La Sierra University Will Launch 10 New Academic Programs

Three of them are related to sustainability, school leaders said.

Darla Martin Tucker, La Sierra University

La Sierra University campus is in Riverside, California, United States. [Photo: La Sierra University]

Moving forward into the 2023-2024 school year, La Sierra University will add at least ten new academic degree programs to its offerings, three of them in the sustainability arena.

This fall, La Sierra will roll out Bachelor of Science degrees in urban plant agriculture and sustainable agriculture entrepreneurship, Bachelor of Arts degrees in sustainability and society, political science, theology, and in four STEM education programs, and a Master of Arts in Applied Behavior Analysis.

“In a post-pandemic environment, it is time for us to move our programs forward into the 21st century,” La Sierra University provost April Summitt said. “What is required of us is to revamp and re-vision our academic programs.”

The three degrees related to sustainability and urban agriculture tie in with a global sustainability and green technology market that is poised to grow from a current US$16.5 billion to reach nearly US$62 billion by 2030 at a compound annual growth rate of 20.8 percent, according to a May report from Fortune Business Insights.

Toward moving the university into the expanding sustainability field, La Sierra in 2022 began developing a sustainability park complete with an off-grid experimental geodesic dome, greenhouse, and two environmentally controlled and technologically outfitted shipping containers for Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) developed by Freight Farms urban farming company. One container arrived in 2021 for use by the university’s Enactus team to grow leafy greens and herbs utilizing hydroponics-based agriculture. Last school year, the team began using the container to provide education in sustainable agriculture and business practices for local at-risk youth. The other shipping container is used in STEM education and research and was obtained with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the university’s Title V programs.

Funding for the sustainability programs, projects, and facilities is funded in part by grants, donations, and other resources.

The park’s operations and environmental goals will also be supported by the installation in July of an off-grid solar power system that will be used to power the temperature control in the experimental geodesic dome. The US$3,000 system was jointly gifted to the university by the senior classes of 2022 and 2023.

The Sustainability Studies Program, under which the three related degree programs will be offered, was designed with a mission that correlates with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals focusing on environmental justice, critical-thinking skills, and sustainable solutions for local and global communities. Program goals include “creating graduates who are prepared to solve real-world problems in the industries of agriculture, food science, global studies, agricultural entrepreneurship, and sustainability science,” according to an academic bulletin summary.

Read more at: https://adventistreview.org/release/la-sierra-university-will-launch-10-new-academic-programs/