Why Choose a Sustainability Certificate?
Perhaps the best reason for pursuing a sustainability certificate is a personal interest in learning practical skills to make a difference in the world—in your life, in your job, and in your community. Working toward a certificate offers students the opportunity to pursue interests that complement their major(s). For example, the interdisciplinary nature of sustainability encourages students to consider multiple perspectives. In doing so, this certificate provides a breadth of perspective highly applicable to complex problems, such as those we face in our communities, in our workplaces, and in our personal lives.
The Nelson Institute also offers a major and another certificate:
Environmental Studies Major
Environmental Studies Certificate
The sustainability certificate can be added to any undergraduate major. Students who earn a sustainability certificate may not earn the environmental studies certificate or the certificate in engineering for energy sustainability.
AM I ELIGIBLE TO APPLY?
Undergraduate students enrolled at the University of Wisconsin–Madison may apply for the sustainability certificate if they meet two criteria: (1) completion of one of the approved courses for the certificate with a grade of B or better and (2) are not earning the environmental studies certificate, or the certificate in engineering for energy sustainability.
HOW CAN I APPLY?
Interested? Eligible as described above? If so, fill out this application form. Be ready to upload an unofficial copy of your transcript and to answer two short essay questions (fewer than 500 words). The first question asks "Pick an experience from your own life, and explain how it has influenced your interest in sustainability." The second question asks "If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be and why?" You might find it helpful to draft your responses beforehand.
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CERTIFICATE
- A 3.00 GPA in all coursework that counts toward the certificate
- 12 credits of coursework total, 3 credits from each of the four main categories
- A sustainability-related community service project
- Courses taken on a pass/fail basis will not count toward the certificate.
Environmental Dimension
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select minimum of 3 credits | 3 | |
| ENVIR ST/SOIL SCI 101 | Forum on the Environment | 1-2 |
| ENVIR ST/ATM OCN/GEOSCI 102 | Climate and Climate Change | 3 |
| ENVIR ST/GEOSCI 106 | Environmental Geology | 3 |
| ENVIR ST 117 | GreenHouse Roots Seminar | 1 |
| ENVIR ST/GEOG 120 | Introduction to the Earth System | 3 |
| ENVIR ST/ILS 126 | Principles of Environmental Science | 4 |
| ENVIR ST/GEOG 127 | Physical Systems of the Environment | 5 |
| ENVIR ST/ATM OCN 171 | Global Change: Atmospheric Issues and Problems | 2-3 |
| ENVIR ST/GEOG 309 | People, Land and Food: Comparative Study of Agriculture Systems | 3 |
| ENVIR ST/ATM OCN/GEOG 332 | Global Warming: Science and Impacts | 3 |
SOCIAL Dimension
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select minimum of 3 credits | 3 | |
| ENVIR ST 112 | Environmental Studies: The Social Perspective | 3 |
| ENVIR ST/GEOG 139 | Global Environmental Issues | 3 |
| GNS/ENVIR ST 210 | Cultures of Sustainability: Central, Eastern, and Northern Europe | 3 |
| C&E SOC/F&W ECOL/SOC 248 | Environment, Natural Resources, and Society | 3 |
| GEOG/ENVIR ST 337 | Nature, Power and Society | 3 |
| ENVIR ST 349 | Climate Change Governance | 3 |
| CNSR SCI 360 | Sustainable and Socially Just Consumption | 3 |
| CSCS 375 | Special Topics (Human Ecology of Food and Sustainability only) | 1-4 |
| ENVIR ST/GEOG 439 | US Environmental Policy and Regulation | 3-4 |
| ENVIR ST/PHILOS 441 | Environmental Ethics | 3-4 |
| SOC/C&E SOC/ENVIR ST 540 | Sociology of International Development, Environment, and Sustainability | 3 |
| C&E SOC/SOC 541 | Environmental Stewardship and Social Justice (The Global Perspective only) | 3 |
ECONOMIC DIMENSION
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select minimum of 3 credits | 3 | |
| A A E/ENVIR ST 244 | The Environment and the Global Economy | 4 |
| A A E 246 | Climate Change Economics and Policy | 3 |
| ENVIR ST/M H R 310 | Challenges & Solutions in Business Sustainability | 3 |
| A A E/ECON/ENVIR ST 343 | Environmental Economics | 3-4 |
| OTM 370 | Sustainable Approaches to System Improvement | 3 |
| CIV ENGR 421 | Environmental Sustainability Engineering | 3 |
| R M I 650 | Sustainability, Environmental and Social Risk Management | 3 |
| REAL EST 651 | Green - Sustainable Development | 3 |
SYSTEMS DIMENSION
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select minimum of 3 credits | 3 | |
| AGRONOMY 375 | Special Topics (Systems Thinking only) | 1-4 |
| ENVIR ST 402 | Special Topics: Social Perspectives in Environmental Studies (Systems Thinking only) | 1-4 |
| CIV ENGR 494 | Civil and Environmental Engineering Decision Making | 3 |
| ENVIR ST 506 | Modeling and Analysis of Environmental Systems | 3 |
Miscellaneous
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| May use maximum of 3 credits to substitute for 3 credits from one of the four categories above; requires special permission | ||
| INTER-LS 107 | First-Year Seminar in the Social Sciences and Natural Sciences (Building a Clean Energy Future only) | 3 |
| ED POL 150 | Education and Public Policy (Climate Change and Sustainability Education only) | 3 |
| ILS 251 | Contemporary Physical Sciences (Radioactivity, People and the Planet only) | 3 |
| HORT/PL PATH 261 | Sustainable Turfgrass Use and Management | 2 |
| ENVIR ST/BSE 367 | Renewable Energy Systems | 3 |
| HORT 375 | Special Topics (A Growing Dilemma: The Future of Food only) | 1-4 |
| ENVIR ST 400 | Special Topics in the Environment: Biological Aspects of Envir St (Food Systems, Sustainability and Climate Change only) | 1-4 |
| ENVIR ST 402 | Special Topics: Social Perspectives in Environmental Studies (Green Urbanism or Systems Thinking and Sustainability or People, Environment & Sustainability only) | 1-4 |
| CURRIC/C&E SOC/ENVIR ST 405 | Education for Sustainable Communities | 3 |
| INTER-AG/DY SCI 471 | Food Production Systems and Sustainability | 3 |
| DY SCI/AN SCI/FOOD SCI/SOIL SCI 472 | Animal Agriculture and Global Sustainable Development | 1 |
| GEOG 475 | Topics in Geography (Green Urbanism only) | 1-4 |
| INTEREGR 601 | Topics in Interdisciplinary Engineering (Interdisciplinary Design for Energy and Sustainability only) | 1-3 |
EXCEPTIONS
Under special circumstances, students can ask to use a maximum of 3 credits from the Miscellaneous category to substitute a maximum of 3 credits from one of the four main categories. Such a request is granted on an individual basis and requires that the student explains how the substitute class assists the student in optimizing individual goals for taking the certificate in light of the student's current major and later professional aspirations. The request requires approval by the certificate's faculty advisor in coordination with the certificate's oversight committee.
Students may request to substitute a listed course with a sustainability-related course that is currently not listed. Such a request requires that students submit a written explanation of how the substitute course meets the learning outcomes of the certificate and assists them in reaching their individual goals for taking the certificate. They must also submit a syllabus of the substitute class. The substitute request requires approval by the certificate's faculty advisor.
Certificate COMPLETION REQUIREMENT
This undergraduate certificate must be completed concurrently with the student’s undergraduate degree. Students cannot delay degree completion to complete the certificate.
- Students will be able to identify, critically analyze, and propose solutions to the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability.
- Students will be able to engage in systems thinking and practice so as to address the interrelationships among the three dimensions of sustainability.
- Students will develop the capacity for an engaged life in which theory, practice, and reflection are integrated in the pursuit of a more sustainable world.
Nelson Institute students are represented in majors across campus and in most undergraduate schools and colleges. Sustainability certificate students should utilize the career office for their home school as appropriate. All students, not just Letters & Science students, can also benefit from SuccessWorks at the College of Letters & Science.