University of Vermont
AC-4: Graduate Program

The mission of ­the Sustainable Innovation MBA program is to prepare individuals to create portable and sustainable business opportunities in a world undergoing transformational change. The program aims to develop the next generation of leaders who will transform, disrupt, innovate, and build sustainable business and enterprises in a world that demands it.

LEARNING GOAL 1: UNDERSTAND SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS L.O. 1.1 Show an understanding of sustainability practices and how businesses maximize shareholder value over the long run with leaders who are innovative and who manage interactions across the economic, social, environmental, and political spheres

LEARNING GOAL 2: ENTREPRENEURSHIP L.O. 2.1 Demonstrates command of business fundamentals to build an actionable Business Plan for a new venture L.O. 2.2 Show an understanding of the distinction between incremental and disruptive innovation and their roles in creating better products, services, and/or processes

LEARNING GOAL 3: CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING L.O. 3.1 Solve business problems by acquiring, interpreting, and synthesizing data

LEARNING GOAL 4: BUSINESS COMMUNICATION SKILLS L.O. 4.1 Demonstrates effective written communication skills L.O. 4.2 Demonstrates effective oral communication skills

LEARNING GOAL 5: REFLECTIVE THINKING L.O. 5.1 Show an understanding of the impact of one's actions and behaviors on others

The Masters of Professional Studies in Leadership for Sustainability, under the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources,is designed for emerging and experienced leaders to explore leadership practices that are inspired by the wisdom of nature and challenge forces of domination and oppression. This two-year program offers an innovative blend of week-long residential intensives (taking place in Vermont, Durham N.C., and the Bay area in California), interactive online courses, professional coaching, and an incredible network of faculty and professional affiliates. At the heart of this program is our dedication to cultivate a diverse and equitable learning ecosystem. The program has three central learning goals for sustainability:

1. Leadership Inspired by the Wisdom of Nature - Deepening our relationships with the more-than-human world and the ecological systems, patterns, processes, and organizing principles that can inspire our leadership, design, and change-making processes;

2. Challenging Forces of Domination and Oppression - Enhancing our ability to critically examine dominant worldviews and shift inequitable systems, patterns and structures of power and privilege;

3. Practice - Deepening leadership practices that enhance our capacities draw on multiple ways of knowing, stay centered, catalyze change, advance the work of our communities and professional organizations, and create conditions for life to thrive over the long haul.

CDAE's master of science degree focuses on community development both locally and globally. The hallmark of this program is its transdisciplinarity and flexibility. Student research and theses are in diverse areas including food systems, sustainable development, transportation, renewable energy, and consumer information and behavior both in the US and abroad. CDAE graduate programs emphasize research and scholarship that build resilient communities through social responsibility, ecological sustainability, and development in communities and businesses. Students engage in a transdisciplinary approach to research that prepares them for leadership positions in the non-profit and government sectors, as well as in socially and ecologically responsible businesses.

MS & PhD in Food Systems- http://www.uvm.edu/foodsystemsprogram/

MS & PhD in Plant and Soil Sciences- https://www.uvm.edu/cals/pss?Page=grad_intro.html&SM=grad_prog_menu.html

MS & PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering- http://catalogue.uvm.edu/graduate/civilenvironengineering/civilandenvironmentalengineeringms/

Rooted in “Participatory Action Research” (PAR), this 15-credit program guides students to identify key questions and practice new methods for integrating data from multiple perspectives (farmers, academics, activists, policymakers, etc.) around the topic of sustainable agroecosystems. This is used to both better understand agrifood system issues, as well as search for sustainable solutions that show real promise to help resolve issues on the ground. Students will:
1. Integrate ecological, social, and economic perspectives while investigating contemporary problems in our agrifood system.
2. Be placed in yearly cohorts that build community and create functional networks among program participants
3. Live in your own food shed while learning lessons you can apply anywhere.

The certificate is managed jointly by the Gund Institute and the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, and conferred by UVM’s Graduate College. Ecological Economics is a transdisciplinary field that examines the relationships between ecological and economic systems while working to solve humanity's current environmental challenges. It is based on the understanding that the economy is a subsystem of a larger ecological life support system, and it strives to create an ecologically sustainable, socially equitable, and economically efficient future. The Certificate is a problem-based, interdisciplinary program focused on developing a practical framework for integrating economic and ecological systems. Students will acquire a theoretical and pragmatic basis to carry these skills into the world of practice.

Taught by leading experts in the field, the Ecological Economics Graduate Certificate is a 15- to 21-credit, problem-based program, depending on previous credits and life experience.