Urban Sustainability (Graduate Certificate)
The Graduate Certificate in Urban Sustainability equips students for careers requiring professionally-oriented, foundational, and applied interdisciplinary expertise suitable for addressing complex urban sustainability challenges that require an integrated understanding of social science, scientific, and engineering perspectives. It permits graduates to pursue sustainability careers in state, regional, and local governments; non-profit and community organizations; private associations such as chambers of commerce; industry; or private businesses and civic institutions engaged in addressing sustainability within their organizations.
Applicants must meet the admission standards of the Graduate School. In addition, applicants must submit a completed application form, evidence of a completed baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university with a g.p.a of 3.0 or more, two letters of recommendation, and a personal statement on why the student would like to pursue the Graduate Certificate in Urban Sustainability.
The Graduate Certificate in Urban Sustainability requires a minimum of 15 credits. The certificate may be earned independently of or concurrently with a graduate degree. It must be completed within three years, a minimum grade point average of 3.0 in certificate courses must be maintained, and only nine credits of certificate course work may be applied toward a graduate degree at Wayne State.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Core credits | ||
| UP 6470 | Environmental Planning | 3 |
| UP 6700 | Geographic Information Systems | 4 |
| BIO 7310 | Sustainability of Urban Environmental Systems | 2 |
| Elective credits | ||
| Students are required to complete two electives (minimum 6 credits) from the following: | 6 | |
| Career-specific electives | ||
| Ecotoxicology and Risk Assessment | ||
| Landscape Ecology | ||
| Energy, Emissions, Environment (E3) Design | ||
| Sustainability Assessment and Management | ||
| Health and Risk Communication | ||
| Land Use Policy and Planning | ||
| Community Development | ||
| Neighborhood Decline and Revitalization | ||
| Specialized applications-based methods electives | ||
| Biometry | ||
| Applied Geologic Mapping | ||
| Applied Remote Sensing | ||
| Spatial Statistics and Analyses for Environmental Applications | ||
| Advanced GIS Applications | ||
Other, non-coursework requirements
In addition to the coursework outlined above, students in the certificate will be required to attend six environment/sustainability related seminars during the course of their study. There are now numerous such opportunities at WSU, including those hosted by Water@Wayne, Urban Studies and Planning, Environmental Science and Geology, ad hoc seminar series like the one organized by T-RUST and the University of Windsor, and Green Street by the Office of Campus Sustainability. Students will be required to obtain signatures on a pre-designed form either from the presenter or the organizer of the seminar confirming their attendance.
Because of the likely prevalence of online conferences in the future, students will be permitted to attend conferences virtually and use electronic forms to verify attendance.