Sustainability Certificate Program
San Francisco, USA
DURATION
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
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STUDY FORMAT
Blended
Scholarships
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Introduction
Professionals looking to advance their career through training in sustainable solutions can choose from four specialized certificate options. Choose a track that fits your goals.
Sustainability Certificate Program
Our certificates provide an opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills needed to integrate sustainable management solutions and systems thinking into any industry. It enables students who may already have a graduate degree and/or industry experience to add the language and tools of sustainability to their skill set while becoming a part of a growing global network of sustainability leaders.
Additional Program Details
Anyone interested in pursuing a certificate at PGS must have completed an undergraduate degree and submitted an admissions application.
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
Curriculum
Track 1: Sustainable Operations
Track 1 is a three-course, 12-credit sequence. Students will explore sustainability practices and analysis tools available to optimize the delivery of products and services and design sustainable supply chains. Change toward sustainable practices in fast-paced and complex operating environments requires additional leadership skills. Students will master models for creating significant, long-lasting change in organizations and systems while demonstrating how sustainability can help them achieve a competitive advantage.
Course sequence:
- Term 1: SUST6100: Systems, Sustainability, and Social Justice
- Term 2: SUST6140: Data Analytics
- Term 3: SUST6220: Operations and Supply Chain Management
Track 2: Sustainable Marketing & Product Development
Track 2 is a three-course, 11-credit sequence. Students will learn to define the functional practice of marketing and product development as a system and discover how to construct strategies and actions that produce outcomes that align with sustainable values. They will also critically analyze strategies, tactics, and decisions to understand the implications of sustainability in product design and marketing. Students are encouraged to assume an innovation mindset and develop the ability to understand and serve individual and social needs. Finally, it examines how sustainable products and marketing practices contribute to building a competitive advantage and generating new opportunities.
Course sequence:
- Term 1: LDR6100: Personal Development and Communication
- Term 2: SUST6200: Engagement: Connecting Brands and Customers
- Term 3: INN6300: New Ventures and Product Innovation – Entrepreneurship
Track 3: Sustainable Leadership
Track 3 is a 3 or 4 course, 9- to 13-credit sequence. It applies a strengths-based approach to fostering the essential individual leadership and communication capabilities needed for managers in business and public administration. These capabilities support collaborating, influencing, and acting as an effective change agent for sustainability in any type of business, organization or community. Students develop communication approaches and reflective practices, to prepare them for dealing with conflict, virtual leadership, and the complex change management challenges.
Personal and team effectiveness is enhanced through self–assessment, feedback, and practice in a reflective, supportive environment. Students explore the meaning of leadership as it has changed over time and the new roles required to facilitate organizational and social transformation toward sustainability.
Course sequence:
- Term 1: LDR6100: Personal Development and Communication
- Term 2: LDR6200: Leadership and Team Performance
- Term 3: LDR6300: Organizational Leadership
Recommended course: SUST6100: Systems, Sustainability, and Social Justice
Track 4: Sustainable Energy Management
Track 4 is a three-course, 12-credit sequence. These courses give the student an opportunity to apply concepts and solutions surrounding energy, climate, and social responsibility issues to any industry through customized team projects and presentations.
Course sequence:
- Term 1: SUST6100: Systems, Sustainability, and Social Justice
- Term 2: ECS6300: Energy Systems for Sustainability
- Term 3: ECS6340: Climate and Social Responsibility
Learning Methods
The Certificate Program operates on a hybrid model that combines the rich engagement of face-to-face learning with peers with the ability to control your schedule through distance learning. Students are required to attend monthly weekend residencies of intensive interpersonal instruction in a classroom setting. Video conference calls, learning forums, readings, and team assignments and projects with real companies connect the residencies. A typical certificate student attends PGS part-time, registering for one or two courses a semester. Students attend residency weekends for one or two days a month, and each class is a full seven hours of instruction.