College of Agriculture & Natural ResourcesDepartment of Community Sustainability

The Department of Community Sustainability reflects a unique integration of the social sciences, humanities and natural sciences across its research, teaching and outreach missions. This integration advances the department’s goal of educating scholars and practitioners who are able to create, integrate and harness new knowledge to protect and improve both social and natural systems.

The Department’s programs reflect an understanding that how students learn is as important as what they learn. Courses, service-learning projects, internships, study abroad programs and other co-curricular activities combine academic content with the building of competencies such as fostering dialogue and action on critical issues, decision-making, leveraging diversity in communities and organizations, encouraging innovation within organizations and/or communities, and promoting and sustaining positive change.

Undergraduate Majors

Consistent with its mission to assist in the development of sustainable communities, the department offers three undergraduate majors linked by a common core set of courses in sustainability studies (see Sustainability Core). The three undergraduate majors are:  

Environmental Studies and Sustainability (ESS)

Sustainable Parks, Recreation and Tourism (SPRT)

Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Education (AFNRE)

These three new majors replace our existing majors of Environmental Studies and Agriscience and Natural Resources Recreation and Tourism (NRRT). Current students in these majors may complete their existing major or transfer into the new one.

FAQ's for current students:

• Current ESA students (Teacher Education concentration)
• Current ESA students (other concentrations)
• Current NRRT Students