Now enrolling for new master's of science in sustainability

 

 

 
Lipscomb University’s Institute for Sustainable Practice announces the debut of the new Master’s of Science in Sustainability, offering graduate-level courses in technical specialties such as food security and nutrition, green building principles, sustainable site practices, and renewable energy. The new program will begin offering courses in the fall semester 2009.
 
The degree will require 30 graduate credit hours and should take less than a year to complete.
 
 
 
“The new master’s program was developed due to students requesting more science and technical course options in addition to the current fundamentals of sustainability and green business courses. Six of sixteen graduate sustainability students who have filed applications for the fall have already chosen the Master of Science curriculum as their preference.
 
“At the Institute for Sustainable Practice, we want to do for the sustainability movement what centers for information technology and new IT academics did for the information revolution. Without professionals who are both equipped to deliver sustainability solutions and who can provide the leadership to expand the movement, Tennessee may not enjoy the progress and benefits we all deserve.
 
“Sustainable business and living represents a holistic approach to all aspects of society. The addition of technical specializations in sustainability simply reflects President Lowry’s commitment to broaden our program so that sustainability professionals can also excel in engineering, architecture, landscape architecture, environmental science and agriculture.”
 
 
Dodd Galbreath, director of Lipscomb’s
Institute for Sustainable Practice.
 
 
Lipscomb currently offers a Green MBA, a graduate certificate and an undergraduate major and minor in sustainability. Nineteen students enrolled in the graduate program in 2008-09 and six students have declared an undergraduate major or business minor to date.
 
Lipscomb is the first university in the state to initiate a sustainability academic curriculum, Galbreath said. It was one of 65 universities in the nation to make the list of exemplary schools offering a sustainability degree in the National Wildlife Federation’s “Campus Environment 2008: A National Report Card on Sustainability in Higher Education.”
 
Lipscomb’s current Sustainability MBA combines twelve hours of fundamentals of sustainability with a traditional MBA curriculum. This unique program is a partnership between the College of Business and the Institute.
 
 
 
“Lipscomb University initial academic coursework has presented sustainability as a fundamental approach to responsible citizenship and professionalism.” Galbreath said. “The point of a master’s degree is to refine and focus technical skills in engineering, architecture, science and nutrition so that the principles of sustainability are integrated into every aspect of our society.”
 
 
Similarly, Lipscomb University’s current Sustainability MBA prepares professionals to integrate ecological, social and economic concerns into the day-to-day decision-making process of corporate and small businesses. Graduate students in the new Master of Science program will study the natural world, society, the marketplace, and specific technical solutions that optimize instead of deplete the benefits of energy, natural resources, life and prosperity in our communities.
 
All graduate students in the new Master’s of Science degree program, the MBA program and certificate program will take the same introductory sustainability classes. After completing the fundamentals of sustainability, then they will proceed to different specializations in business, energy, food and nutrition, development and design.
 

If you are interested in learning more about the master's of science in sustainability, contact Dodd Galbreath at 615.966.1771 dodd.galbreath@lipscomb.edu.