Pratt Institute
AC-2: Learning Outcomes

Within the undergraduate Sustainability Studies Minor, students that successfully complete sustainability-related or sustainability-focused courses develop the ability to: • Demonstrate familiarity with how multiple disciplines (within the social sciences and across schools at Pratt, including but not limited to history, philosophy, anthropology, ecology, chemistry, design, architecture, and literature) define and apply sustainability, and the historical context of their development. • Apply the interdisciplinary methods of inquiry and analysis relevant to sustainability (including but not limited to history, philosophy, anthropology, ecology, chemistry, design, architecture, and literature) to address problems, answer questions, and construct arguments. • Explore the ways in which ecosystems are self-sustaining, how human activities have disrupted those ecosystems, and consider the effects of human changes on ecosystems and the humans who depend on those ecosystems. • Understand the global, ethical, behavioral, legal, economic, and political contexts to sustainable and unsustainable habitation on Earth. • Engage the theoretical approaches to sustainability presented with students’ professional and personal goals as creative professionals and responsible contributors to society. The Graduate MA in Sustainable Environmental Systems has the following program learning outcomes: PROGRAM LEARNING OBJECTIVES Through their studies in the Sustainable Environmental Systems program, students will: Develop the ability to assess and critically examine environmental issues related to water and air quality, solid waste management, urban energy systems, and building performance. Demonstrate a foundational understanding of the legal, economic and regulatory framework of federal, state, and New York City environmental policy and review. Learn stakeholder engagement and uphold social and environmental justice while demonstrating the ability to engage in collaborative, interdisciplinary, environmental problem solving. Develop an understanding of sustainable community development. Design sustainable environmental policies and plans with verifiable indicators and metrics. Understand and argue the cost of environmental externalities associated with current economic policy and development. Develop a baseline level of technical proficiency and professional communication skills: written, oral, and visual. https://www.pratt.edu/academics/architecture/sustainable-environmental-systems/sustainable-environmental-systems-ms/

MSCI 271 Ecology for Architects (required for completion of the B.Arch undergraduate degree) Students will be able to: • understand and describe the major ideas of natural selection, population and community ecology, biodiversity, climate change and sustainability • describe and debate some of the major ecological issues relating to the current and future human condition, e.g. ecosystem services, agricultural systems, water resources, the management of reserves and the growth of cities • identify & describe specific ways in which natural or anthropogenic activity might influence terrestrial & aquatic ecosystems • describe and assess the ecological impact of the use and development of alternative energy technologies • describe how environmental health may be impacted by toxic materials & describe what factors contribute to toxicity • address issues of ecological concern using qualitative and quantitative arguments • describe the ecological basis of "green" movements in design and architecture MSCI 270 Ecology (required for Sustainability Studies Minor) Students who successfully complete Ecology will be able to... • depict how different interactions in ecological communities produce the variety of ecosystems and emergent ecological flows observed on Earth. • explain how ecologists and evolutionary biologists conduct studies to improve our understanding of how the natural world functions. • connect the functioning of ecological systems with resources and services that human civilizations depend upon. • catalog and assess the relative severity of different ecological and environmental problems. • use critical, logical, and creative thinking to devise and assess solutions to major problems of human sustainability. • use library and internet research to find sources of scientific evidence about an ecological or environmental problem. • write and revise a Term Paper that proposes a solution to an ecological or environmental problem.

Graduation numbers generated by the Registrar's Office for the classes of 2016, 2017, & 2018 for students graduating in the Sustainability Studies Minor (which has program-level learning objectives) and the Bachelors in Architecture (B.Arch, which requires the Sustainability course Ecology for Architects). The breakdowns for each year's graduation figures: 2016 Total undergraduate degrees awarded in 2016: 683 B.Arch undergraduate degrees awarded in 2016: 134 Total undergraduate degrees with Sustainability Studies minors awarded in 2016 (excluding Architecture majors to avoid double-counting): 13 SUST+ARCH=147 (21% of total undergraduate degrees) 2017 Total undergraduate degrees awarded in 2017: 754 B.Arch undergraduate degrees awarded in 2017: 119 Total undergraduate degrees with Sustainability Studies minors awarded in 2017 (excluding Architecture majors to avoid double-counting): 12 SUST+ARCH=131 (17% of total undergraduate degrees) 2018 Total undergraduate degrees awarded in 2018: 726 B.Arch undergraduate degrees awarded in 2018: 230 Total undergraduate degrees with Sustainability Studies minors awarded in 2018 (excluding Architecture majors to avoid double-counting): 17 SUST+ARCH= 247 (34% of total undergraduate degrees) 2016-18 inclusive Undergrad degrees awarded: 683+754+726 = 2,163 B.Arch degrees awarded: 134+119+230 = 483 Undergraduate degrees with Sustainability Studies minors awarded (excluding Architecture majors to avoid double-counting): 13+12+17=42 SUST+ARCH=525 24%