Sustainability major at MU a distant possibility
The major, if considered, would still be years away from implementation.
Published Sept. 22, 2009
The possibility of a sustainability-related major at MU is being considered, but the actual implementation of the idea is still years away, Student Sustainability Coordinator Ben Datema said.
Datema said sustainability degree programs at other colleges and universities inspired the consideration of getting one at MU.
"Before we can even begin seriously considering this option we would have to one, look at student needs to see if there is a desire for the program at Mizzou," Datema said. "And two, initiate several discussions with faculty members in a wide variety of departments to answer innumerable questions."
Paul Whiteside, the Missouri Students Association Student Affairs Committee chairman, echoed Datema's sentiment. Whiteside said he hasn't heard anything other than rumors circulating around the MSA Senate regarding the major's possibility. He said he is not sure whether it has a good chance of being implemented at MU.
"The people who have traditionally been supporting the progression of sustainability around campus are exceptionally dedicated to the cause," Whiteside said. "Moreover, if they show the same sort of commitment to the idea of establishing such a major, then something is surely going to come of it, though it may not be exactly what they set out to achieve from the start."
Sustain Mizzou Student Adviser Pat Margherio also emphasized the point that a new major would take years to implement and the first step in making it a reality would be gauging student and faculty interest. Datema said for now, the MU Sustainability Office is focusing on projects with more immediate results.
"This planning and evaluation could take several years and as a new office on campus we are much more interested in quick, semester to year-long successes that we can get students, faculty and staff plugged in to now," Datema said. "For instance, we are looking heavily at biking and other possibilities for alternative transportation as an area that we could greatly improve on campus."
There have been other steps taken to implement sustainability in MU curricula. This is the first year the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources has offered a sustainable agriculture major. Sustain Mizzou President Emily Albertson said the school realized they already had the means to create this major through classes already offered by CAFNR.
According to the college's Web site, sustainable agriculture meets the needs of both farmers and consumers by creating agricultural systems that produce food for a growing population in a way that protects the environment and supports healthy, dynamic communities.
Arizona State University was the first university to institute a school of sustainability, which opened in 2007.
According to ASU's Web site, the mission of the sustainability school is to create and share knowledge, train a new generation of scholars and practitioners and develop practical solutions to some of the most pressing environmental, economic and social challenges of sustainability, especially as they relate to urban areas.
Although the possibility of a sustainability major has gained support from Sustain Mizzou, Albertson said a general, unspecified sustainability major might be too broad.
"I believe a sustainability major is very generic in the sense that it's just such a broad category and sustainability can really be applied to anything," Albertson said. "If it were narrowed down to environmental sustainability, then I would be in favor. But I'm not sure if it's really needed in addition to environmental studies and environmental sciences, which are already offered as majors."
Comments (3)
9:10 p.m., Sept. 23, 2009
Brent said:
Sustainability is not a hobby. Unfortunately, SUSTAINABILITY is mostly used as a marketing ploy to allow consumers to continue to purchase material goods or service with much less guilt--if I buy CFLs for all my lights at home, I'm dong my part to save the planet, plus since I may save money over the long term I can go buy more green stuff. The commercialized version of SUSTAINABILITY is simply "greenwashing" and many people react to it like many people react to other forms of whitewashing. Sustainability, as a necessary way of life, however, is far from a hobby, it is essentially what we must do if we wish to preserve any reasonable existence for humans and other forms of life considering humans are well over the carrying capacity of the planet, considering we have a global economy based upon fossil fuels (namely petroleum) which are finite and our consumption of the world's natural resources are continuing to grow exponentially. To date, environmental engineers and environmental scientists have done nothing to stop the mad growth of humans and human consumption of the planet. As a matter of fact, engineering as a field mainly hopes to create new ways of doing the same old thing. Engineering as an endeavor is a great failure. It has not solved real problems associated with our survival, it has solved economic obstacles allowing for greater consumption of finite resources. Maybe these two specific fields address some of the insanity of our technological poisoning of the planet but, again, until they contribute to ending the poisoning instead of just trying to find ways to clean up our messes after the fact, damage is still done. And right now, humans are dumping millions of tons of air/land/water pollution into the environment. If you don't believe me, go out to the Missouri River or any other river system in Missouri and see how drinkable it is. Ask why the US has lost over 50% of its topsoil. Ask why there is a region the size of Africa in the Pacific Ocean that has a 6 to 1 ratio of plastic to organic material. Ask why is there a measurable level of dioxin in almost every woman's breast milk. Ask why are the large predatory fish (salmon, carp, etc.) populations are down to 10% or below of their original populations. The field of sustainability, as an interdisciplinary field, goes beyond the narrow field of engineering to address the larger picture of what is happening to our planet and the limits of human activities, which industrialized societies are ignoring. Does this mean a sustainability degree is needed? I don't know, maybe it could help. But it does mean sustainability is not a hobby, it is our key to surviving the overshoot of our species on this planet. The more people who understand it is not a hobby the greater our chances of having a world with greater potential for life instead of less potential for life. -Mech. Eng. Mizzou, '99
12:01 p.m., Sept. 23, 2009
David said:
Stop turning hobbies into majors. Who in their right mind is going to hire a sustainability major when there will be environmental engineers and environmental scientists applying for the same jobs who will come in with the ability to design solutions to the problem rather than just someone who really really really cares about sustainability a lot. Get a degree to fit the job you want. Don't try to find a job after you get a degree you are interested in because the truth is that some degrees that colleges sell you are worthless or not worth the $40k investment. Just because it's interesting doesn't always make it a good career choice.