Sustainability in Food & Environmental Systems, BS
for the degree of Bachelor of Science Major in Sustainability in Food & Environmental Systems
Students pursuing a degree in the Sustainability in Food and Environmental Systems (SFES) program will analyze, investigate, and propose solutions for issues of sustainability, security, and justice within food and environmental systems. Using an interdisciplinary approach, students will examine the science and practice of food production systems, evaluate policies and laws associated with food security across urban, environmental, economic, social, and health contexts, and analyze the ways resources and influence impact food production and environmental sustainability.
Students in this program can customize their experience by delving deeper into a specialization area of interest, including (but not limited to): policy and law, climate change and society, food production systems, or resources and influence. Within each of these specialization areas, students will examine behaviors and decision-making practices of people, communities, and the economy. Graduates of this program will be prepared for jobs that require skills in critical thinking, problem-solving, scientific literacy, communication, and leadership.
for the degree of Bachelor of Science Major in Sustainability in Food & Environmental Systems
A minimum of 126 credit hours are required for graduation, including General Education Requirements and the SFES Core Curriculum.
Graduation Requirements
Minimum hours required for graduation: 126 hours.
University Requirements
Minimum of 40 hours of upper-division coursework, generally at the 300 and 400 level. These hours can be drawn from all elements of the degree. Students should consult their academic advisor for additional guidance in fulfilling this requirement.
The university and residency requirements can be found in the Student Code (§ 3-801) and in the Academic Catalog.
General Education Requirements
Follows the campus General Education (Gen Ed) requirements. Some Gen Ed requirements may be met by courses required and/or electives in the program.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Composition I | 4-6 | |
| Advanced Composition | 3 | |
| Humanities & the Arts (6 hours) | 6 | |
| Natural Sciences & Technology (6 hours) | 6 | |
| Social & Behavioral Sciences (6 hours) | 6 | |
| Cultural Studies: Non-Western Cultures (1 course) | 3 | |
| Cultural Studies: US Minority Cultures (1 course) | 3 | |
fulfilled by ACE 255 | ||
| Cultural Studies: Western/Comparative Cultures (1 course) | 3 | |
| Quantitative Reasoning (2 courses, at least one course must be Quantitative Reasoning I) | 6-10 | |
| Language Requirement (Completion of the third semester or equivalent of a language other than English is required) | 0-15 | |
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| College Foundation | ||
| ACES 101 | Contemporary Issues in ACES | 2 |
| Communication Option: | 3 or 6 | |
| Public Speaking | ||
| Let’s Talk about Food, Agriculture, and the Environment | ||
| Oral & Written Comm I and Oral & Written Comm II | ||
| Major Core | ||
| ACE 100 | Introduction to Applied Microeconomics | 4 |
| ACES 102 | Intro Sustainable Food Systems | 3 |
| Statistics Option - Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Statistics | ||
| Applied Statistical Methods and Data Analytics I | ||
| Intro to Applied Statistics | ||
| FSHN 101 | The Science of Food and How it Relates to You | 3 |
| or FSHN 120 | Contemporary Nutrition | |
| HORT 100 | Introduction to Horticulture | 3 or 4 |
| or CPSC 112 | Introduction to Crop Sciences | |
| NRES 100 | Fundamentals of Env Sci | 3 |
| or NRES 102 | Introduction to NRES | |
| ACE 255 | Economics of Food and Environmental Justice | 3 |
| LEAD 260 | Foundations of Leadership | 3 |
| Advanced Composition Option - Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| World Animal Resources | ||
| Humanity in the Food Web | ||
| Plants, Pathogens, and People | ||
| ACES 199 | Undergraduate Open Seminar | 3 |
| Specializations | 30 | |
| Students are encouraged to complete a minimum of 30 hours of coursework within one or more of the specializations. Students are not required to select a specialization; rather, students have the flexibility to customize their experience by choosing courses within or across specializations to best meet their personal interests and career needs. | ||
| Policy and Law | 18 | |
| ACE 203 | Introduction to Public Policy and Law | 3 |
| ACE 306 | Food Law | 3 |
| ACE 403 | Agricultural Law | 3 to 4 |
| ACE 406 | Environmental Law | 3 or 4 |
| NRES 325 | Natural Resource Policy Mgmt | 3 |
| NRES 434 | Environment, Policy, and Conflict | 3 |
| Climate Change and Society | 24 | |
| ABE 232 | Context in International Interventions | 3 |
| ACE 210 | Environmental Economics & Policy | 3 |
| CPSC 431 | Plants and Global Change | 3 |
| HDFS 220 | Families in Global Perspective | 3 |
| LEAD 340 | Leadership Ethics & Society: Addressing Contemporary Challenges | 3 |
| NRES 105 | Climate Change Impacts on Ecological Systems | 3 |
| NRES 224 | Environmental and Climate Justice | 3 |
| NRES 287 | Environment and Society | 3 |
| Food Production Systems | 53 | |
| ABE 152 | Water in the Global Environment | 3 |
| ANSC 100 | Intro to Animal Sciences | 4 |
| ANSC 101 | Contemporary Animal Issues | 3 |
| ANSC 110 | Animal Exploration: A Global Perspective | 3 |
| ANSC 205 | World Animal Resources | 3 |
| ANSC 251 | Epidemics and Infectious Diseases | 3 |
| ANSC 255 | Animal Ethics | 3 |
| ANSC 305 | Human Animal Interactions | 3 |
| CPSC 116 | The Global Food Production Web | 3 |
| CPSC 416 | Native Plants, Pollinators, & Food Ecosystems | 3 |
| ETMA 430 | Project Management | 2 |
| FSHN 175 | Science of Fermented Foods | 3 |
| FSHN 231 | Food Systems: Cacao & Chocolate | 2 |
| FSHN 232 | Science of Food Preparation | 3 |
| FSHN 465 | Principles of Food Technology | 3 |
| HORT 205 | Local Food Systems | 3 |
| HORT 435 | Urban Food Production | 3 |
| PLPA 200 | Plants, Pathogens, and People | 3 |
| Resources and Influence | 38 | |
| ACE 251 | The World Food Economy | 3 |
| ACE 310 | Natural Resource Economics | 3 |
| ACE 335 | Food Marketing and Behavior | 3 |
| ACE 476 | Behavioral Economics and Financial Decision Making | 3 or 4 |
| AGCM 330 | Environmental Communications | 3 |
| CPSC 444 | Introduction to Spatial Analytics | 4 |
| ETMA 311 | Humanity in the Food Web | 3 |
| FSHN 193 | Edible Entrepreneurialism - Feeding Ideas for the Future | 3 |
| FSHN 320 | Food Security: Service Learning in the Community | 3 |
| FSHN 425 | Food Marketing | 3 |
| HDFS 330 | Statistical Reasoning for Everyday Life | 3 |
| NRES 472 | Environmental Psychology | 4 |
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Total Hours | 126 | |
for the degree of Bachelor of Science Major in Sustainability in Food & Environmental Systems
Sample Sequence
This sample sequence is intended to be used only as a guide for degree completion. All students should work individually with their academic advisors to decide the actual course selection and sequence that works best for them based on their academic preparation and goals. Enrichment programming such as study abroad, minors, internships, and so on may impact the structure of this four-year plan. Course availability is not guaranteed during the semester indicated in the sample sequence.
Students must fulfill their Language Other Than English requirement by successfully completing a third level of a language other than English. For more information see the corresponding section on the Degree and General Education Requirements page.
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| First Semester | Hours | Second Semester | Hours |
| ACE 100 | 4 | ACES 102 | 3 |
| ACES 101 | 2 | Statistics Option | 3 |
| FSHN 101 or 120 | 3 | NRES 100 or 102 | 3 |
| Communication Option or Composition I | 3 | HORT 100 or CPSC 112 | 3 |
| Language Other than English (3rd level) | 4 | Composition I or Communication Option | 4 |
| 16 | 16 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| First Semester | Hours | Second Semester | Hours |
| ACE 255 | 3 | General Education Course | 3 |
| Advanced Composition Option | 3 | General Education Course | 3 |
| SFES Specialization Course | 4 | General Education Course | 3 |
| LEAD 260 | 3 | SFES Specialization Course | 3 |
| General Education Course | 3 | SFES Specialization Course | 4 |
| 16 | 16 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| First Semester | Hours | Second Semester | Hours |
| SFES Specialization Course | 3 | ACES 199 | 3 |
| SFES Specialization Course | 3 | General Education Course | 3 |
| SFES Specialization Course | 4 | Free Elective Course | 3 |
| Free elective course | 3 | Free Elective Course | 3 |
| Free elective course | 3 | Free Elective Course | 4 |
| 16 | 16 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| First Semester | Hours | Second Semester | Hours |
| SFES Specialization Course | 3 | SFES Specialization Course | 3 |
| Free elective course | 3 | Free Elective Course | 3 |
| Free elective course | 3 | SFES Specialization Course | 3 |
| Free elective course | 3 | Free Elective Course | 3 |
| Free elective course | 3 | Free Elective Course | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Total Hours 126 | |||
for the degree of Bachelor of Science Major in Sustainability in Food & Environmental Systems
Students in this program will:
- Examine the purposes, functions, and operations of food production systems across local, national, and global societies.
- Investigate policies and laws of food security, sustainability, and justice.
- Describe the impacts of resources and influence on food and environmental sustainability, and design creative solutions for these critical real-world issues.
- Apply theories of communication and leadership within a team to analyze problems, collaborate with team members, prioritize and delegate tasks, establish objectives, and propose a solution for an identified challenge related to sustainability in food and environmental systems.
- Analyze the scientific, social, political, and economic impacts of climate change within and across diverse cultural perspectives and identities.
The interdisciplinary nature of this degree, in combination with the variety of focus areas by which students can pursue to customize their experience, enables students to strive toward and attain the program’s learning objectives throughout their academic experience. The SFES required core curriculum courses are pre-requisites for many of the 300- and 400-level courses within the specialization areas of Policy and Law, Climate Change and Society, Food Production Systems, and Resource and Influence. Formative and summative assessments, designed by academic experts within each specialization path across ACES (e.g., ABE, ACE, ALEC, ANSC, CPSC, ETMA, FSHN, HDFS, HORT, NRES) will ensure students achieve the intended objectives. To further assess student achievement for the program, each graduate will be asked to complete an exit survey. The results of the survey will evaluate students’ cognitive, affective, and behavioral aptitudes toward the learning objectives and the intent of the degree program.
for the degree of Bachelor of Science Major in Sustainability in Food & Environmental Systems
Sustainability in Food and Environmental Systems, B.S.
College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences
Office of Academic Programs
128 Mumford Hall
1301 West Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801
217-333-3380
aces-academics@illinois.edu
Advising
ACES Advising website
Jack McCoy, Director of Sustainability in Food & Environmental Systems
128 Mumford Hall
217-333-3380
jemccoy@illinois.edu
Schedule an appointment with Jack McCoy
Admissions
ACES Undergraduate Admissions
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Undergrad Admissions
217-333-3380
visitACES@illinois.edu