University of Saskatchewan
AC-2: Learning Outcomes

Division Level Sustainability Learning Outcomes:

SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY: SENS graduates...
Think holistically with ethical intent
- Apply critical and creative thinking to sustainability problems
- Transcend disciplinary boundaries to achieve harmonious integration of human and natural systems
- Identify and assess how human and natural systems work and interact

Deeply understand sustainability
- Explain and understand the origins and multiple dimensions of sustainability
- Think across and within systems
- Develop a fulsome vocabulary to demonstrate a deep understanding of sustainability
- Understand how complexity and uncertainty affect the sustainability of socio-ecological systems

Integrate a range of perspectives and ways of knowing
- Demonstrate and encourage respect for a range of perspectives and ways of knowing
- Are able to articulate the benefits and limitations of a range of perspectives and ways of knowing
- Are profoundly aware of their own position, its strengths, limitations, and assumptions

Are ambassadors for sustainability and agents of change
- Mobilize theory into practice to solve problems
- Ask bold/difficult/challenging questions
- Are courageous, tenacious risk-takers in the face of change
- Can perceive practical solutions and new insights to sustainability challenges

Have research expertise
- Can work effectively in interdisciplinary, inter-cultural and/or cross-sectoral teams
- Understand the process of research
- Know how to design and execute effective interdisciplinary research
- Can synthesize, integrate, analyze and evaluate data for the purpose of creating new knowledge
- Know how to conduct research ethically

Demonstrate collaborative, leadership and professional skills in knowledge sharing
- Can work effectively in interdisciplinary, intercultural and/or cross-sectoral teams
- Can plan and manage sustainability projects and research
- Can effectively manage self in the context of sustainability projects (e.g. setting realistic deadlines, being reliable, working effectively under uncertainty, solving problems, maintaining a positive attitude, modelling professional conduct)
- Can facilitate, mediate, translate, and communicate knowledge to appropriate audiences in many different forms

Have a substantive area of expertise in keeping with their program of study:
- Demonstrate excellence within their chosen field of study
- Can create, analyze, synthesize and communicate within their field(s) of study

Programs and Sustainability Courses Required to Complete the Programs:

ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY (College of Arts and Science):
Environment and Society will provide students an interdisciplinary program that prepares them for employment or further study in a broad range of areas related to the Environment.  Through exposure to science, social science, and humanities perspectives related to the environment, students will develop an understanding of environmental science, resource management, environmental philosophy, policy, and environmental studies.

This program requires the completion of GEOG 120 Introduction to Global Environmental Systems, as a well as other sustainability courses and courses that include sustainability.

ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY (College of Arts and Science):
Students completing this program will have a comprehensive understanding of the basic science of environmental biology and ecological theory, an exposure to technical skills, and will be articulate and knowledgeable about the complex environmental issues facing our society. 

This program requires the completion of GEOG 120 Introduction to Global Environmental Systems, as a well as electives identified as sustainability courses and courses that include sustainability.

ENVIRONMENTAL EARTH SCIENCES (College of Arts and Science):
The interdisciplinary program explores the relationships, both modern and ancient, among the solid Earth, the atmosphere, the oceans, and the biosphere; its primary emphasis is on the physical sciences, rather than the biological sciences. An important part of the program is training in methods, including field methods, of investigating and interpreting near-surface environments, and the effects of human activities upon them.

This program requires the completion of GEOG 120 Introduction to Global Environmental Systems or GEOL 121.3 Earth Processes, as a well as other sustainability courses and courses that include sustainability.

INDIGENOUS STUDIES (College of Arts and Science):
Students will be exposed to a variety of perspectives, world views, sources and intellectual traditions while they seek to link the processes of the past with contemporary issues. Successful graduates will have the skills and knowledge that will enable them to contribute constructively to the intellectual, cultural, political, or economical capital of Aboriginal societies.

This program requires the completion of INDG 107 Introduction to Canadian Indigenous Studies.

NORTHERN STUDIES (College of Arts and Science):
The Northern Studies program offers students the opportunity to learn about the lands, peoples and issues of the circumpolar North with a special emphasis given to matters concerning indigenous people. Students pursuing a degree in Northern Studies are required to complete an advanced emphasis stream in either aboriginal public administration or environmental impact assessment.

This program requires the completion of GEOG 351.3 Northern Environments, as a well as other sustainability courses and courses that include sustainability.

ABORIGINAL AND NORTHERN EDUCATION (College of Education):
The main goal of Indian Teacher Education Program (ITEP) is to prepare First Nations teachers who will be able to respond to the challenges associated with the ever-changing educational needs and objectives of students in our school systems. The primary goals of Saskatchewan Urban Native Teacher Education Program (SUNTEP) are to ensure people of Métis ancestry are adequately represented in the teaching profession and to ensure that graduates are educated to be sensitive to the individual needs of all students.

ITEP requires the completion of s EFDT 313 Pedagogies of Place Context Based Learning (Elementary) or EFDT 315 Pedagogies of Place Context Based Learning (Secondary). SUNTEP requires EFDT 313 Pedagogies of Place Context Based Learning Elementary and GEO 125 Environmental Science and Society.

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING (College of Engineering):
This program educates environmental engineers to develop solutions to environmental problems using the principles of biology, physics, and chemistry.

This program requires the completion of ENVE 201 Principals of Environmental Engineering and TOX 301.3 Environmental Toxicology or EVSC 421.3 Contaminated Site Management and Remediation.

RESOURCE SCIENCE (College of Agriculture and Bioresources):
Resource Science provides essential skills in resource management coupled with a broader understanding of the role of management in society.  The Resource Science field of study provides students with hands-on, practical experience in field measurement and assessment.

This program requires the completion of EVSV 110 Renewable Resources and Environment, GEOG 120 Introduction to Global Environmental Systems or GEOL 206 Earth Systems, GEOG 280 Environmental Geography, RRM 312 Natural Resource Management and Indigenous Peoples, GEPG 385 Analysis of Environmental Management and Policy Making or GEOG 386 Environment Impact Assessment or ENVE 481 Sustainability and Environmental Assessment and ENVS 401 Sustainability in Action.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE (College of Agriculture and Bioresources):
The Environmental Science program explores the relationships between environmental constraints and sustainable development with an emphasis on prairie agriculture and forestry. The major emphasis of Environmental Science courses is on practical field experience in Prairie and Boreal Forest environments and on laboratory analysis and computer-based interpretation of results. Environmental Science courses are complemented by courses in environmental policy, environmental assessment, environmental quality, and agriculture and the environment.

This program requires the completion of BIOL 120 The Nature of Life, AGCR 111 Sustainable Plant and Soil Management, EVSC 110 Renewable Resources and Environment, EVSC 210 Environmental Physics, GEOL 206 Earth Systems or GEOG 120 Introduction to Global Environment; ENVS 401 Sustainability in Action.