Sustainability

The sustainability minor is intended to expand the specialized knowledge of students enrolled in baccalaureate degree programs at Alfred State to focus on environmental stewardship and professional responsibility. This interdisciplinary minor will provide an understanding of sustainability – a unifying approach to human and environmental problems – and add an important skill set to the credentials of graduates who will receive instruction in sustainability practice and theory with an emphasis on local and global problems from a social, economic and environmental perspective. Satisfactory completion of this coursework will broaden employment opportunities for graduates to include sustainable businesses, communities, and other organizations seeking to design systems in ways that optimize material and energy use to decrease environmental and health problems and to bolster economic vitality and social equity. Students are required to declare this minor upon acceptance or continuation into the third year of a baccalaureate degree program.

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Apply the concepts of sustainability to issues of human welfare and social equity, the environment, and the economy.
2. Adapt and apply knowledge, theories, and methods learned to analyze sustainability issues and/or practice.
3. Apply the skills and knowledge to communicate and critically evaluate sustainability issues across disciplines.

Requirements for a Sustainability Minor (minimum 18 credits)

Sustainability Minor Electives (at least 12 credit hours):

• AGPS 5103 – Sust. Veg. Production Tech.
• AGRI 2013 – Organic and Sustainable Agri.
• ARCH 3003 – Environmental Controls 1
• ARCH 5900 Directed Study (None)
• ARCH 7003 – Environmental Controls 2
• ARCH 4990 - Lower Division Elective
• ARCH 7990 - Transfer Credit Elective
• BIOL 1223 – Introduction to Forestry
• BIOL 1304 – Botany
• BIOL 2801 – Environmental Science Lab
• BUAD 5043 – Business Ethics
• CIVL 6113 – Environmental Tech. Concepts
• CIVL 6123 – Advanced Mechanical Systems
• CIVL 7103 – Land Development and Design
• ECON 1013 – Principles of Macroeconomics
• ECON 2023 – Principles of Microeconomics
• ELET 4224 – Alternative Energy Generation
• ELTR 3336 – Photo. & Wind Turbine Syst.
• ENVR 4413 – Environmental Law
• LITR 7003 – Literature and Nature
• MECH 3124 – HVAC Systems
• MECH 4134 - Intro to Renewable Energy 
• MECH 7223 – Energy Systems
• SOCI 5213 – Science, Technology & Society

Please Note:

• Students should review all course prerequisite requirements prior to registration.
• Typical semesters and times that each course is offered is subject to change.
• Enrollment subject to course capacities, and at the discretion of the scheduling department.

The minor must be completed with an overall GPA of 2.5 in all courses taken at Alfred State – SUNY College of Technology. For complete details, please see the Department of Architecture and Design.