As of July 1, the Michigan State University Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies will become the Department of Community Sustainability.
“The change will better capture the essence of the department’s goals and create a framework for its teaching, research and outreach programs for now and the future,” said Fred Poston, dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
The multidisciplinary department is revising its undergraduate majors to feature three majors focusing on environmental studies and sustainability; sustainable parks, recreation and tourism; and agriculture, food and natural resource education.
“As part of its evolution and increased focus on sustainability, these curricular changes will provide a common core of sustainability courses applied to its majors. Graduate curricula will evolve to enable students in the newly renamed department to pursue master’s and doctoral degrees in either community sustainability or sustainable tourism and protected area management,” Kaplowitz said