for the degree of Bachelor of Science Major in Sustainability in Food & Environmental Systems

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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

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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.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Composition I		4-6
Advanced Composition		3
fulfilled by ANSC 205, ETMA 311, or PLPA 200
Humanities & the Arts (6 hours)		6
Natural Sciences & Technology (6 hours)		6
fulfilled by ACES 102, and FSHN 101 or FSHN 120
Social & Behavioral Sciences (6 hours)		6
fulfilled by ACE 100, ACE 255, and LEAD 260
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
fulfilled by STAT 100, ACE 262, or CPSC 241 and one other course approved as Quantitative Reasoning
Language Requirement (Completion of the third semester or equivalent of a language other than English is required)		0-15

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
College Foundation
ACES 101	Contemporary Issues in ACES	2
Communication Option:		3 or 6
CMN 101	Public Speaking
ALEC 115	Let’s Talk about Food, Agriculture, and the Environment
CMN 111 & CMN 112	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
STAT 100	Statistics
ACE 262	Applied Statistical Methods and Data Analytics I
CPSC 241	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
ANSC 205	World Animal Resources
ETMA 311	Humanity in the Food Web
PLPA 200	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	Corporate Food Marketing	3
HDFS 330	Statistical Reasoning for Everyday Life	3
NRES 472	Environmental Psychology	4

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Total Hours		126

for the degree of Bachelor of Science Major in Sustainability in Food & Environmental Systems

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Students in this program will:

1. Examine the purposes, functions, and operations of food production systems across local, national, and global societies.
2. Investigate policies and laws of food security, sustainability, and justice.
3. Describe the impacts of resources and influence on food and environmental sustainability, and design creative solutions for these critical real-world issues.
4. 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.
5. 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

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Sustainability in Food and Environmental Systems, B.S.

Degree Website

College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences

College Website

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