The graduate certificate in social innovation trains students to be social innovation catalysts and maximize their social impact in a world that rewards professionals comfortable with change, experimentation and working across disciplines. Its two required classes are taught by faculty in business and the social sciences and with a focus on designing, implementing, evaluating and sustaining solutions to society's most pressing problems.
This certificate may be of special interest to graduate students who do not plan to pursue a career in academia but are interested in working in nonprofits, public service, and other fields whose primary mission is to advance human welfare. All students enrolled in a degree-granting graduate program at CU Boulder are eligible to petition for admission to this certificate program.
Requirements
The certificate requires successful completion of two graduate methods courses (6 credit hours) and one elective graduate course in a substantive area (3 credit hours) with a grade of B or higher. The required methods classes are MBAX 6130 and a 5000-level version of SOCY 4160.
Participants can apply one of the following electives to the certificate:
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Electives | ||
| ANTH 5700 | Practicing Anthropology | 3 |
| ANTH 7000 | Seminar: Current Research Topics in Cultural Anthropology (Anthropology of Policy) | 3 |
| ATLS 5519 | Advanced Special Topics (Venture Capital and Private Equity; limited to 5 students.) | 3 |
| BMEN 5117 | Anatomy and Physiology for Biomedical Engineering | 3 |
| EDUC 5301 | Queer(ing) Topics in Education | 3 |
| EDUC 5010 | Race and Equity in Higher Education | 3 |
| EDUC 5075 | Sociology of Education | 3 |
| EDUC 6245 | Latinx Education Across the Americas | 3 |
| EDUC 6211 | Education Law and Litigation Workshop | 3 |
| EDUC 6220 | Gender Issues in Education | 3 |
| EDUC 6240 | African American Education in the United States | 3 |
| EDUC 6260 | Transnational Migration, Education, and Citizenship | 3 |
| EDUC 7446 | Policy Issues in Education | 3 |
| EMEN 5020 | Finance for Engineering Managers | 3 |
| EMEN 5030 | Fundamentals of Project Management | 3 |
| EMEN 5052 | Leading Others | 3 |
| EMEN 5215 | Applied Sustainability for Engineering Managers | 3 |
| EMEN 5220 | Product Design for the Circular Economy | 3 |
| EMEN 5225 | Sustainable and Resilient Operations and Supply Chains | 3 |
| EMEN 5230 | Resilience Engineering and Leadership in Crisis | 3 |
| ENVM 5050 | Social Innovation and Sustainable Cities | 3 |
| ENVS 5340 | Conservation Biology and Practice in Brazil's Atlantic Forest | 4 |
| ENVS 5750 | Climate Politics and Science-Policy | 3 |
| ENVS 5820 | Energy Policy in the 21st Century | 3 |
| ENVS 6301 | Environmental and Energy Economics | 3 |
| ENVS 6305 | Reducing the Environmental Impact of Food Systems: Evidence-Based Solutions | 3 |
| JRNL 5812 | Science Writing | 3 |
| JRNL 5822 | Reporting on the Environment | 3 |
| JRNL 7021 | Science Communication | 3 |
| JRNL 7030 | Media Sociology | 3 |
| JRNL 7034 | Health Communication | 3 |
| PHIL 5120 | Philosophy and Animals | 3 |
| PHIL 5150 | Topics in Applied Ethics | 3 |
| PHIL 5210 | ||
| PHIL 5230 | Bioethics and Public Policy | 3 |
| PHIL 5240 | Seminar in Environmental Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 5290 | Topics in Values and Social Policy | 3 |
| SLHS 7550 | Prevention of Hearing Loss from a Public Health Perspective (subject to availability) | 3 |
| SOCY 7171 | Special Topics (Work and Organizations) | 3 |
Plan(s) of Study
| Year One | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall Semester | Credit Hours | |
| SOCY 4160 | Designing Social Innovations | 3 |
| Credit Hours | 3 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| MBAX 6130 | Sustainable Venturing | 3 |
| Credit Hours | 3 | |
| Year Two | ||
| Fall Semester | ||
| LAWS 7271 | Venture Capital and Private Equity | 3 |
| Credit Hours | 3 | |
| Total Credit Hours | 9 | |
Learning Outcomes
Upon earning the certificate, students will be able to:
- Understand the different forms of social innovation.
- Cultivate the mindset and values of a problem solver.
- Illuminate the various contexts within which social innovation occurs.
- Appreciate the role of empathy in innovation.
- Grasp the different approaches to problem solving.
- Develop and critically assess a novel design for social change.
- Master a set of skills for operationalizing and implementing social solutions.
- Learn tools for critically evaluating the success and sustainability of solutions.