Image Credit: Edwin Remsberg
With students gravitating toward environmentally focused careers, the relatively young sustainability studies minor – jointly supported by the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the School of Public Policy – has quickly become one of the largest at the University of Maryland.
With 213 students enrolled in the program as of this semester’s add/drop period, the minor is second in size only to human development, which holds 217 students. Created in January 2012, the sustainability studies minor was meant to enhance the university’s commitment to becoming a model in the field, said academic adviser Jess Buckley from the Department of Environmental Science & Technology. With a growing number of students clamoring for experience in the field on top of their other degrees, the program focuses on ways to creatively address today’s most pressing environmental issues.
Students may apply to sustainability studies any time, as long as they declare their minor at least a year before graduation as per university policy, Buckley said.
New students email to ask about the minor every week, she added.
The program includes one required course, AGNR/PUAF 301: Sustainability, as well as one approved course in each of three areas: science and technology, policy and institutions and social and human dimensions. Students can fill the remaining three required credits with an additional approved course, an internship or an approved study abroad experience.
The minor’s flexibility is part of what makes it so attractive to students, as they can choose from more than 80 approved classes in a wide array of topics, said Andrea Doukakis, a junior individual studies major who was the first student to enroll in sustainability studies but dropped it to create her own major in environmental sustainability.
The minor is a great option for students in any major because the variety of classes offered allows them to choose those fitting their personal interests, she said.
“It’s not cookie-cutter at all. It’s very unique,” Doukakis said. “You’re able to take your own direction.”
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