Press "Enter" to skip to content

C.W. Post Adds Sustainability Courses to Summer 2011 Curriculum

Summer Sustainability

Sandra Elien

Are you thinking about something to do this summer? Wondering where you’ll be and with whom? Have you already figured out how you will satisfy your plan of study’s core requirements? Well, C.W. Post will be offering a total of 10 new courses on Sustainability from May 16 through August 26. These courses include “Wall Street Solutions to Sustainability,” “The American Classroom & Sustainability in Curriculum and Policies,” “Introduction to Basic News Writing for the Environment,” “The Human Artistic Experience in the Natural World,” “Special Topic in Ecology/Evolution: Our Changing Earth,” “Field Studies in Earth Science,”“Eco-Art: Creative Environmental Sustainability,” “Ancient Egypt: The Ultimate Sustainable Nation,” “The Business of Clean Technology,” and “The Sustainability Challenge and the Global Firm.” These courses are offered to “change the way we think about our planet” and are the only courses offered at a special discount rate of 1/3 of the tuition. If you thought that was not enough, high school juniors and seniors will also be eligible to enroll in the environmental course for $440 and three undergraduate credits.

Although an estimate of the number of students who will sign up for the courses could not be provided because registration for summer classes does not begin until March 21, you may be wondering what the pros and cons are of taking one of these courses over the summer? But, first, what are the intentions of these classes, and will they be effective in changing students’ perceptions about “our planet”?

Across the board, C.W. Post has implemented various environmentally-friendly measures, such as recycling pails in different buildings to make students aware of their roles in “our planet.” These measures are somewhat effective in helping students become more aware about the potential hazards that will arise if recycling is not enforced.

Questions and concerns may arise about these specialized courses on Sustainability. For example, is this another way to address this issue? And if so, will it work? I think that no matter what extensive measures are employed by C.W. Post or the general community, it is a person’s free choice and decision to think about “our planet.” It is his or her free choice that will take precedence in terms of how a student will react to sustaining “our planet.”

On the other hand, how far will these courses reach the C.W. Post community, and are they only targeted toward certain students? I am sure many students will profit from taking these courses, but it might not affect all students, particularly the ones who cannot enroll in the classes. Other students from C.W. Post had some thoughts of their own about these new courses. Jillian Saltarella, a psychology major, said that C.W. Post may have taken the “go green thing a little too far.” Jenna Provenzano, another psychology major, agreed with Jillian stating that it’s “great to be green;” however, these new courses seem as though they’re “just shoving go green down my throat.”

C.W. Post is continuously bringing exciting new courses to the curriculum so that it can provide learning opportunities to C.W. Post students that will last for a long period of time.  Therefore, can you really criticize C.W. Post’s growing effort to make a student’s academic career more inclusive?

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *