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ADVANCING FACULTY AND EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE IN SUSTAINABILITY “The Undergraduate Certificate in Sustainability continues to surpass our expectations engaging students from a broad range of disciplines. Using our new sustainability course attribute codes, all Pitt students will be better able to find and target courses with sustainability content.” -
Dr. David Sanchez, Assistant Director
UNIVERSITY SUSTAINABILITY CERTIFICATE ENROLLMENT BEYOND CAPACITY Since its creation in 2016, interest in the Undergraduate Certificate in Sustainability continues to grow; enrollment has not leveled-off. In Spring 2020, we certified 26 students across Pitt to receive the certificate upon graduation. The two bookend courses “Current Issues and Sustainability” and “Sustainability Capstone” are at peak capacity . Our Fall 2020 enrollment is over 60 students (initial limit of 25), creating the need to add an additional section of “Current Issues and Sustainability,” to cover student interest and need. Because each bookend course is currently offered only once per academic year, student participation has been limited by annual offerings. We would like to remove these barriers to participation by adding a section of each course in its opposite semester.
SUSTAINABILITY DISTINCTION A collaborative team of faculty, staff, and students are working together to create one of Pitt’s five inaugural
DISTINCTION COMMITTEE
distinctions (alongside Civic Engagement, Creativity, Global Studies, and Honors). The “Sustainability Distinction” aims to provide students with a mechanism to gain recognition and “credit” for their out-of-theclassroom endeavors, thus broadening the number of undergraduate students participating in sustainability activities throughout campus and our community. The Sustainability Distinction team has developed a list of requirements for students alongside an evaluation mechanism -- and is currently working to develop the online infrastructure to track and support student attainment.
Danielle Andrews-Brown, Undergraduate Advisor & Coordinator, Environmental Studies Program Zach Delaney, Undergraduate Student Shenay Jeffrey, Assistant Director, Student Affairs Chaz Kellem, Director, Student Affairs Gena Kovalcik, Co-Director, MCSI Anfernee La Cruz, Undergraduate Student Alyssa Martinec, Sustainability Coordinator, Center for Sustainable Business Erika Ninos, Sustainability Coordinator, PittServes David Sanchez, Assistant Director, MCSI Aurora Sharrard, Director of Sustainability
