Entrepreneurial Sustainability Minor

[Advising Note: Effective 9/27/23, the Entrepreneurial Sustainability minor is no longer accepting new students]

Sustainability has become a pervasive challenge for individuals, organizations, and society alike.  Often defined as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs,” the concept of sustainability is grounded in the interrelated areas of our economy, our social systems, and the natural environment.  The minor in Entrepreneurial Sustainability allows students to explore the problems of sustainability (i.e., climate change, food availability, social justice, pollution, social equity, natural resource depletion) and consider a myriad of ways to innovate and create effective solutions through systems-thinking and interdisciplinary design.  This is achieved by having students take courses that cover aspects of economics, society, and the natural environment, as well as dynamic discussion and discovery of innovative, creative, and entrepreneurial solutions through three one credit minor “core” courses. [21-22 credits]

Program Learning Outcomes

1. Students who decide to minor in Entrepreneurial Sustainability will be able to:
2. Describe the history of the sustainability movement and its impacts to business and society.
3. Explain the ways sustainability has and is affecting individuals, organizations, and society.
4. Explain the ways in which societal and economic growth is limited by the natural environment.
5. Discuss the elements of the social foundation required for a sustainable world.
6. Explain the role that systems thinking plays in conceptualizing sustainability-centered problems and solutions.
7. Evaluate sustainability-centered challenges and proposed solutions through creative and innovative problem solving.
8. Develop and implement an action-based solution to a sustainability-related issue or challenge.

Advising note: Alternative courses not listed but meeting the learning outcomes related to this minor may be substituted by the Chair of the School of Management in consultation with the appropriate corresponding Department Chairpersons.