Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 69.91
Liaison Julie Hopper
Submission Date Dec. 20, 2023

STARS v2.2

University of Southern California
AC-3: Undergraduate Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Julie Hopper
Data Analyst
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Majors, degrees and certificate programs

Does the institution offer at least one ​sustainability-focused​ major, degree, or certificate program for undergraduate students?:
Yes

Name of the sustainability-focused undergraduate degree program:
Environmental Studies Program, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

A brief description of the undergraduate degree program:
The Environmental Studies (ENVS) degrees are built on specialized natural and social science courses and a set of interdisciplinary courses focusing on sustainability. The social science core courses focus on environmental problems from political, legal, economic and international prospectives. Specially designed one-semester surveys of biology, earth science and chemistry provide the natural science competency for subsequent policy or science advanced course work in environmental studies.

Two concentrations are available in the Environmental Studies BA degree: Science and Management; and Policy and Management.

Four concentrations are available in the Environmental Studies BS degrees; Sustainability and Society; Oceans and People; Climate and Environment; and Environmental Policy.

Website URL for the undergraduate degree program:

Additional degree programs (optional) 

Name of the sustainability-focused, undergraduate degree program (2nd program):
Environmental Science and Health Undergraduate Program

None
A brief description of the undergraduate degree program (2nd program):
The Environmental Science and Health (ENSH) degrees combine the interdisciplinary courses on sustainability described above and some of the environmental social science content with traditional biology and chemistry content to provide options for students preparing for one of the health professions with an undergraduate emphasis on environmental sustainability.

The BS in environmental science and health incorporates recommended preparation for medical schools. The BA in environmental science and health may be appropriate for students preparing for other graduate or professional training as well as students pursuing double majors.

The environmental studies courses common to both majors emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of environmental problems. Some of the major courses are team-taught by faculty with complementary backgrounds in science and policy. A number of opportunities are provided for field studies from the urban Los Angeles environment to marine protected areas on the coasts of the California Channel Islands. More intensive field study opportunities include "Problems Without Passports" courses with international components.

Website URL for the undergraduate degree program (2nd program):
Name of the sustainability-focused, undergraduate degree program (3rd program):
Viterbi School of Engineering, Environmental Engineering Program

None
A brief description of the undergraduate degree program (3rd program):
The Astani Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering covers engineering approaches required to provide safe drinking water, maintain air quality, control water pollution, and remediate sites contaminated due to spills or improper disposal of hazardous substances. Graduating students are broadly educated and technically trained through the ABET accredited program to address the spectrum of issues facing the environment.

Website URL for the undergraduate degree program (3rd program):
None
The name and website URLs of all other sustainability-focused, undergraduate degree program(s):
Below are the names of the undergraduate sustainability-focused programs identified in AC-2 and are based on their requirements of at least one sustainability-focused course (as detailed in AC-1), or having a sustainability-focused program learning outcome.

Undergraduate MAJOR Programs:
Aerospace Engineering BS
American Studies and Ethnicity (Chicano/Latino Studies) BA
Architectural Studies BS
Architecture BARCH
Astronautical Engineering BS
Astronomy BA
Biological Sciences BA
Biological Sciences (Biotechnology) BS
Biological Sciences (Ecology, Evolution and Environment) BS
Biological Sciences (Marine Biology) BS
Biological Sciences (Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology) BS
Biomedical Engineering BS
Biomedical Engineering (Biochemical Engineering) BS
Biomedical Engineering (Electrical Engineering) BS
Biomedical Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) BS
Biomedical Engineering (Molecular and CellularEngineering) BS
Biophysics BS
Chemical Engineering BS
Chemical Engineering (Biochemical Engineering) BS
Chemical Engineering (Environmental Engineering) BS
Chemical Engineering (Nanotechnology) BS
Chemical Engineering (Petroleum Engineering) BS
Chemical Engineering (Polymer/Materials Science) BS
Chemical Engineering (Sustainable Energy) BS
Chemistry BA
Chemistry (Chemical Biology) BS
Chemistry (Chemical Nanoscience) BS
Chemistry (Research) BS
Civil Engineering BS
Civil Engineering (Building Science) BS
Civil Engineering (Construction Engineering and Management) BS
Civil Engineering (Structural Engineering) BS
Civil Engineering (Water Resources Engineering) BS
Cognitive Science BA
Comparative Literature BA
East Asian Lang. and Cultures BA
Electrical and Computer Engineering BS
Electrical Engineering BS
Engineering (Environmental Engineering) BS
Environmental Engineering BS
Environmental Science and Health BA
Environmental Studies BA
Gender and Sexuality Studies BA
GeoDesign BS
Health and Humanity BA
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Studies BS
Human Biology BS
Interdisciplinary Studies BA
Mechanical Engineering BS
Mechanical Engineering (Petroleum Engineering) BS
Narrative Studies BA
Non-Governmental Organizations and Social Change BA
Philosophy, Politics and Economics BA
Physical Sciences BS
Physics BA

Minors and concentrations

Does the institution offer one or more sustainability-focused minors or concentrations for undergraduate students?:
Yes

Name of the sustainability-focused undergraduate minor or concentration:
Environmental Health

A brief description of the undergraduate minor or concentration:
This minor provides students with a basic understanding of environmental health and its challenges. Curriculum will focus on global health, epidemiology (as it relates to environmental exposures), toxicology and exposure science. Students will be prepared to address and prevent environmental health hazards, promote public health and contribute to the resolution of various environmental health challenges. This minor is ideal for pre-health majors across the university.

Website URL for the undergraduate minor or concentration:

Additional minors and concentrations (optional) 

Name of the sustainability-focused undergraduate minor or concentration (2nd program):
Environmental Chemistry and Sustainability

A brief description of the undergraduate minor or concentration (2nd program):
The environmental chemistry and sustainability minor is designed for students majoring in business, engineering, law, communications and other professional fields to give them the knowledge of chemistry needed to understand, formulate and manage scientific issues related to natural environmental processes as well as technologies involving the environment.

Website URL for the undergraduate minor, concentration or certificate (2nd program):
Name of the sustainability-focused undergraduate minor or concentration (3rd program):
GIS and Sustainability Science Minor

A brief description of the undergraduate minor or concentration (3rd program):
The innovative Minor in GIS and Sustainability Science provides an interdisciplinary foundation for individuals to address environmental sustainability, among the most pressing challenges of our time. With an understanding of concepts of spatial sciences, including geographic information science, cartographic principles, spatial data acquisition and analysis, and techniques of programming and customization, students will be capable of analyzing and utilizing geospatial information linked with human and natural systems to understand how humans create stress on ecosystems and make informed decisions about how to alleviate stress or restore damaged ecosystems.

Website URL for the undergraduate minor or concentration (3rd program):
The name and website URLs of all other sustainability-focused undergraduate minors and concentrations:
Full list of Sustainability-Focused undergraduate MINOR Programs:
Cultural Competence in Medicine
Designing Products
East Asian Languages and Cultures
Environmental Chemistry and Sustainability
Environmental Health
Geobiology
Geohazards
GIS and Sustainability Science
Human Disease
Human Resource Management
International Health, Development & Social Justice
Iranian Studies
Justice, Voice and Advocacy
Law and Migration Studies
Law and Social Justice
Marine Biology
Medical Anthropology
Nanotechnology
Narrative Structure
Natural Science
Sociology
Substance Abuse Prevention

URL: https://catalogue.usc.edu/content.php?catoid=18&navoid=7407

Optional Fields  

Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Data current as of 11/26/23

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.