Sustainability Certificate Program
Goals for the Program
The Sustainability Certificate Program seeks to educate students to make use of the skills, tools, and concepts from the liberal arts, business, and engineering to address environmental challenges and work to move individuals and society to more sustainable practices.
Requirements for the Certificate Program
There are three components to the five-course certificate program:
- Introductory Course (SUST 201)
- Synthesis Course (SUST 301)
- Three electives from the list of Courses for Credit Toward the Certificate Program.
Those three electives must include one course at each of the two non-home institutions (i.e. a Wellesley student must take one course at Babson and one at Olin) and one course in each of the two non-home areas—business, engineering, and the liberal arts (i.e. a Wellesley student must take a business course and an engineering course). These courses provide an interdisciplinary breadth of knowledge, skills, and experiences relating to environmental sustainability. (Several courses include the requirement that the major course project a student chooses focuses on sustainability issues.)
The Babson business courses listed may count toward the Wellesley degree only for students who complete the certificate program; these students may count no more than two Babson business courses total toward the 32 units required for the Wellesley degree. (A student pursuing this program who takes a Babson accounting course may count only one additional Babson business course from this program toward the Wellesley degree.)
Admission to the Certificate Program
Students may declare their intention to pursue the certificate program any time after completing the introductory course; they must do so before enrolling in the synthesis course. Students with declared program participation will have preferential enrollment opportunities for the cross-campus electives. Upon declaring the intention to pursue the program, the student will be assigned a campus advisor; students may also contact the overall program director. Advising is a central part of ensuring a coherent structure to the certificate program, so students are encouraged to declare their intention to complete the program as soon as they can.
Record of Completion of the Certificate Program
The record of completion of the program will appear on the Wellesley transcript. The certificate does not count as a Wellesley minor, so courses taken for a Wellesley major or minor may also be counted toward the certificate program.
Courses for Credit Toward the Certificate Program and Additional Information
For more information about program admission and course of study, contact Jay Turner, the Certificate Program contact for Wellesley.
For detailed certificate program information, including the list of courses that count toward the certificate, please visit the Sustainability Certificate Program website: