The educational focus of the PhD degree, as with the Master of Science and PhD degree programs also offered through ESSP, is thematic, emphasizing practical experience, student-centered learning, integration of knowledge across traditional disciplinary boundaries, and active dialogue both in and outside the classroom. While the focus of a student’s education and research following any of the three degree offerings of the new program is at the intersection between science and human needs and values, the Doctor of Philosophy degree is specifically designed for students wishing to undertake advanced study dealing with the science and health of our planet and provide the tools to engage in what will be the primary challenge of the 21st century, namely, effectively managing and caring for our planet.

Mission Statement: to provide an integrated and creative learning environment that fosters intellectual growth, critical thinking, and practical engagement in research and management of the Earth system and resources.

The mission builds on the vision of "learning communities" consisting of people whose decisions determine the environmental and economic health of the northern Great Plains, plus the scientists, engineers, social scientists, educators, lawyers, and others whose research is dedicated to supporting those decisions. The ESSP program encourages people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives to work collectively on relevant problems with the common goal of serving humankind's needs for a sustainable and prosperous future. The objective is not solely to integrate research into the classroom; rather, it is to integrate the classroom into the world.

The major theme of the program is sustainability, defined as meeting human needs and values while preserving the planet's life-support systems. Five major concentrations, listed below, support the central theme.

Concentrations:

• Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning
• Climate and Environmental Change
• Land and Resource Management
• Environmental Policy, Management, and Communication
• Human Health and the Environment

Objectives of the proposed program include:

• Student-structured curriculum to motivate learning and a commitment to lifelong learning;
• Research driven by societal needs and values, recognizing that the proper study of humanity is not so much humans as it is humans in the system of nature;
• Multi-disciplinary education, so that the full complexity of the world is incorporated;
• Adoption of the Earth System Science paradigm, in which Earth is treated as a single system that cannot be understood by summing behaviors of its component parts;
• Teaming within learning communities, to foster a “group mind” capable of insights beyond the capability of any individual;
• Experiential, by providing real-world experiences in businesses, government agencies, and on both public and private lands;
• Leadership, via creating a future proactively rather than reacting to a "business-as-usual" one;
• Transformative, by unifying economic security, ecological integrity, and social equity;
• Ethical, by advocating social justice and equality of opportunity for within the current generation of humans, between this generation and its successors, and between humans and the other lifeforms with which they share the planet;
• Global conceptually, but focusing on regional manifestations of global phenomena.

What makes this program innovative and distinct from any existing ones is that the University becomes the catalyst for changes that lead to sustainability [Christopher Uhl and Amy Anderson, "Green Destiny: Universities Leading the Way to a Sustainable Future," BioScience 51, January 2001, 36]. The Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium has initiated a trend toward that goal with some demonstrable success. An intent of the degree programs is to institutionalize that process so it can be perpetuated by future generations.