Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 52.28
Liaison Stephen Ellis
Submission Date Nov. 25, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Boston University
AC-3: Undergraduate Program

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Dennis Carlberg
Associate Vice President for Sustainability
BU Sustainability
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Does the institution offer at least one sustainability-focused major, degree program, or the equivalent for undergraduate students?:
Yes

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The name of the sustainability-focused, undergraduate degree program (1st program):
B.A. in Environmental Analysis and Policy

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A brief description of the undergraduate degree program (1st program):
Students in the Environmental Analysis & Policy major are trained broadly in the social sciences with a clearly defined specialization in the environmental field. Students receive an extensive introduction to the principal energy, resource, and environmental issues that confront society, and the analytical tools that are used to understand them. Such tools include cost-benefit analysis, basic computer modeling skills, policy formulation and analysis, technology assessment, and statistics. Students learn about the social and institutional framework in which environmental and natural resource planning, management, and policy making take place. Students take classes in the natural and physical sciences to ensure they understand the biophysical basis of environmental issues.

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The website URL for the undergraduate degree program (1st program):
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The name of the sustainability-focused, undergraduate degree program (2nd program):
B.A. in Human Geography

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A brief description of the undergraduate degree program (2nd program):
Human geography is the study of the spatial organization of human activity and human interaction with the physical environment. Students studying Human Geography can follow one of two tracks: the general track combines courses in economic, political, and cultural geography; the more focused economic geography track emphasizes spatial patterns of production, consumption, distribution, and communication in the regional and global economies. Both tracks stress the application of analytical methods, including Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

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The website URL for the undergraduate degree program (2nd program):
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The name of the sustainability-focused, undergraduate degree program (3rd program):
B.A. in Physical Geography

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A brief description of the undergraduate degree program (3rd program):
The Physical Geography program has been structured to provide students with a strong background in the natural sciences and expertise in three main topical areas of physical geography: 1) vegetation science, 2) hydrology, 3) climate. The program emphasizes the application of advanced information technology to geographical analysis with courses in geographical information systems (GIS) and remote sensing.

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The website URL for the undergraduate degree program (3rd program):
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The name and website URLs of all other sustainability-focused, undergraduate degree program(s):
B.A. in Environmental Earth Science http://www.bu.edu/earth/education/undergraduate/majors/concentration-in-environmental-earth-science/ B.A. in Marine Science http://www.bu.edu/bump/undergraduate-program/ba-in-marine-science/ B.A. in Environmental Science http://www.bu.edu/earth/education/undergraduate/majors/environmental-science/

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Does the institution offer one or more sustainability-focused minors, concentrations or certificates for undergraduate students?:
Yes

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The name of the sustainability-focused undergraduate minor, concentration or certificate (1st program):
Minor in Environmental Analysis & Policy

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A brief description of the undergraduate minor, concentration or certificate (1st program):
Students receive an introduction to the principal energy, resource, and environmental issues that confront society, and the analytical tools that are used to understand them. Students gain skills in quantitative environmental modeling and are given a choice of which aspects of Environmental Analysis & Policy they wish to learn about.

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The website URL for the undergraduate minor, concentration or certificate (1st program):
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The name of the sustainability-focused undergraduate minor, concentration or certificate (2nd program):
Minor in Sustainable Energy

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A brief description of the undergraduate minor, concentration or certificate (2nd program):
The Minor in Sustainable Energy teaches students the interdisciplinary nature of energy studies. The curriculum includes the essential elements of energy from the business, economics, policy and engineering perspectives, as taught by faculty in those areas. The program is a collaborative effort among faculty in the Department of Earth and Environment in the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Management, and the College of Engineering.

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The website URL for the undergraduate minor, concentration or certificate (2nd program):
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The name of the sustainability-focused undergraduate minor, concentration or certificate (3rd program):
Concentration in Energy Technologies and Environmental Engineering

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A brief description of the undergraduate minor, concentration or certificate (3rd program):
The Energy Technologies concentration is designed for undergraduate engineering students to acquire a fundamental understanding of the environmental impacts of various energy technologies and put them in a position to pursue a career in green technology.

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The website URL for the undergraduate minor, concentration or certificate (3rd program):
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The name, brief description and URL of all other undergraduate-level sustainability-focused minors, concentrations and certificates:
Environment & Development Track (available when studying toward B.A. in International Relations http://www.bu.edu/ir/undergraduate/programs/functional/ Specialization in Ecology & Conservation Biology (available when studying toward B.A in Biology) http://www.bu.edu/academics/cas/programs/biology/ba-ecology-conservation/

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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