Among the various minors available on campus, a new one may be added next semester to teach students the importance of sustainability and the need for planning for the future.
But the minor is not just available to Natural Resource and Environmental Management students or Miller College of Business students; it is a minor for any student on campus.
The sustainability minor encourages students from all disciplines on campus to come together to learn about different aspects of sustainability and highlighting the future and past of sustainability.
Creating the minor was not easy, it took a task force created by Robert Morris, associate provost for research and dean of the Graduate School, and chaired by Robert Koester, director of Center for Energy Research, Education and Service and professor of Architecture.
Morris said there is a growing area of concern and opportunities for employment in all areas of sustainability.
"If you have driven north on Interstate 65 you see the large windmill farms above Purdue, there are miles and miles of windmills," he said. "Then it occurred to me we did not have an interdisciplinary effort toward sustainability."
Already with wind farms throughout Indiana, Morris said it would be a minor that would benefit the students tremendously.
"We thought about what the best way to offer this to the students and what kind of mix of science, business and architecture would be the best help for students who want sustainability training."
Koester said the group examined courses the university already had available in various departments to begin to build a minor around sustainability. The minor had to be revenue neutral meaning no new professors and no new courses.
Koester said the best part about offering the interdisciplinary minor is exploring other subjects outside one's major.
"To address sustainability, it talks about the interrelationship between the economic system and the social system which are linked together," he said. "Then you have to have a broader education, which presents an opportunity to break out of their disciplinary area and engage in other areas of learning."
While the barebones of the minor was there, the task force had to be endorsed by the Undergraduate Education Committee— and it was.
Now the only step that is left is for it to be added to the Fall 2011 course catalog and a finalization of the curriculum. However, students can already begin classes already offered, including Creating a Sustainable Future by professor John Vann.
For more information on the minor and sustainability efforts at Ball State visit www. bsu.edu/sustainability.
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