/academiclife/departments/environmental_studies

Additional Degree Programs (optional) 

Name of the sustainability-focused, undergraduate degree program (2nd program):
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None
A brief description of the undergraduate degree program (2nd program):
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None
The website URL for the undergraduate degree program (2nd program):
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Name of the sustainability-focused, undergraduate degree program (3rd program):
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None
A brief description of the undergraduate degree program (3rd program):
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The website URL for the undergraduate degree program (3rd program):
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None
The name and website URLs of all other sustainability-focused, undergraduate degree program(s):
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Minors, Concentrations and Certificates

Does the institution offer one or more sustainability-focused minors, concentrations or certificates for undergraduate students?:
Yes

Name of the sustainability-focused undergraduate minor, concentration or certificate:
Five College Sustainability Studies Certificate Program

A brief description of the undergraduate minor, concentration or certificate:
Sustainability will be essential to the formulation of sound environmental, economic and social progress in the twenty-first century. The Five College Sustainability Studies Certificate (FCSS) program is designed to engage students in a structured course of study that will draw on courses from across the campuses in a range of disciplines. Students complete an internship, independent research project, or advanced course work in sustainability studies. The Five College Sustainability Studies Certificate is currently available to undergraduate students at Amherst College, Hampshire College and Mount Holyoke College.

The website URL for the undergraduate minor, concentration or certificate:
https://www.fivecolleges.edu/sustain/fcss_certifcate

Additional Minors, Concentrations and Certificates (optional) 

Name of the sustainability-focused undergraduate minor, concentration or certificate (2nd program):
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None
A brief description of the undergraduate minor, concentration or certificate (2nd program):
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None
The website URL for the undergraduate minor, concentration or certificate (2nd program):
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Name of the sustainability-focused undergraduate minor, concentration or certificate (3rd program):
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None
A brief description of the undergraduate minor, concentration or certificate (3rd program):
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None
The website URL for the undergraduate minor, concentration or certificate (3rd program):
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The name and website URLs of all other sustainability-focused undergraduate minors, concentrations and certificates:
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Optional Fields  

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.