Earlier this year, a senior administrator at Cal Poly Pomona (CPP) closed applications for the Master of Science in Regenerative Studies (MSRS) program, preventing students from joining the program until further notice. Graduate-level regenerative studies courses have also been cancelled for the upcoming Fall semester. While substitutions were listed out, these cuts impair the education of currently enrolled students. We, the MSRS students, are concerned that these sudden changes are leading up to the closure of our program. This would mark the end of the only sustainability-centered graduate degree at our university. 

We want to save our program and we need your help. 

For the last 20 years, the MSRS program has provided a uniquely interdisciplinary education on environmental issues that truly lives up to the learn-by-doing motto that CPP prides itself on. It has fostered a distinct community of passionate and skilled individuals who have played a vital role in advancing sustainability initiatives on campus and at the Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies. The closure of this program would dissolve this diverse group of committed minds, undermining its contributions to the university and broader effort for a sustainable future. 

At a time when climate change demands educated professionals and the demand for green jobs outpaces the supply, shutting down this program would be a significant setback. Add your name to this petition if you value sustainability education and see the worth of a program like this. This petition will support our case as we continue to advocate for the re-opening of the MSRS program's applications for the upcoming academic year. 

 

Fun Facts:

• Students in the MSRS program have frequently served as course aids, landscaping assistants, club leaders, environmental advocates, and researchers across various departments, including but not limited to:
  • Natural Sciences
  • Anthropology
  • Geography
  • Engineering
  • Architecture and Landscape Architecture
  • Urban and Regional Planning
  • Liberal Studies
  • Art
  • Agriculture and Agribusiness
• “Building Performance” is the #1 fastest growing green skill sought after in the United States, making the program’s position in the College of Environmental Design ever more relevant (LinkedIn 2024 Global Green Skills Report).
• The outlook for careers that help the environment are projected to grow at a faster than average rate between 2022-2032 in a variety of fields (U.S. Dept. of Labor)
• Women are underrepresented in the green workforce and women make up the majority of the enrollment in our program (LinkedIn 2024 Global Green Skills Report).
• CPP's Innovation Brew Works (IBW) is releasing a new beer named "Regenerative Studies" after this very program to celebrate the IBW's 10th anniversary! It's a Saison made with campus-sourced wild sage and wildflower honey. (CPP News)
• Dozens of prospective students have been told to apply elsewhere due to the closing of applications.

 

Additional Pictures:

1. An example of what we've explored in class. This diagram represents a systems-thinking approach to repurposing a shopping mall into housing. 

 

 

 

 

 

2. MSRS students testing soil compaction ahead of a planting activity they organized for an undergraduate Liberal Studies service-learning course. The MSRS students mentored these undergraduates in the Fall 2024 semester and introduced them to regenerative concepts. 

 

 

 

 

 

The planting activity was a success!

 

 

 

 

 

3. MSRS students deliver their final presentation to their community partner at the end of the Spring 2024 semester in their Coalition Building class. 

 

 

 

 

4. Students learning how to perform a line transect survey to study the plants at the Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies.