Curriculum
Introduction
One of the primary functions of colleges and universities is to educate students. By training and educating future leaders, scholars, workers, and professionals; higher education institutions are uniquely positioned to understand and address sustainability challenges. Institutions that offer courses covering sustainability issues help equip their students to lead society to a sustainable future.
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ENERGY STAR Commercial Buildings College Course Materials Package
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (DC)
The ENERGY STAR college-level course, Introduction to Commercial Building Energy Efficiency Through EPA's ENERGY STAR Program, gives students practical, hands-on experience with commercial building energy efficiency. This course was ...
- Posted June 27, 2016
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Sustainability Works: Rethinking Business As Usual
- EcoChallenge.org (OR)
Northwest Earth Institute's newest discussion-based course book, Sustainability Works: Rethinking Business as Usual, offers sustainability staff a ready-made employee engagement process designed to inspire green teams and employee teams ...
- Posted April 29, 2016
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Sustainable Table Food Issues Resources
- GRACE Communications Foundation (NY)
This online resource provides in-depth information on topics relating to sustainable and industrial agriculture and food systems. Useful as a higher education teaching tool.
- Posted April 14, 2016
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Voluntary Simplicity and Consumerism Discussion Activity
- EcoChallenge.org (OR)
Active, personally relevant learning is at the heart of an effective education. This discussion activity takes participants through a process of exploring sustainability through small group discussion and personal reflection ...
- Posted April 13, 2016
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"Seeing Systems" Discussion Activity on Peace, Justice and Sustainability Issues
- EcoChallenge.org (OR)
Active, personally relevant learning is at the heart of an effective education. This discussion
activity takes students and other campus participants through a process of exploring sustainability through small group ...
- Posted April 11, 2016
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Powering A Bright Future Discussion Activity on Energy Issues
- EcoChallenge.org (OR)
Active, personally relevant learning is at the heart of an effective education. This activity takes students and other campus participants through a process of exploring sustainability through small group discussion ...
- Posted April 11, 2016
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Climate Change Discussion Activity
- EcoChallenge.org (OR)
Active, personally relevant learning is at the heart of an effective education. This
activity takes students or other campus participants through a process of exploring sustainability through small group discussion ...
- Posted April 11, 2016
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Food, Ethics and Sustainability Discussion Activity
- EcoChallenge.org (OR)
Active, personally relevant learning is at the heart of an effective education.
This activity takes participants through a process of exploring sustainability
through small group discussion and personal reflection designed ...
- Posted April 11, 2016
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Rice U 2012 Syllabus - Engineering Solutions for Sustainable Communities
- Rice University (TX)
The Rice University course Engineering Solutions for Sustainable Communities is cross-listed between Chemical Engineering and Environmental Studies. The class explores the principles of sustainability, the science of global warming, and ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Ecological Footprint Journal Assignment
- Bellevue College (WA)
This is a journal assignment that I ask students to do after calculating their ecological footprint. The prompt from the last time I gave this assignment is attached.
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Citizen Pledge Assignment
- Bellevue College (WA)
As a Political Science instructor, one of my primary goals is to help students realize their rights and responsibilities as citizens. By “realize” I mean both knowing and appreciating what ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Global Trade Game
- Bellevue College (WA)
One of the ways I like to assess student learning is through class games. I use this particular game to assess knowledge about globalization and the stake holders involved in ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Facebook Project
- Bellevue College (WA)
Here is a quarter long project that I use in my SOC:278 Global Sociology class. The Project Outline includes weekly assignments that require students to spend 50 minutes on ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Rice U 2012 Syllabus - Environmental Issues: Rice Into the Future
- Rice University (TX)
Attached is the course syllabus for Rice University's ENST 302 / SOCI 304 "Environmental Issues: Rice Into the Future," a project-based class that uses the university as a laboratory for ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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SCT100: Introduction to Sustainable Built Environments
- Maricopa County Community College District Office (AZ)
Study of the built environment and implications on human health, the natural environment, and society. Understanding of strategies that achieve sustainable design. Exploration of positive and negative sustainable product attributes ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Triple Bottom Line Reporting
- University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (MA)
Triple Bottom Line Reporting focuses on transparent disclosure of the organization’s triple bottom line: economic, environmental and social aspects, also known as the three pillars of sustainability. While not ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Imagined Landscapes: Visions of Sustainability
- University of Utah (UT)
Sustainability is often characterized, graphically, as three overlapping ellipses, typically labeled “People”, “Planet”, and “Profit”. If we think of these ellipses as individual lenses though which to view the world ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Externalities in Microeconomics
- Harper College (IL)
This assignment will be introduced when externalities is being taught in the course. In microeconomics externalities is a cost (negative) or benefit (positive) that is not passed on to the ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Honors Seminar: The Sustainable Campus
- University of Illinois Chicago (IL)
This seminar examines social, economic and environmental sustainability issues as they pertain to complex institutions like colleges and universities. Using examples from universities and businesses around the country (including UIC ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Introduction to Sustainability (ACR 187 - Michigan State University)
- Michigan State University (MI)
Integration of balance among social equity, ecological integrity, economic vitality, civic engagement, aesthetic understanding, critical thinking, systems thinking, personal development, and competency-based learning. Portfolio assessment. ACR 187 is an introductory ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Sustainable Design 101: A Syllabus Supplement
- BuildingGreen, Inc. (VT)
Use this syllabus outline if you are teaching an existing course on sustainable design or developing a new course. The weekly topic headings can help organize and prioritize the overall ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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This tab provides access to data collected through AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS). STARS is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. STARS enables meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions using a common set of measurements developed with broad participation from the campus sustainability community.
All responses reference content from reports under the latest version of STARS, version 2.2. AASHE membership and log-in is required.
AC 1: Academic Courses
- Percentage of courses that are sustainability course offerings
- Percentage of academic departments with sustainability course offerings
- Inventory of sustainability course offerings (upload)
- Website URL - Sustainability course offerings
AC 2: Learning Outcomes
- Description of institution level sustainability learning outcomes
- List of degree programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability
- Percentage of students who graduate from programs that require an understanding of sustainability
- Website URL - Sustainability learning outcomes
AC 3: Undergraduate Program
- First sustainability-focused undergraduate degree program
- Second sustainability-focused undergraduate degree program
- Third sustainability-focused undergraduate degree program
- First sustainability-focused undergraduate minor or concentration
- Second sustainability-focused undergraduate minor or concentration
- Third sustainability-focused undergraduate minor or concentration
AC 4: Graduate Program
- First sustainability-focused graduate-level degree program
- Second sustainability-focused graduate-level degree program
- Third sustainability-focused graduate-level degree program
- First sustainability-focused graduate-level minor or concentration
- Second sustainability-focused graduate-level minor or concentration
- Third sustainability-focused graduate-level minor or concentration
AC 5: Immersive Experience
- Description of the sustainability-focused immersive program(s)
- Second sustainability-focused graduate-level degree program
- Third sustainability-focused graduate-level degree program
AC 6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment
- Copy of the sustainability literacy assessment (upload)
- Copy of the sustainability literacy assessment (description)
- Website URL - Assessment of sustainability literacy
AC 7: Incentives for Developing Courses
- Description of the course development incentives
- Website URL - Incentives for developing sustainability courses
AC 8: Campus as a Living Laboratory
Additional analysis on scores and quantitative fields can be conducted using the STARS Benchmarking Tool.