photo credit: Flickr ItzaFineDay, Darwin Bell, kretyen, vaxomatic, Clearly Ambiguous
Leaders in Sustainability
The Leaders in Sustainability program aims to provide a mechanism for graduate students at UCLA to pursue their interests in sustainability and collaborate with students from different fields.
Preparing students to be leaders in their professional fields
Sustainability, defined as the simultaneous consideration of economic, environmental and social factors, has become a key element in decision making in many areas of business and public policy. By definition, sustainability requires a multi-disciplinary perspective.
Leaders in Sustainability allows students to create a program tailored to their needs and background, by choosing among the sustainability related opportunities at UCLA. Students take a core course in sustainability and relevant electives and participate in leadership training. Additionally, students have a positive impact on the community as they learn experientially by collaborating on client projects for local businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies. Leaders in Sustainability students also give themselves a career edge by developing a broad knowledge of topics that are increasingly relevant to employers.
Who is eligible to participate?
The Leaders in sustainability certificate program is aimed at graduate students (masters and doctoral) who will become decision-makers in various types of organizations (businesses, non-profits, governmental, etc) and who will have to address the three dimensions of sustainability. The emphasis is open to all graduate students at UCLA. Currently there are over 40 students participating in the program from departments as diverse as the Anderson School of Management, the School of Law, the School of Public Affairs, the School of Public Health, the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School of Arts & Architecture, Geography, Economics, and others.
Program requirements
This certificate program is meant to supplement the existing graduate school programs. No separate degree program is proposed, although an official certificate of completion of the emphasis requirements will be provided. The requirements for successful completion of the program are:
*All students must take the LiS core course plus at least 3 other sustainability-related courses; of the latter, at least 2 must be outside the home department.
*All students will participate in a “core” course on sustainability offered by the Institute of the Environment during Winter quarter (starting Winter 2008). This course counts as one of the 4 courses required for the program. This course will include a module on leadership skills.
*All students will participate actively in relevant events organized by the Institute of the Environment and the Sustainable Resource Center, including seminars, conferences, etc.
*All students will work on a project related to sustainability in teams that include students from at least 2 different departments. These projects will ideally be part of the students’ regular graduation requirements. The faculty will try to identify suitable projects but teams may also identify their own projects, subject to the Director’s approval.
Students who are interested in sustainability but unable to complete all the requirements, for instance due to restrictions from their home departments on the number of out-of-department courses they can take, are welcome to participate in as much of the Leaders in Sustainability program as they can.
How to Register
To participate in the Leaders in Sustainability certificate program, please send a resume with a photo attached, with a 1-page essay on why you want to participate in the program, how you expect to benefit, and (if applicable) how you can help to further build the program, to the Director of the program. The soft deadline to submit these materials is November 15, 2009.
Applications may be submitted by email to charles.corbett@anderson.ucla.edu.
Your essay will be shared with the other participants in the emphasis, as a way for all participants to quickly know more about each others' backgrounds and interests.
Ideally students will register for the program early during their graduate studies, and participate actively in courses and events throughout their time at UCLA. However, students can enroll for the emphasis at any time during their graduate studies, and qualifying courses taken at UCLA do count towards the requirements of the program.
Program Overview
To download Professor Corbett's presentation for the LiS Kick-Off (10/26/2009), click here.
