The supply chain is at the heart of operations for most businesses. Prepare yourself for a challenging and rewarding career in the green supply-chain management field or gain the edge to move forward in your career with this convenient online training program.

This professional certification program will help you learn the essentials of green product standards and labeling as well as how to develop sustainability supplier programs, implement sustainable business practices, apply lean and green manufacturing strategies, and integrate these practices across the extended supply chain.

Upon registering, you're given an initial thirteen months to complete this program.  Should you need more time beyond the thirteen months, an extension of one month is available with a fee of $25.

Upon successful completion of this program, you'll be able to:

• Establish and maintain a green procurement strategy
• Identify corporate social responsibility strategies to meet organizational needs
• Develop and use Green Supply Practices (GSP)
• Select and use a variety of environmental accounting methods effectively
• Improve operational sustainability by applying green strategies to the logistics and supply chain
• Align supply chain operations and business strategies to meet sustainability objectives

1. Green Purchasing Fundamentals
   1. Introduction to Green Procurement
   2. Design for Environment (DfE) Principles
   3. International Green Labeling
   4. Green Product Standards
   5. Environmentally Preferred Purchasing (EPP)
   6. Supplier Relationship Management
   7. Green Purchasing Program Development
2. Sustainability 101: Corporate Social Responsibility
   1. Sustainable Development
   2. The Business Case for Sustainability
   3. Organizational Roles and Functional Influences
   4. Corporate Social Responsibility
   5. Sustainability in Major Business Sectors
   6. The U.S. Green Building Council and LEED
   7. Introduction to Environmental Science
3. Carbon Strategies
   1. Introduction to the World Resources Institute: WRI Protocol
   2. Developing a Climate Strategy
   3. Supporting Green House Gas Reductions
   4. Tracking Emissions and Reporting
   5. Tools and Best Practices Every Organization Should Know About
   6. The Green Supply Chain's Carbon Footprint
   7. Developing a Carbon Policy
4. Green Transportation: 12 Best Practices
   1. Green Transportation and Logistics
   2. Building Energy Efficiency in 3PL Operations
   3. Greater Sustainability in Distribution Operations
   4. The EPA SmartWay Program
   5. Green Fleet Management
   6. Best-practice Case Studies
5. Green Supply Chain Management
   1. Integrating Sustainability Across the Extended Supply Chain
   2. The Lean and Green Supply Chain
   3. Carbon-efficient Supply Chains
   4. Evaluating the Supply Chain for Sustainability
   5. Aligning Green Supply Chain Practices With Business Goals

There are no specific prerequisites for this program. Students should have basic keyboarding and computer skills and be comfortable navigating the Internet. They must also have an understanding of a word-processing computer program (Microsoft Word recommended), and they need to have e-mail capabilities as well.

This sustainability certification program is essential for professionals working in or preparing for leadership roles tasked to support the sustainable business practices and goals of their organization. Professionals who need to create collaborative partnerships in order to improve sustainable business practices throughout the supply chain will also benefit from this program, as will sustainability consultants who must analyze greenchallenges for their clients and develop supply-chain strategies. Managers, directors, or vice presidents whose departments are within the operations or supply-chain groups and have responsibility for implementing green supply-chain practices will find this training useful. Professionals who need to develop collaborative supplier partnerships with OEM organizations they support as a Tier I or II supplier will benefit from this training.

This program is compatible with the Windows XP and later operating systems and IE 7 and later browsers.

There are no specific computer requirements for this program other than an Internet connection (a broadband Internet connection is highly recommended). In addition, you'll need to have Internet Explorer, Adobe Reader, Flash plug-in, and a QuickTime plug-in on your computer (all available through free downloads).

Angie Coats is a director of contracting responsible for state and federal government business and support for all Department of Defense and GSA services. Angie has more than 25 years of experience as a senior contracting officer in the federal government and is a current board member of the National Contracting Management Association (NCMA). She has managed Federal Acquisition Requirements (FAR) standards for billion-dollar government programs. She’s an important member of the EPA EPP instructional program.

Howard Forman is an adjunct member of the instruction design team, responsible for program development projects to support the green supply-chain curriculum. He’s also an associate professor at California State University. He has taught at Drexel University and Penn State and served as an adjunct professor at ESCP-EAP, Paris, France.

Sandy Horton is a member of the instruction design and delivery team. She has been the sustainability leader and director of sustainability in a billion-dollar corporation, responsible for linking the organization strategy with the corporate social responsibility strategy. She developed the product line requirements and  environmental operational processes, and aligned the brand strategy with the overall sustainability goals.

Alan Hughes serves as an adjunct advisor and consultant, assisting with the development of new curriculum and custom-product development. Alan brings with him more than 17 years of experience developing training programs as an employee of the U.S. EPA. He is leading the training needs assessment project for a custom Department of the Navy executive program.

Mike Park has been responsible for multiple enterprise and commercial IT groups in software corporations in the financial, healthcare, and manufacturing industries. He has a rich background, spanning from Internet and e-commerce platforms to SAP. He has led application development teams for Internet, Intranet, Extranet, ERP, CRM, EDI, and logistics solutions. As the chief technology officer and partner of a middle-market healthcare company, he led the initiative for the launch of new Web-based software called OfficeMD for practice management, Office EMR for electronic medical records, and BillingMD for medical billing application in a Software as a Service (SaaS ) model. Mike has led the effort for an industry-changing prototype carbon tracking and reporting software.

Chris Perry brings 25 years of global operations experience to ed2go with an exceptional background in government business. He served as the deputy commander for military aircraft systems manufacturing with Boeing and has had country-level responsibility in South America and Africa as a warranted government contracting officer. He has fulfilled senior-level roles in the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA). Chris has been the president of a government consulting company specializing in rapid prototype engineering at the Marshall Space Center. He leads a government services group and is responsible for EPA Environmentally Preferred Purchasing systems integration strategy. He holds an M.S. in industrial engineering and an M.A. in National Security and Decision Making from the Naval War College.

Margaret Price is currently the chairwoman and chief sustainability officer for a globally operating sustainability company. She’s responsible for the entire worldwide operations and has more than 20 years of global operations leadership experience. She is a creative, hands-on professional operations executive with extensive experience leading the sustainability efforts for a global manufacturing company, as well as leading the groups responsible for contract manufacturing, operations, distribution, supply chain, inventory control, engineering, and quality assurance and regulatory compliance. She has very unique experience working within the sustainability space of the hospitality sector as she has worked with some of the largest hotel chains in the world. She served as a sustainability board member of NEWH. Her areas of responsibility span Asia, the Middle East, India, Europe, the Caribbean, and Mexico.

Robert Price is the CEO of a global sustainability company. He is an innovative leader and visionary with over 25 years of global operations and strategic management experience. He has an incredibly diverse leadership portfolio with a track record of achieving world-class results in every assignment. He has led and designed the sustainability strategy for a $1.1B global organization, served as the general manager of a logistics company, led the global supply chain operations for a $600M manufacturing organization with the goal of greeningtheir supply chain, served as a vice president and expatriate in Asia in the pharmaceutical industry, and led a shared services group as a vice president in a service company. In 2007, his supply-chain accomplishments were featured in Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine in the cover story, "The Human Quotient," highlighting the incredible results an organization can achieve through investing in skills development of its workforce. He was featured in Purchasing magazine twice in 2007 for supply-chain and purchasing professional training program excellence. In 2003, he led the first organization to receive the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) Best Award, selected from among 74 global companies in six countries. He has been recognized by Training magazine, appearing in the Training Top 100 twice, including receiving the coveted Editor's Choice award. His doctoral dissertation is entitled Green Supply Chains: Clean Business in the 21st Century. Robert is a graduate of MIT Sloan Executive Program and holds a senior executive certificate in technology, operations, and value chain management.

Rob Young is a member of the instruction design and delivery team, experienced in the operations and global supply-chain sectors. Rob has led procurement organizations for global companies as the director of global sourcing, responsible for greening the supply chain. He has incredible experience working with the extended supply chain and enabling suppliers to join an organization's sustainability journey.