The Sustainability, Energy, and Environment Fellows Program (SEE FP) is a campuswide undergraduate minor that prepares students for careers in the corporate sector, nonprofit organizations, government agencies and environmental advocacy groups. The SEE FP promotes systems-level thinking about energy and sustainability and fosters the development of an integrated view of the economy, society and the environment.

The SEE FP is offered in partnership with six academic units — the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics (ACE), the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), the School of Integrative Biology (SIB), the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (NRES), the School of Earth, Society and Environment (SESE), and the Department of Urban and Regional Planning (DURP).

The program is open to all students and majors. This minor requires 16-18 credits to be obtained by selecting from a list of courses (see below) in consultation with an advisor from iSEE. To find out more about the minor and the enrollment process, email the advisors at see-fellows@illinois.edu. 

Degree Requirements

For the latest list of courses that will fulfill the requirements for this minor, please check out the SEE FP listing in the course catalog.

Students must complete two required iSEE-taught courses:

• Tools for Sustainability (ENVS 301) is open to students from all disciplines, and teaches systems-level thinking skills to enable better understanding of the different dimensions of sustainability — and the problems and trade-offs involved in achieving that sustainability. Students learn about metrics for measuring sustainability. They also gain competence in tools such as cost-benefit and life-cycle analyses needed to compare the sustainability of different technologies and development options. The course emphasizes communications skills, enabling students to articulate about the integrated dimensions of sustainability within an interdisciplinary setting.

• Capstone Course (ENVS 492) allows students to apply sustainability assessment tools, such as life-cycle analysis, cost-benefit methods and impact analysis to real-world world problems related to sustainability of campus and/or the community to be developed in collaboration with campus, Facilities & Services, local sustainability planners, private firms, and nonprofit organizations. Field site visits will be arranged during regular class time to visit local buildings, businesses, and civil and environmental infrastructure facilities. Course activities are a blend of case study discussion, problem identification, site visits, analysis, and a team report at the end of the semester. Contact us at see-fellows@illinois.edu with questions.

Applications are accepted year-round.