Educational programs

  CERI will eventually provide educational opportunities through five programs:

• Associate and/or Bachelors Degree in Applied Sustainable Sciences
• Adult Continuous Education Program
• Employee Enhancement Program
• Scholar and Intern Program
• Community Leadership Program

 

Associate and/or Bachelors Degree in Applied Sustainable Sciences

 

Colorado Environmental Research Institute will develop curriculum that will allow the College to pursue the offering of a two-year associate degree in Applied Sustainable Science. If appropriate, steps may also be taken to develop that two-year program into a four-year bachelor’s degree. Both the two-year and four-year programs will provide students with an academic and professional development opportunity that will enable them to become the most qualified leaders in their communities. Individuals who pursue this degree will be agents of change who replace the traditional “business as usual” mentality with creative, economically viable, and socially and environmentally responsible methods of doing business and making policy decisions. The Degree program will use a participatory educational model that combines theory and practice to ensure that all graduates are able to apply the theories and models they learn at CERI.

 

Adult Continuous Education Program

The Adult Continuous Education Program will be open to individuals who choose to pursue their education in the sustainable sciences outside a traditional degree program. The Program will offer credit and non-credit courses, facilitating community members’ continuing education and their ability to apply sustainable solutions to personal, business and community challenges.

Employee Enhancement Program

The Employee Enhancement Program will be open to employees who wish to further develop their understanding of the sustainable sciences and apply the knowledge and skills they develop at CERI to their professional endeavors.

Scholar and Intern Program

The Scholar and Intern Program will enable students and graduates of CERI and other educational institutions to apply sustainable solutions within the workplace. Scholars and interns will broaden and deepen their education with learn by doing experiences and mentoring relationships with professionals in their chosen fields.

Community Leadership Program

The Community Leadership Program is the kernel of CERI's educational program and the development of Colorado's sustainable future. This program will foster an interest in and appreciation for the sustainable sciences amongst the young people of Colorado and especially in the Walsenburg area. Vehicles of learning will include integration of sustainability into traditional curriculum, internships, mentoring, field experiences, but most importantly it will directly immerse the local communities of Huerfano County into a carbon compensating lifestyle. The first of it's kind.