West Haven, Conn., July 20, 2010 -- The faculty from the four colleges at the University of New Haven (UNH) have developed a new Bachelor of Science degree program in sustainability studies to be offered this fall. This highly interdisciplinary program has been designed for students who seek to apply sustainability principles and practices in a variety of professional positions in industry, government and academia.
The scope and demand for green products and services has increased dramatically in the past few years, driving product markets and labor markets to seek qualified and knowledgeable professionals. The UNH Sustainability Studies program will prepare students for careers in a new and dynamic "green" job market as well as provide a strong basis for life-long learning through professional experiences, advanced studies and graduate degrees. Green jobs include, among others, municipal sustainability officer, technical analyst for sustainability practices, sustainable product purchasing agent, technical manager for sustainability projects and sustainability program coordinator.
According to UNH Mechanical, Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Agamemnon Koutsospyros, who will serve as the department coordinator for the UNH Sustainability Studies program, no other programs in the state are directly comparable. "What makes this program unique is its truly balanced curriculum across science, engineering and technology, business and economics, and the humanities disciplines," he says.
Course requirements for the UNH Sustainability Studies program include a number of different disciplines. Some of the required classes include: Global Solutions to Sustainability, Project Management and Engineering Economics, Research Methods in Sustainability, Ecology of Sustainability, Environmental Law, Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, Introduction to Traditional and Alternative Energy Systems, Contemporary Issues of Art and the Environment, and Sustainable Urban Planning.
A leader in experiential education, the University of New Haven provides its students with a valuable combination of solid liberal arts and real-world, hands-on professional training. Founded in 1920, UNH is a private comprehensive university with an 80-acre main campus. The University has an enrollment of more than 5,700; approximately 1,700 graduate students and more than 4,000 undergraduates, 70 percent of whom reside in university housing. The University offers more than 80 undergraduate degrees and more than 25 graduate degrees through the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, the Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences, the Tagliatela College of Engineering and University College. University of New Haven students study abroad through a variety of distinctive programs.