| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 46.29 |
| Liaison | Thomas Frazer |
| Submission Date | March 4, 2022 |
University of South Florida
AC-4: Graduate Program
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.00 / 3.00 |
Thomas
Frazer Dean College of Marine Science |
Does the institution offer at least one sustainability-focused major, degree program, or the equivalent for graduate students?:
Name of the sustainability-focused graduate-level degree program:
A brief description of the graduate-level degree program:
The Patel College of Global Sustainability (PCGS) is the newest degree-granting college at the University of South Florida and is unique in its mission and its approach. Endowed through a generous gift from Drs. Kiran and Pallavi Patel, the College was established in 2009 to foster sustainable urban development and help society live in harmony with the environment. It accomplishes this by nurturing collaborative research and education across disciplines and supporting meaningful engagement with communities locally and globally.
Website URL for the graduate-level degree program:
Name of the sustainability-focused, graduate-level degree program (2nd program):
A brief description of the graduate degree program (2nd program):
Environmental Science and Policy, M.S.
The Master of Science in Environmental Science and Policy is designed to provide students the discipline-specific knowledge and transferable skills to understand the socio-cultural and political context in which environmental problems are created and ameliorated, as well as the scientific expertise to explore and analyze the consequences of ongoing environmental change. Students can specialize in wetlands and water, natural environments, climate and hazards, geographic information systems, or human-environment interaction. The program offers both thesis and professional tracks as courses of study.
Website URL for the graduate degree program (2nd program):
Name of the sustainability-focused, graduate-level degree program (3rd program):
A brief description of the graduate degree program (3rd program):
The M.S.E.V. degree provides a student with the opportunity to earn the advanced degree with either coursework only or research thesis options. Students must have an accredited first degree in engineering or complete a list of prerequisite engineering coursework. An optional concentration in Engineering for International Development allows students to combine their graduate education and research with international engineering service. The M.S.E.V. with thesis is a research-oriented degree in which the student writes, as a major part of the degree requirements, a thesis that defines, examines, and reports in depth on a subject area relevant to Environmental Engineering. Both the thesis and non-thesis options prepare graduates for careers with governmental agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), or private industry and firms involved in Environmental Engineering planning, design, or policy. The environmental engineering laboratories provide state-of-the-art analytical and experimental equipment for chemical and biological research. Equipment includes an ion chromatograph, atomic absorption spectrophotometer, several gas chromatographs (including with mass spectrometry), HPLC, TOC machine, and environmental chambers. Field research sites are available locally and in several international settings that include developing world communities. Graduates of the major are prepared for careers in academia, governmental agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), or private industry and firms involved in planning, design, research and development, or policy.
Website URL for the graduate degree program (3rd program):
The name and website URLs of all other sustainability-focused graduate-level degree programs:
Master of Architecture
Doctor of Philosophy & Master of Arts Applied Anthropology
Doctor of Philosophy & Master of Science Biology
Doctor of Philosophy & Master of Science Chemical Engineering
http://www.grad.usf.edu/programs/search_all.php
Does the institution offer one or more graduate-level sustainability-focused minors, concentrations or certificates?:
Name of the graduate-level sustainability-focused minor, concentration or certificate:
A brief description of the graduate minor, concentration or certificate:
MA in Global Sustainability in four different concentrations:
Climate Mitigation and Adaptation
"The Climate Change and Sustainability concentration provides an interdisciplinary approach for students to advance their career by providing the knowledge and skills necessary to assess the impacts of climate change and vulnerability, and to develop climate change mitigation and adaptation measures for both developed and developing nations. The concentration explores the contemporary perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs associated with the climate debate by defining the issues and framing the localized nature of impacts. Analysis of different regions around the globe will provide insight on climate change mitigation policy, climate change impacts and vulnerabilities, adaptation planning, and societal resilience. The concentration emphasizes the translation of policy and research into climate-smart mitigation and adaptation strategies that will yield sustainable and resilient communities"
Sustainable Business
The M.A. in Global Sustainability concentration in Sustainable Business will provide a foundation for designing sustainable organizations and businesses. Organizations and businesses from all sectors need to develop sustainable practices and models to minimize their environmental footprint and maximize their social responsibility to all stakeholders to meet the requirements of a sustainable, low carbon economy. The goal of this concentration is to provide participants with the knowledge, literacy, skills and tools they need to create more sustainable organizations.
Sustainability Policy
The interdisciplinary concentration in Sustainability Policy is achieved by bringing together courses and experiences from USF's Patel College of Global Sustainability, School of Geosciences, and School of Public Affairs to create a new area of studies in sustainability that will complement the existing M.A. concentrations.
Sustainability Policy will enable students from related undergraduate degrees, as well as professionals seeking educational and career opportunities to advance their knowledge of policy, public administration, governance, and sustainable development on an integrated platform. The demand for educated, certified and informed professionals in areas of sustainability policy continues to grow. Private/public companies, federal and state government departments, United Nations Agencies, international aid organizations, environmental NGOs, and municipalities are keen to remain abreast of the ever-changing policies and governance issues related to sustainability.
Sustainable Tourism
The Sustainable Tourism program focuses on training students for careers in sustainable tourism, ecotourism, consulting, and sustainable tourism certifications. The program was designated in 2019 as an Academic Affiliate of the Center for Responsible Tourism (CREST) headquartered in Washington, D.C., where PCGS interns have been placed. Taking advantage of the Florida environment, the concentration focuses on issues related to cultural and heritage tourism, marine tourism, agritourism, and transitioning Florida’s number one industry – tourism – to sustainable practices such as Ocean Friendly Certifications. Globally, the program offers classes that examine trends and case examples from around the world for sustainable tourism development through frameworks developed by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). The program provides many experiential learning opportunities including but not limited to beaches, aquariums, and parks in Florida, including Egmont Key.
The Master of Science (M.S.) degree in Global Sustainability offers five (5) academic concentrations, available in a traditional on-campus format, blended hybrid formats or fully online: Entrepreneurship, Food Sustainability and Security, Sustainable Energy, Sustainable Transportation, and Water Sustainability. This interdisciplinary program is designed around a curriculum of natural sciences, engineering, and business and will prepare students to address complex local, regional, national, and global challenges related to water management, renewable energy, food resources, sustainable transportation planning and green entrepreneurship with the ability to innovate in security, sustainability and resilience contexts. The Patel College of Global Sustainability strives to offer a dynamic graduate curriculum, best Masters degree in sustainability, cutting-edge research projects, top-notch internship experiences, and an overall academically superior education for our students.
Website URL for the graduate minor, concentration or certificate:
Name of the graduate-level sustainability-focused minor, concentration or certificate (2nd program):
A brief description of the graduate minor, concentration or certificate (2nd program):
The certificate program in Climate Mitigation and Adaptation is intended to prepare students to address complex regional, national and global challenges associated with climate change adaptation and resilience. This concentration/certificate program is unique as the curriculum is fully integrated to provide a systems perspective for learning and the development of an analytical perspective that will focus specifically on climate change, climate vulnerability, adaptive capacity and pathways of climate adaptation/resilience. The target student audience can come from a diverse array of backgrounds and career interests as the concentration/certificate program provides a sustainability framework to be used as a foundation for any career. The primary goal of the concentration/certificate program is to foster sustainability principles and critical thinking, equipping any student with the tools needed to enact sustainable change.
Website URL for the graduate minor, concentration or certificate (2nd program):
Name of the graduate-level sustainability-focused minor, concentration or certificate (3rd program):
A brief description of the graduate minor, concentration or certificate (3rd program):
Concerns about future economic growth, standards of living, and environmental quality have made sustainable energy a top priority worldwide. The goal of this certificate program is to provide students with a solid understanding of the key principles of sustainability, its economics, and how it is practiced by the energy industry in the form of sustainable transportation fuels and electricity from natural resources with a small carbon footprint. The program will prepare students for careers in sustainability and sustainable energy.
The certificate program will provide a general foundation in sustainability and thorough understanding of all forms of energy that can support a sustainable economy. It is designed to appeal to an audience with a wide range of backgrounds and career interests by addressing energy from all angles (technology, business, economic, policy, social) unlike similar-sounding programs at other institutions, which are designed narrowly for engineering and hard science students.
Website URL for the graduate minor, concentration or certificate (3rd program):
The name and website URLs of all other graduate-level, sustainability-focused minors, concentrations and certificates:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.