Course Description

Development of skills and techniques to administer and understand sustainable concepts in the rural community. Appropriate development and utilization of technology directed towards sustainable practices will be discussed.

Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will be required to add a level of complexity to their sustainable agriculture research project by measuring or assessing sustainability. Assessment for the sustainability portion of the project will require: 1. Identification of best method to measure sustainability; 2. Identification and communication of and with stakeholders; 3. Through stakeholder communication and a thorough review of the literature, identify most important indicators of sustainability, ideal measures and values of sustainability and assessment of indicators for sustainability for the agriculture management systems investigated. While undergraduates are required to give a 10- minute oral report and a 5-7 page term paper, graduate students will be required to give a 25-minute oral report (15-minute on measures of sustainability) and a 7-10 page research paper in the area of sustainable agriculture systems.

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Athena Title

Principles of Sustainable Mgmt

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Prerequisite

BIOL 1107 and BIOL 1107L and BIOL 1108 and BIOL 1108L

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Semester Course Offered

Offered fall

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Grading System

A - F (Traditional)

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Student learning Outcomes

• Students will be able to identify and understand multiple determinants of a sustainable agroecosystem from seed to market.
• Students will be exposed to and understand differences of multiple definitions and philosophies of sustainable agriculture.
• Students will become familiar with multiple environmental factors such as soil type, climate, crop carbon and nitrogen ratio, and biodiversity and their influence nutrient cycling and the potential productivity of agroecosystems. Graduate students are expected understand 2 to 3 time more environmental factors.
• Students will become familiar with the linkages between the determinants of sustainability as well as with the environmental factors influencing sustainable agroecosystems. Graduate students are expected to move the linkages forward. understand how linkages.
• Students will design a sustainable agroecosystem with understanding of the determinants of a sustainable agroecosystem and with consideration of influential environmental factors.
• Students will investigate an issue in the attainment of sustainable agroecosystems, describe potential causes and solutions of the issue, and describe with support from peer reviewed literature a solution for a location of their choice.

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Topical Outline

• 1. What is sustainability?
• 2. The Agroecosystem a. Systems concepts b. Feedback mechanisms
• 3. Examples of sustainable systems a. Agricultural b. Community
• 4. Sustainable farming operations a. Conservation practices b. organic farming c. Application of the sustainable principles
• 5. Technology development and sustainability

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Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes

Analytical Thinking

The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.

Critical Thinking

The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.

Social Awareness & Responsibility

The capacity to understand the interdependence of people, communities, and self in a global society.

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Syllabus

Select Faculty / Instructor to download syllabus:   Franklin, Dorcas

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