Missouri Southern
Certificate Program
in Ecolonomics

"A healthy economy is impossible without a healthy environment and vice versa, for all economies are dependent on the environment and the environment is saved or ruined by the way we do business. Ecolonomics is our future or our future is in jeopardy!"
- Dennis Weaver

About the Courses

About the Founder

For information:
Dr. John Messick
Dean, School of Arts & Sciences
Voice: 417.625.9341

Want to Increase Career Skills? Improve Job Marketability? Enhance Environmental Awareness?

Ecolonomics, a phrase coined by Missouri Southern alumnus and Emmy-award winning actor, the late Dennis Weaver, is the promotion of sustainable alternatives that are economically profitable. Simply put, ecolonomics means maintaining natural resources in ways that are economically sound. A key component in this effort is sustainability, practices that maintain natural resources at their present level or better. Sustainability is relatively new to many businesses and industries.

Missouri Southern has developed a certificate program in Ecolonomics to help businesses develop ways to provide goods and services in an environmentally friendly way. By understanding these concepts, government officials, industry personnel and others can develop better policies and procedures that make sense for business and the environment. A certificate in Ecolonomics adds a distinctive credential to degrees in business, political science, biology, environmental health and any of several other areas. So, new graduates with the certificate should have an extra edge in the marketplace when competing with applicants with otherwise similar skills.

In 1997, officials from Missouri Southern participated with Dennis Weaver in the "Ecolonomics in Education Summit" held at Chattanooga State Technical Community College in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That meeting resulted in the formation of a working group composed of faculty from business and economics, biology, and social sciences who developed a 13-credit certificate program in ecolonomics and sustainability.

Most Environmental Health majors can complete the certificate program in one semester. Others could take two or more semesters to finish, depending on individual work/class schedules and class offerings. The cost of the classes is the standard per-semester hour fee charged by Missouri Southern. Visit our on-line catalog.

Future Environments: An Introduction to Sustainability is a multi-disciplinary capstone course, taught not by one professor, but by a teaching team. Because the economy and government play a major role in interaction with the environment, this capstone course explores the costs and benefits of recycling, energy conservation and other initiatives. It also analyzes the conflict between the 'steady-state' system or 'no growth' system of economics and the more traditional role that economic growth is good and necessary. The course provides a well-rounded approach, enabling students to understand and analyze through case studies the impacts that many complex issues have on sustaining both a healthy economy and healthy environment.

About the Courses

The Certificate program in Ecolonomics is comprised of 4 courses for a total of 13 hours of credit. These courses (listed below) apply the principles of ecology, economics and public administration to sustainability to promote a quality life and sound economy in an environment that maintains natural resources.

Econ 180 The American Economic System
OR
Econ 201 Principles of Economics (Macro)

Bio/Eht 312 Environmental Biology (Writing Intensive)

PSc 421 Public Administration

Mids 402 Future Environments: An Introduction to Sustainability

13 credits

About the Founder

The late Dennis Weaver is the founder of the Institute of Ecolonomics (IOE), headquartered in Colorado. Dennis and Gerry Weaver's 10,000-square-foot Earthship home is a testimony to the practical use of ecologically-sound principles in home construction using high quality materials that are ordinarily thrown away. As spokespersons for the IOE, Gerry and Dennis travel to institutions of higher learning to spread the word about Ecolonomics.