Northeastern University
AC-2: Learning Outcomes

2025 Pillars of Innovation include Health, Security and Sustainability defining Northeastern University's goals of excellence. Each College aligns its traditional learning outcomes to the three Pillars in preparation for a more networked, inclusive and automated world with an emphasis on people. The Academic rigor is supported through immersive experiences and a development of networks that highlight the interconnectedness of disciplines and encourages creative and independent learning for a rapidly changing world.

A list or sample of the sustainability learning outcomes associated with the degree programs:

Environmental Science and Environmental Studies:
◦ Describe how societal actions impact the environment and how the environment impacts society — at local, national and international levels
◦ Communicate environmental policies to diverse audiences
◦ Describe ethical issues in human-environment interactions globally
◦ Apply historical methodologies and analytical tools to construct evidence-based and/or data-based understandings of past interactions between society and its environment, in order to contextualize present and future changes
◦ Connect a regional or thematic focus to the larger global historical context

Biology:
Describe the foundational concepts of biology and apply them to new situations:
◦ Evolution underlies biological diversity and is supported by multiple lines of evidence
◦ Biological systems at all scales depend upon energy and chemical transformations
◦ Units of biological structure from the molecular to the ecosystem scale determine function
◦ Organisms depend on the maintenance, expression and transmission of genetic information
◦ Biological systems are based on dynamic interactions at multiple scales
Appreciate the intersection between biological science and society

Cell and Molecular Biology:
Understand that biological systems are based on dynamic interactions at multiple scales

Architecture (undergraduate & graduate):
Bring critical thinking and design innovation to contemporary problems of sustainability and resilience of the built environment through studies of the principles and practices of:
◦ Advancing energy efficiency of architecture
◦ Architectural conservation and adaptive re-use
◦ Design with sustainable material resource networks
◦ Urban and building adaptation for climate change
◦ Design for human health factors
◦ Integrating sustainable transportation infrastructure in cities
◦ Advancing sustainable economic and social equity of cities
◦ Developing building codes and policies for promoting urban sustainability and resilience

Architectural Studies (undergraduate):
Bring critical thinking and design innovation to contemporary problems of sustainability and resilience of the built environment through studies of the principles and practices of:
◦ Advancing energy efficiency of architecture
◦ Design with sustainable material resource networks
◦ Urban and building adaptation for climate change
◦ Design for human health factors
◦ Advancing sustainable economic and social equity of cities

Landscape Architecture (undergraduate):
Bring critical thinking and design innovation to contemporary problems of sustainability and resilience of the built environment through studies of the principles and practices of:
◦ Implementing green infrastructure in cities and diverse landscapes
◦ Integrating renewable energy infrastructure in urban environments
◦ Developing urban coastline defenses
◦ Promoting eco-sustainable habitat support in urbanized environment
◦ Design for human health factors
◦ Urban landscape adaptation for climate change
◦ Integrating sustainable transportation infrastructure in cities
◦ Advancing sustainable economic and social equity of cities
◦ Developing building codes and policies for promoting urban sustainability and resilience

Sustainable Urban Environments (graduate):
Bring critical thinking to contemporary problems of sustainability and resilience of the built environment through studies of the principles and practices of:
◦ Implementing green infrastructure in cities and diverse landscapes
◦ Integrating renewable energy infrastructure in urban environments
◦ Developing urban coastline defenses
◦ Promoting eco-sustainable habitat support in urbanized environment
◦ Promotion of human health factors
◦ Urban landscape adaptation for climate change
◦ Integrating sustainable transportation infrastructure in cities
◦ Advancing sustainable economic and social equity of cities
◦ Developing building codes and policies for promoting urban sustainability and resilience

The Social Impact of Business is a required course in the MBA program

All accredited engineering BS degrees must meet the following student (learning) outcome specified by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology:
An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors. In addition, the Program Criteria (PC) outcomes from ABET for Environmental Engineering, include: d) Design of environmental engineering systems that includes considerations of risk, uncertainty, sustainability, life-cycle principles, and environmental impacts. In Civil Engineering, one part of the Program Criterial is to include principles of sustainability in design.
Civil Engineering:
Acquire a common base of knowledge in the engineering sciences, including mechanics and environmental science; analyze and design urban cities and environments including building and bridge structures, infrastructure systems, multi-modal transportation systems, environmental systems within the natural and built environment, water and wastewater treatment systems, hydraulic systems, earth dams, foundation systems, and construction management techniques, with an emphasis on creative and sustainable engineering practices and design that enhance the environment and limit resource consumption, particularly in urban contexts.
Environmental Engineering:
Acquire a common base of knowledge in engineering and environmental sciences; analyze and design urban cities and environments including environmental systems within the natural and built environment, water and wastewater treatment systems, hydraulic systems, and environmental management techniques, with an emphasis on creative and sustainable engineering practices that enhance the environment and limit resource consumption, particularly in urban contexts.

First Year Engineering:
Integrates value sensitive design principles into design by identifying the need for a project/product either in the community or worldwide based on the social, environmental, and economic aspects that the design addresses; practices
socially conscious design by recognizing the role of positional values in engineering practice and analyze their relevance to holistic sustainability in decision-making.

Business administration:
Understand forces from interconnected social, political, and economic national environments; draw on ethical foundations to address and act on social responsibility imperatives across national borders. The Social Impact of Business is a required course in the MBA program and multiple

https://damore-mckim.northeastern.edu/defining-our-future-damore-mckim-2025/
https://cps.northeastern.edu/about-the-college-of-professional-studies/strategic-plan/
https://bouve.northeastern.edu/learning-outcomes/