SCHEDULE

International Certification - Sustainability Intermediate Level) - 25 points - Online Exam

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The Intermediate course builds on concepts introduced in Foundation to develop each student’s ability to analyze and interpret a variety of sustainability projects at various parts of the value chain, based on a greater understanding of intersectionalities and the history of sustainable development. After completing the Intermediate level, students will be able to articulate and analyze different definitions of sustainability, resilience, and sustainable development. They will also be able to better assess and critically analyze the major issues facing specialty coffee, including sustainability goals, practices, and measures of success which are present in the twenty-first century specialty coffee industry.

At the Intermediate level, students will:

• Enlarge their exposure to different sustainability approaches in the value chain, leading to a deep understanding of the defining issues
in at least two parts of the chain.
• Obtain an enriched understanding of collective action and the platforms that exist to collaborate, leverage resources, and share results.
• Assess case studies and sustainability research, projects, plans and/or business decisions.
• Develop a preliminary plan to move forward on a sustainability initiative within their own context.

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Section I: Participation and Contributions

Student contributions to discussions are an important way to measure and evaluate their understanding of sustainability and of the course material. Participation and contributions can be oral or written. The way in which ASTs seek contributions is at their discretion, but participation expectations and venue should be made clear to students in the course announcement. For an online course, this will likely include participation in an online bulletin board during live sessions as well as conversations during ‘office hours’ between the AST and individual students. There is only one score given for this section, and there is no retake possible. Therefore, ASTs should counsel students during the course if they are in danger of receiving a failing score. 

Section II: Case Study

The case study section of the course entails an oral presentation in which the student summarizes and critiques a sustainability project, research design, or business model. Students can be asked to research and find their own case study, or they may be assigned by the instructor. Each presentation must respond to the components listed below, and the student’s average score on each of the four evaluation criteria outlined below must total at least 3 points to pass:

1. Statement of the problem;
2. Identification of challenges;
3. Evaluation of contextual factors/intersectionalities (e.g. race, class, gender, age);
4. Identification of solutions/strategies proposed in the study;
5. Evaluation of the case study’s proposed solutions;
6. Student’s proposed solutions/improvements;
7. Application and integration of course material/concepts.

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Section III: Final Project

The final project consists of two parts: A) a project proposal/description and B) a summary of an article or interview. Each part will be submitted as a written assignment while the project proposal will also be shared with fellow students as an oral presentation. Student proposals (Part A) must respond to the components listed below. Depending on the project proposed, some of these components (listed below) may be a student’s best estimate or best guess, while others should be clearly and narrowly defined. 

• Description of the problem to be solved and its relevance to the student
• Identification of known or imagined challenges in solving the stated problem
• Identification of potential or known beneficiaries, stakeholders, and detractors
• Explanation of trade-offs (e.g., who pays; at what price; who benefits);
• Evaluation of contextual factors and intersectionalities (e.g., race, class, age, gender, local context)
• Identification of research needed to be undertaken or reviewed prior to beginning the project;*
• Application of course material to the overall project design, goals, and analysis.

*This should be an overview of types of research; essentially, it is an acknowledgement of “what else would I need to know” prior to implementing the project, were that to actually happen. To partially respond to this component, the final project includes a written summary of an article or interview, which provides students with some information they will need in order to properly assess the feasibility or properly position their proposal idea. Student summaries must respond to the components listed below.

1. Description of article or interview content
2. The student’s top three takeaways from the article/interview
3. Relevance of interview/article for student’s project proposal and application to their real-world situation
4. Analysis of the article and justification (or lack thereof) for author/interviewee and student conclusion(s)
5. Application of course material to overall analysis of article or interview.

The student’s average score on the proposal and on the summary must total at least three points to pass.
For in-person classes or those taught in areas without widespread access to personal computers, it may be possible to substitute oral presentation for the written summary. In any case students must respond to the above questions and in the case of group work it should be clear that all members have contributed equally to the final project. This may be assessed during the project design period if this is done in-class (e.g., watching students create the proposal, as opposed to assigning it as homework) or students may be asked to comment on their contributions.

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