At the end of May, ASU’s College of Global Futures welcomed institutional teams from 9 leading colleges and universities to the Sustainability Education Program Directors’ Cohort, a six-week, fully online experience designed to build community and capacity among faculty and administrators leading sustainability-focused academic programs. This is the second year that ASU has hosted the Program Directors’ Cohort, which is facilitated by the Sustainability Education Accreditation Commission (SEAC) .
Facilitated by Krista Hiser, Jordan King, and Rachael Rost-Allen the summer 2026 cohort brought together a dynamic group of directors and coordinators from institutions across the country, representing sustainability degree programs from a variety of institutional types and regional contexts. Together, participants explored critical questions shaping sustainability as an academic and professional path, including curriculum, experiential learning, internship experiences, programmatic accreditation, and change leadership.
The cohort structure emphasized peer-to-peer learning, with weekly Zoom sessions featuring guest speakers from Net Impact and EPIC-N, organizations that support higher education programs with community and career engagement, both areas of best practice articulated in the SEAC Guidelines.
Sessions included perspectives from ASU’s own Joshua Abbott, Director of ASU’s School of Sustainability, the academic futurist Bryan Alexander, and Leona Davis of the University of Arizona. Participants also engaged in asynchronous learning, group discussions, and small group breakouts to reflect on their own institutional strategies and challenges.
Learn more about SEAC: https://www.sustedu.org/