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Honolulu Community College

Arts & Sciences

Sustainability

Sustainability

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If you’re passionate about the environment and keeping it intact for future generations, we’ve got a program just for you.

About the Academic Subject Certificate

In our Sustainability (SUSI) program, you can earn an Academic Subject Certificate in Sustainability. This certificate will provide you with an interdisciplinary understanding of the core concepts in environmental and sustainability studies. 

Achieving the Academic Subject Certificate in Sustainability will connect you to relevant courses, research, community-based applications, transfer opportunities, and emerging career fields. You’ll also be prepared to pursue UH System certificates and four-year degree programs related to sustainability.

The Sustainability Certificate only requires 12 credits of Sustainability Focused (SF) courses and 1 credit of Capstone Experience. Many of the required SF courses can also be credited to meet general education requirements.

Sustainability Focused (SF) courses are designed to teach students about sustainability across a variety of academic disciplines, connecting social sciences, natural sciences, and Hawaiian knowledge to help understand our current ecological crisis

Tuition plus cost of books and supplies.

  1. Apply to Honolulu Community College.
  2. Prerequisites: ENG 100 with ENG 100S or ESL 23 or ENG 100 with 100T or ESL 13 & 14 OR Placement in ENG 100 or higher; Placement in MATH 100 or higher.

Requirements:

  • Three credits required in Natural Sciences
  • Three credits required in Hawaiian Studies
  • Three credits required from other disciplines (e.g. Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, Language Arts, Math & Business, Career & Technical Education programs)
  • Three credits – additional class from any of these three areas (this can also include an SF course from another UH Community College campus)
  • One credit – Capstone Experience 

Some SF courses can be used to meet more than one of the categories (e.g. Humanities or Hawaiian Studies), but no course can be applied to two categories; in other words, a course counts only once in fulfilling certificate requirements.

The capstone component is one credit. There are three options:

  • Research Projects: Students identify a research project and a faculty member who has experience teaching courses with any sustainability designation to oversee the work. These can be research projects related to an academic research topic, campus programs or campus operations.
  • Service Learning Projects: Students create a service learning plan related to sustainability efforts on campus or in the community, and identify a faculty member to oversee the work.
  • Internship: Students identify an internship commitment related to sustainability in Hawai’i, and a faculty member to oversee the work.

All options require students to identify a faculty member to oversee their completion of the capstone experience. All three options must be approved either by the Sustainability Designation Review Committee or a Sustainability Coordinator.

The one credit option will be pass/no pass; it will not be graded.

Students must complete the capstone requirement after completing all other certificate requirements or during the semester when the last course requirement is taken.Courses fulfilling S-Focus requirements can come from across the curriculum. Any course in the AA or AS degree curriculum can receive a Sustainability Focus designation, except for Foundations (FW, FQ, and FG) courses. Specific course sections are approved to receive an S-Focus designation by the Sustainability Designation Review Committee and are identified on the HonCC website Class Availability link. S-Focus courses are designated with an S- before the course titles (e.g., GEO 101 S-The Natural Environment).

Degrees & Certificates Offered
  • Academic Subject Certificate (ASC)
Course Information
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Get in Touch

Liaison:
Michelle Nathan
Phone: (808) 844-2316
mhw@hawaii.edu

Financial Aid and Scholarships

First, complete your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to determine if you are eligible for financial assistance which may help to cover your tuition and any additional costs. For more information about Financial Aid and FAFSA, visit Financial Aid Overview.

Next, see if you may qualify for Scholarships, which are awarded on the basis of merit, academic performance, and/or financial need. View the Scholarships page for available scholarships.

Get Started

HonCC offers more than 23 academic programs offering 22 associate degrees and 31 certificates to prepare you for a lifetime of meaningful work.

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