About

The Engineering and Business for Sustainability (EBS) Certificate Program is a new initiative to train UC Berkeley graduate students to understand the complexity and urgency of their role in engineering, business, and environmental management, and to work across boundaries to achieve sustainable solutions to pressing societal problems. EBS courses will allow graduate students to tap into the university's vast multidisciplinary educational resources in the College of Engineering, Haas School of Business, Energy and Resources Group, Goldman School of Public Policy, College of Natural Resources, School of Public Health, and potentially other schools. The goal of the EBS Certificate Program is to produce a cadre of influential problem solvers who can have a lasting beneficial impact on the global environment.

The EBS Certificate Program is the first certificate program approved at the highest campus level under formal campus guidelines established in 2006. It has also been approved by the College of Engineering.

Eligibility

The EBS Certificate Program is open to any UC Berkeley graduate student who:

• is registered in Spring 2008 or subsequent semesters;
• maintains an overall UC Berkeley GPA of at least 3.0 in his or her graduate studies;
• has no more than two "incomplete" grades on his or her transcript; and
• is able to meet the EBS Certificate course requirements described below.

EBS Certificate Requirements

To earn the EBS Certificate, eligible students must follow the steps below:

(Step 1) Enroll in the EBS Certificate Program at least one semester prior to the completion of all EBS-approved courses. Students enroll in the program by filling out and submitting the following two forms:

(1.1) The EBS Certificate Program enrollment form, which is available here. Completed enrollment forms should be emailed to ebs@ce.berkeley.edu.

(1.2) The UC Berkeley "Graduate Petition for Change of Major or Degree Goal" form, which is available here. The Office of the Registrar requires this form in order to designate the EBS Certificate on the student's official UC Berkeley transcript. Please note the following special instructions for filling out this form:

• In response to "I am petitioning to:," check "add"
• In response to "To be effective:," indicate the semester and year of your enrollment in the EBS Certificate program
• In the space marked "Degree goal," enter "Certificate"
• In the space marked "Major," enter "Engineering and Business for Sustainability"
• Student must obtain the signature of the Official Graduate Advisor Chair in their home department
• After obtaining the home department signature, the student must submit the signed form to the EBS Program Executive Director (Professor Arpad Horvath) in Room 215B McLaughlin Hall

(Step 2) Complete a minimum of 9 units of EBS-approved courses during your graduate studies. Students must complete at least 3 units in three of the following four thematic course areas to ensure adequate breadth of training:
    (1) Methods and Tools of Engineering for Sustainable Systems,
    (2) Products, Processes, and Services,
    (3) Management, Strategy, Economics and Risk, and
    (4) Policy and Systems.
Only those courses listed on the EBS-approved course list can be applied toward the EBS Certificate. No course substitutions are allowed, and all courses must be taken for a letter grade. Of the 9 units required for the EBS Certificate, a maximum of 3 units may be from EBS-approved undergraduate courses. A minimum of a B grade is required in each course for credit toward the EBS Certificate.

(Step 3) Request the award of the EBS Certificate when you are in your final semester of EBS-approved courses, or in any subsequent semester after you have fulfilled the EBS course requirements. If you are requesting the EBS Certificate in your final semester of EBS-approved courses, complete and submit the EBS Certificate request form at least eight weeks prior to the end of the semester. If you have already completed all EBS-approved courses, complete and submit the EBS Certificate request form at least eight weeks prior to your last semester of enrollment at UC Berkeley. The EBS Certificate request form is available here. After receiving your request form, EBS Certificate Program staff will confirm with the UC Berkeley Registrar's office that all course and eligibility requirements have been met. The EBS Certificate will be awarded via a designation on the student's official UC Berkeley transcript, which will appear at the end of the academic semester in which the student requests the certificate. The first EBS Certificates will be awarded in the Spring 2008 semester.

EBS-Approved Courses

For the initial list of EBS-approved courses, click here. Courses may be added to or deleted from the list at a later date. Course selection may be different from year to year.

Contact

Please contact us by email for further information on the EBS Certificate Program.

Other

The launch of the EBS Certificate Program has been aided by a grant from The Henry Luce Foundation. Read the press release here.

Read the College of Engineering News Article here.