California Polytechnic State University
AC-3: Undergraduate Program

The Environmental Management and Protection program is an undergraduate, interdisciplinary course of study integrating the biophysical and social/economical/political sciences. The curriculum emphasizes management and protection of ecosystem structures and processes that sustain uses of environmental resources. The major will provide students with the science and management background in natural resources that, when properly integrated, can guide consumptive uses of resources in a sustainable manner. The purpose of environmental management and protection is the sustainable management of environmental resources to balance uses and values for current and future generations. Because environmental problems arise from human demands on the environment, solutions must focus on the human dimension of the ecosystem. Thus, environmental management is the management of both people and resources to attain human goals while protecting environmental values in order to sustain natural systems.

The City and Regional Planning Department (CRP) promotes sustainable and diverse communities within cultural and human systems. CRP faculty provide an interdisciplinary professional planning education based on a learn-by-doing approach, community outreach, and applied research to help communities aspire for better, livable places.

The mission of the Environmental Engineering Program is to provide its students with the highest quality technical and professional education in environmental engineering, with particular emphasis in the areas of air pollution control, water and wastewater quality, solid and hazardous waste management, and noise control. The Environmental Engineering Program's faculty, in consultation with engineering practitioners and alumni, have developed three educational objectives to support the program mission. The educational objectives represent the goals that they have for our graduates after they leave Cal Poly. The educational objectives of the Environmental Engineering Program are as follows: Practice as professional engineers by gaining a thorough foundation in the following areas: water and wastewater; air pollution; and solid and hazardous wastes; pursue higher studies, research and life-long learning, and develop an appreciation of liberal arts and social sciences; and to have global awareness of environmental issues and use appropriate technologies to solve them.

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The Sustainable Environments minor educates students within the College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED) in the principles and various aspects of sustainable environmental design with global, regional and local perspectives and concepts. It provides students with the knowledge and abilities needed to integrate concerns for ecology, social equity and economics within the context of human and natural resource systems and the built environment.

A minor in Sustainable Agriculture is open to all Cal Poly students. In it, students approach modern agricultural problems from a holistic perspective, emphasizing agricultural planning integrated with ecological principles. Through experience in sustainable agricultural practices, students learn about farming in the context of an agro-ecosystem: a system whose processes and relationships can be manipulated to allow production with fewer adverse environmental impacts and external inputs. Students develop knowledge and skills involving holistic management, crop production, and adaptive decision-making in a hands-on environment.

The minor in Environmental Studies is an interdisciplinary program open to students in all colleges at Cal Poly. The program seeks to provide both scientific/technical and social/political/economic perspectives on the environment. The minor will provide students an opportunity to integrate and synthesize the many strands of knowledge that bear on environmental issues. The culmination of the minor is the Area F capstone course, "The Global Environment," a broadly interdisciplinary examination of issues such as population, climate change, and biodiversity that impact the environment at the global scale.

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