Sustainability and Business Graduate Certificate

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Business is increasingly involved in social and environmental issues. On the one hand, government and civil society are exerting increasing pressure on the business sector to help address the world’s pressing social and environmental sustainability challenges. On the other hand, a growing number of businesses are seeking to respond proactively to these challenges. The Sustainability and Business Graduate Certificate prepares students to help shape solutions to social and environmental sustainability challenges, both from within and from outside the business sector.

The program was designed with several audiences in mind: current Marshall graduate students already strong on the business side, current graduate students outside Marshall who may have strength on the sustainability side but want more strength on the business side, and individuals not yet enrolled but eager to deepen their understanding of the field.

Admission

Applicants must meet the same Marshall School of Business admissions requirements as degree seeking students. Some exceptions are made for current USC students and USC alumni. Visit marshall.usc.edu/SUSB for details.

Applicants may apply for admission to begin the program in the fall or spring semesters as well as in the summer, depending on course availability. Applications are submitted online through the USC Graduate Admissions Website at gradadm.usc.edu/. International applicants are advised to see the instructions for international students published at gradadm.usc.edu/apply/international-students/.

Program Requirements

The program requires completion of 15 units.

Core: Complete at least 6 units from the following:

BAEP 591 Social Entrepreneurship Units: 2, 3
DSO 505 Sustainable Supply Chains Units: 1.5
DSO 506 Sourcing and Supplier Management Units: 1.5
FBE 557 Business Law and Ethics Units: 3
GSBA 554 Digital Strategies for Sustainability in Global Markets Units: 3
MOR 566 Environmental Sustainability and Competitive Advantage Units: 1.5, 3

Electives: Complete 0-9 units from the following:

ARCH 519 Sustainability in the Environment: Infrastructures, Urban Landscapes, and Buildings Units: 3
ARCH 576 Sustainable Design for Healthy Indoor Environments Units: 3
ARCH 579 Sustainable Building and Environment using LEED Metrics Units: 3
BAEP 564 Investing in Impact Ventures Units: 3
CHEM 581 Current Topics in Sustainable Energy Generation and Storage Units: 2
CMGT 577 Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility Units: 4
DSO 586 Global Healthcare Operations Management Units: 3
ENE 502 Environmental and Regulatory Compliance Units: 3
ENE 505 Energy and the Environment Units: 3
ENST 520 Environmental Law and Policy Units: 4 or
LAW 655 Environmental Law Units: 2, 3, 4
ENST 530 Environmental Risk Analysis Units: 4 or
PPD 587 Risk Analysis Units: 4
GEOL 525 The Science of Climate Change Units: 4
ISE 576 Industrial Ecology: Technology-Environment Interaction Units: 3
PM 555 Environmental Health, Policy and Practice Units: 4
PM 557 Global Environmental Health Units: 4
PPD 568 Environmental Governance and Sustainability Units: 2
PPD 621 Environmental Impacts Units: 4
PPD 644 Shaping the Built Environment Units: 4
PPD 688 Business and Public Policy Units: 4
PPD 689 The Nonprofit Sector and Philanthropy Units: 4
PPD 692 Transportation and the Environment Units: 4
PPDE 632 Sustainable Cities Units: 4
PPDE 634 Methodology, Methods and Tools for Urban Sustainability Units: 2, 3, 4
PPDE 644 Land Use and Transportation Planning Units: 4
PPDE 660 Environmental Policy Design and Analysis Units: 2
PPDE 662 China from a US Policy Perspective Units: 4
PSYC 456 Conservation Psychology Units: 4
SAE 515 Sustainable Infrastructure Systems Units: 3
SOWK 684 Community Practice for Social Innovation Units: 3

Note:

Given the growing number of courses relevant to this Certificate at USC, students may petition the Director to include courses not listed here. Petitions must be received and approved prior to registration for the course to be applied to the certificate.

Students may also earn credit toward the certificate electives with up to 4 units of Independent Study (e.g., Marshall 592 or 593) or Directed Research (590 in non-Marshall departments) subject to approval by the faculty directors.

For current USC graduate students, courses credited to the Graduate Certificate in Sustainability and Business may be completed in conjunction with course work required for the program in which the student is already enrolled. Applicability of these courses to the student’s primary degree program is determined by the student’s home department. For USC alumni, courses completed in conjunction with a previously conferred degree may not be credited toward the certificate.

Successful completion of the program is acknowledged by a certificate (diploma) awarded by the university.

For more information, please visit marshall.usc.edu/SUSB.