Professional Certificate
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SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATE
FAQs | Catalog | Faculty | CURRENTLY ENROLLING Courses
The Professional Certificate in Sustainability Management offers students the skills, perspectives, and communication strategies that organizations need to define and reach their sustainability goals while improving the health of their bottom-line. Although all our classes may be taken individually, many students prefer to complete the requirements of the Certificate as an enhancement to their career and resume.
Our program philosophy integrates the concerns of people, planet, and profit—the Triple Bottom Line embraced by the United Nations 2005 World Summit. Our courses are primarily SKILLS FOCUSED and our goal is to teach students a range of tools, skills and ideas that can be used to successfully practice sustainability in a wide range of organizations and fields.
Application: Beginning July 15, 2011 new students entering the Sustainable Practices program who would like to seek a Professional Certificate must submit an enrollment application along with a $50 application fee to cover processing. You may elect to enroll for a Professional Certificate at any time during your course of study. In other words, you may begin taking an individual course or two, and later decide to enroll in the Professional Certificate program.
MORE INFORMATION:
Our Students
Our students are interested in learning more about the practice of sustainability within organizations, both public sector and private sector. Some of our students come to the program on behalf of their current employer, some for their own personal professional development, and some to gain new skills that they can apply as sustainability consultants. Workers in business, non-profits, local government agencies, educational institutions, hospitals, and other organizations will find the program useful. Classes are typically small, and networking and sharing resources and tips among our professional students in the class frequently enriches the learning experience.
A few examples of organizations whose employees have enrolled in courses include Avaya Communications, National Renewable Energy Lab, Boulder County, City of Roseville, CA, New Belgium Brewery, City of Fort Collins, CO, Iowa Coffee Company, US Environmental Protection Agency, Eco-Fit Sustainable Solutions, Virginia Tech University, Centura Health Hospitals, RNM Design, Eldorado Springs Water Co, Denver International Airport.
Certificate or Individual Courses
Sustainable Practices courses can be taken individually or applied to the Professional Certificate program. Students earn the Professional Certificate by completing 100 contact hours of online or face-to-face coursework. An optional 20 contact hour mentor-led capstone project can be added. An example of a capstone project is an internship with an organization and a student-developed comprehensive sustainability plan for that organization. If you are interested in the Capstone project please let us know early in your course of study.
Students may take their courses either in the classroom at CU Boulder, or online. The program offers two types of on-line courses - "term" based and "self-paced". The self-paced courses are self study, at your pace, online courses that may be started any time. Self-paced courses have no interaction with an instructor or other students and are more information-based. The term-based online courses have a specific start date along with other enrolled students and a participating instructor, and a specific end date. Term-based courses have interaction between students and the instructor, but not as much as in a classroom. Many students prefer the classroom-based courses to take advantage of in-person networking and interaction in a face-to face environment.
A maximum of 30 hours of coursework from "self-paced" on-line courses may be applied to the Professional Certificate.
Instructors
Sustainable Practices courses are taught by sustainability experts from related academic disciplines, as well as proven “sustainability leaders” who have successfully implemented cutting-edge practices in their own lives and organizations. Our instructors are primarily practitioners themselves, either in public-sector sustainability coordinating positions, or as sustainability consultants. They bring a wealth of "boots on the ground" understanding and experience in the practice of sustainability to their courses and teaching. Case studies, challenges and best practices are emphasized in most courses.