Green Mountain College
AC-2: Learning Outcomes

All undergraduate programs require completion of the ELA program, which has 23 sustainability learning outcomes. Additionally, all graduate programs include a significant number of sustainability learning outcomes. The programs listed here are ones that offer the most focus on sustainability. Undergraduate programs with significant sustainability learning outcomes beyond the general education curriculum: Adventure Education (BS) Biology (BA/BS) Sustainable Business (BS) Environmental Studies (BA) Natural Resources Management (BS) Renewable Energy and Ecological Design (BA) Resort Management (BS) Sustainable Agriculture & Food Production (BA) All graduate programs include significant sustainability learning outcomes: Environmental Studies (MS) Sustainable Business (MBA) Sustainable Food Systems (MS)

Green Mountain College Environmental Liberal Arts (ELA) Goals & Learning Outcomes: All undergraduates at GMC must complete at least two ELA core and multiple distribution courses. All ELA courses must make explicit connections between the course content and ELA sustainability learning outcomes, which are: I. Systems Thinking Students will understand the structure and dynamics of representative social and natural systems and their interrelationships. 1. Students will demonstrate knowledge of social systems and their historical development. 2. Students will demonstrate knowledge of ecological systems and how they have been historically conceived. 3. Students will demonstrate the ability to integrate knowledge of social and ecological systems to predict, assess, and analyze the effects of human activities. II. Critical Thinking and Communication Students will develop and apply strong problem-solving skills and communication skills. 1. Students will demonstrate the ability to communicate complex issues and ideas to diverse audiences in a variety of media. 2. Students will demonstrate the ability to evaluate reasoning and to create effective arguments that address these issues. 3. Students will demonstrate information literacy through the ability to access, understand, apply, and evaluate sources of information critically and to distinguish fact from opinion. 4. Students will apply these skills in service to their community. III. Environmental Awareness Students will understand the factors contributing to our domestic and global ecological challenges and demonstrate the ability to evaluate proposals for creating a more sustainable future. 1. Students will understand contemporary environmental issues such as climate change, resource depletion and biodiversity loss as well as the complexity of proposed solutions. 2. Students will understand the history of land use and the changing relationship between humans and nature over time. 3. Students will be able to articulate a positive vision for a just and sustainable society. IV. Reflective Self Awareness and Responsibility Students will demonstrate ethical responsibility, aesthetic sensitivity, and multicultural awareness. 1. Students will demonstrate reflective self-awareness of their strengths and weaknesses. 2. Students will demonstrate empathy for others and the ability to entertain multiple perspectives. 3. Students will demonstrate the ability to clearly identify the ethical dimensions of environmental issues. 4. Students will understand the roles that concepts such as race, gender, sexual identity, religion, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity may play in identifying problems or responding to events. 5. Students will demonstrate an ability to respond to and reason about aesthetic considerations. V. Liberal Arts Understanding Students will demonstrate interdisciplinary integration of traditional liberal arts areas. 1. Students will demonstrate familiarity with the subject matter and methodologies of the arts, humanities, natural sciences, mathematics, and social sciences. 2. Students will draw on the knowledge base or methodologies of two or more disciplines to analyze, evaluate, or solve a complex problem. 3. Students will demonstrate the ability to use quantitative and qualitative methodologies to interpret and analyze natural and social phenomena. Since GMC only offers sustainability-related graduate programs, all graduate students also meet sustainability learning outcomes, which are available on the graduate program website: http://masters.greenmtn.edu/.

At the heart of the College’s sustainability mission is the 37-credit Environmental Liberal Arts general education curriculum, which all GMC undergraduate students complete. ELA Learning Outcomes apply to all courses. All three graduate programs that the College offers also adhere to sustainability learning outcomes as they are sustainability-focused and train students to be sustainability professionals. The reporting year for this question is the academic year 2012-2013. The total number of graduates includes Masters students.