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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Students Leading the Campus Climate Movement: Tackling Challenges and Engaging Possibilities
- Second Nature (MA)
Students aren't just organizing events or acting as sustainability interns in the campus sustainability movement - they are leading the climate leadership revolution through regional organizing, collaboration with faculty, staff, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Developing an Authentic Undergraduate Sustainability Experience: Connecting Curriculum and Campus
- Portland State University (OR)
While initiatives to "green" campuses have increased within campus operations, curricular innovations for sustainability have lagged behind. [University] has made integration of sustainability across its academic programs an institutional priority, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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CSI: Greensboro - Engaging Arts Students in the Sustainability Conversation
- University of North Carolina, Greensboro (NC)
The fine arts are often an overlooked area to promote and engage university sustainability. However, for institutions that embrace the arts throughout their curricula, ways to engage this community are …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Empowering Ecoliteracy: A Transformative Art & Design Education Bridges Academics, Operations, and Facilities
- The New School (NY)
Parsons The New School for Design in New York City has approached sustainability holistically to engage students - shaping how they work, study, and participate in the material world - …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Chandler Gilbert Community College Environmental Technology Center: An Authentic Model for Sustainability Education
- Chandler-Gilbert Community College (AZ)
This paper will reflect on a transformational vision of sustainability that was implemented at community college in the Southwest. The transformational process involved the development of an interdisciplinary academic certificate …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Investing in the Future: Extending Enterprise Innovation through Biomimicry, Living Systems Design, and Systems Ecology in a Graduate Ecopreneurship Course
- Prescott College (AZ)
Two graduate faculty share their success strategies for cultivating student leadership in ecopreneurship to take sustainability deeper designing regenerative enterprises. Businesses using green practices and operations are a positive step; …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Facilitating Sustainability Conversations on Campus: Challenges and Successes of a Sustainability and Civic Engagement Book Group
- University of Minnesota, Duluth (MN)
During the fall 2011 semester, thirty university faculty, staff and students gathered to share ideas about sustainability on campus. Discussions were structured by the book The Sustainable Learning Community: One …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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First-Year Students as Agents of Campus Change
- Hartwick College (NY)
In academia, sustainability offers structured and spontaneous opportunities for the curriculum to infiltrate campus operations, student life, and the regional community. Since 2008, I have been teaching a first-year seminar …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Humanure: A Topic to Challenge Existing Paradigms and Garner Fresh Interest in Sustainability in the Classroom
- California State University, Monterey Bay (CA)
Humanure refers to the process of composting human excretion so as to produce fertile soil. More than just an eye-opening topic, it speaks to a different paradigm to looking at …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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IGEN Career Pathways: Building Partnerships to Prepare Learners for High-Skill and High-Demand Green Jobs
- College of Lake County (IL)
- Heartland Community College (IL)
Discover how the Illinois Green Economy Network (IGEN) Career Pathways Initiative, a collaboration of 17 Illinois community colleges, will develop, share and implement more than 30 online-hybrid associate degrees and …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Imagining a Sustainable World: Duquesne University's Multi-Disciplinary Course on Sustainability
- Duquesne University (PA)
In mid-2012 the University Academic Sustainability committee at Duquesne University began
development of a three-credit undergraduate course on sustainability to be taught by a multi-
disciplinary team of faculty from …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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A Student-Governed Sustainability Project Fund at The University of British Columbia: Increasing Engagement on Sustainability
- University of British Columbia (BC)
In September 2011 a team of students and university administration members at a large institution began allocating over $100,000 annually to student sustainability projects. This fund was founded and is …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Transformative Undergraduate Sustainability Education: Dalhousie's Major in Environment, Sustainability & Society
- Dalhousie University (NS)
Dalhousie University's Major in Environment, Sustainability and Society offers a unique approach to undergraduate education in sustainability, combining the rigor and depth of traditional disciplinary study with a rich experience …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Occupy Education: Learning and Living Sustainability
- Colorado Mountain College (CO)
The presenter offers a visual summary of her book by the same title. Her work is motivated by the sustainability crisis and energized by the drive for social justice that …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Educating Citizens as Change Agents
- Portland State University (OR)
Portland State University is beginning implementation of a program to empower students and alumni to become lifelong participants in community-based, sustainability-oriented social change efforts beyond their time at PSU. The …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Student-Faculty Synergy & Institutional Transformation: A Story of Sustainability
- Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (IL)
This presentation will discuss the evolving, ongoing professional relationship between a student and a sociology professor that has led to both personal transformation and action, and which, over the course …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability Education Combines with Place-based Education in UVM Graduate-level Team-taught Service-learning Integrative Course
- University of Vermont (VT)
PLACE (Place-based Landscape Analysis & Community Engagement) Program applies landscape analysis and whole systems thinking to fostering a sense of place and a sustainable future in local communities. It seeks …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Education for Sustainable Development: Comparing Institutional Initiatives
- Simon Fraser University (BC)
The integration of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into the curriculum is a goal of many universities. This session will explore initiatives at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, and …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Building A Sustainability Pathway In Biology
- University of British Columbia (BC)
The University of British Columbia is committed to providing all students the opportunity to study sustainability during their undergraduate education. Implementation requires initiative from within departments and programs as well …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability Integrated Into the Mission and Across the Curriculum at Soka University of America
- Soka University of America (CA)
Soka University of America (SUA) is a small, private university located in the suburban community of Aliso Viejo, southern California. SUA offers a four-year B.A. in the Liberal Arts, with …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Trends in Interdisciplinary Environmental and Sustainability Education
- Global Council Science and the Environment (DC)
This paper presentation will discuss the findings of a 2012 census of interdisciplinary environmental (IE) and sustainability degree programs, other degree programs with formal concentrations or emphases in environment or …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Weaving Green Threads: Sustainability Students as Connectors and Creators
- Franklin Pierce University (NH)
This presentation shows how students in a sustainability certificate program model self-organization, emergent properties and resilience, and develop leadership to leverage change. FPU's Sustainability Certificate students exemplify complex systems in …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability Curriculum: Place-based Understanding Through Campus and Community Projects
- Daemen University (NY)
As proposed by Burns (2011), sustainability education should include opportunities for students to actively participate in improving sustainability through projects that connect them with the geographic region where they live. …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Navigating Bureaucracy to Teach for a Better World: Sustainability and Ethics
- University of Texas at Austin (TX)
Integrating sustainability-content throughout the curriculum remains perhaps the key challenge of higher education going forward, as our ability to balance the needs of society with the available resources of the …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Can Collaboration Between Competitors Work?
- Columbus College of Art & Design (OH)
- Pacific Northwest College of Art (OR)
- Pratt Institute (NY)
In September 2010, Pratt Institute hosted a summit for thirty academic leaders from 30 colleges of Art and Design. The PALS (Partnership for Academic Leadership in Sustainability) cohort is creating …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Creating Hubs of Indigenous Innovation through Public/Private Partnerships: the Collaboration between MA`O Organic Farms and University of Hawai`i West O`ahu
- University of Hawaii Kapiolani Community College (HI)
- University of Hawaii - West Oahu (HI)
This panel will present an innovative partnership between Ma'o Organic Farms, Leeward Community College (LCC), and the University of Hawaii West O'ahu (UHWO). MAO is a non-profit youth leadership development …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability Unbound
- University of New Hampshire (NH)
- AASHE (MA)
A sustainability transformation will require a radical change in the educational paradigm that shapes higher education. Dialogue, interaction and active exploration during this Advanced Track will challenge sustainability education: its …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Mind the gap- what we have to learn from students (who study abroad)
- Augsburg University (MN)
- University of Michigan (MI)
- Yale University (CT)
Study abroad is often recalled as one of the most pivotal and transformative experiences in a college student's life. Aside from Freshman orientation, a student traveling abroad is perhaps the …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainable Impact: The Challenges of Creating Interdisciplinary Courses on Food, Food Systems, and Food Justice to Empower Students to Action
- Grand Valley State University (MI)
When looking to de-silo the often-segregated, triple-bottom line of sustainability, food seems the ideal course subject to broaden understanding. The class was formulated with a three-tiered structure - where our …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Integrating Sustainability Across Sites and Programs: Creating a new Campus
- Chatham University (PA)
This session updates progress on a new sustainable campus and academic unit. This project integrates principles of sustainability across curriculum, research, facilities, purchasing, student life, and campus-community relations. In this …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Foundations of Leadership in Sustainability for 20 Campuses: Finding a Common Thread
- Pennsylvania State University (PA)
A new minor in Sustainability Leadership at the Pennsylvania State University came with a new course: Foundations of Leadership in Sustainability. As the sole requirement common to all students in …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Solutions Generator: A Cocurricular Sustainability Leadership-Service Program
- Portland State University (OR)
In the search for campus sustainability solutions, many institutions continue to seek ways to cultivate student engagement in ways that meet campus learning outcomes and prepare them as change agents. …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Student Summit Leadership Development Collaboratory
- Portland State University (OR)
- U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development
Our Collaboratory will begin with an introduction to "Developing Your Leader-ful Presence". This portion of our workshop will engage participants in a dialogue about the Leadership Maturation Journey which will …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Experiential Learning in Sustainability & Study Abroad
- St. Olaf College (MN)
- Danish Institute for Study Abroad (Hovestaden)
In order to bridge the gap between theory and practice, between classroom and community, and to better understand the multi-dimensionality of sustainable development concepts, it has become more and more …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability Curriculum Development: Overcoming Challenges in the National Autonomous University of Mexico
- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (DF)
The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) is the oldest academic institution in Mexico and has developed as a highly recognized research and education institution with a long history of …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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A Capacity Building Program for Sustainability: Collaborative Planning in Mexico
- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (DF)
The urgent transformation required by society towards sustainability compels the development of a new paradigm in capacity building, where both citizens and professionals have the capacity to interact, understand and …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Degree Awarding Curriculum in Relation to Student Loan Costs: The Importance of Post Education Metrics for Creating Sustainable Academic Programs
- University of Nevada, Reno (NV)
- Technische Universiteit Delft
Universities are tasked with educating and training the future leaders of society. This responsibility requires an appropriate mix of curriculum, activities and supporting environment so as to provide a favorable …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Importance of Post Education Metrics for Academic Curriculum: Analyzing, Assessing and Sustaining Future Leaders
- University of Nevada, Reno (NV)
- Technische Universiteit Delft
Universities are tasked with educating and training the future leaders of society. This responsibility requires an appropriate mix of curriculum, activities and supporting environment so as to provide a favorable …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Students as Change-makers: Engagement and Innovation for Small, Underfunded, Public Institutions
- Western Colorado University (CO)
How do you increase student engagement with campus sustainability initiatives, develop a sustainability plan when administrators have more pressing obligations, and implement it with next-to-no budget or dedicated staffing? These …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Silent Killer Project: Student Engagement Across the Curriculum
- Frostburg State University (MD)
Frostburg State University's usual winter weather is characterized by high snow precipitation and low temperatures. Salt is used liberally on campus to melt snow and ice. Misuse of salt leads …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Small Campuses, Big Impacts: Making Sustainability Work in Smaller, Liberal Arts Schools
- Dickinson College (PA)
- Earlham College (IN)
- Furman University (SC)
- Luther College (IA)
In this panel presentation, teaching faculty and sustainability staff from several smaller, liberal arts schools will discuss the challenges and lessons learned in implementing sustainability across the curriculum, the co-curriculum, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Engaging Students, Faculty, and the Curriculum in Research and Creative Activities for Sustainability
- Portland State University (OR)
As a result of national initiatives like the ACU's President's Climate Commitment, higher education is working hard to promote sustainability. Yet, while institutions "green" their campus operations, transformations in operations …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Working Within the World: How The New School brings real-world projects into the classroom
- The New School (NY)
In line with its dedication to interdisciplinary coursework and giving students hands-on experience, The New School presents two recent projects that exemplify working within the world. Empowerhouse brought together students …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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An Assessment of Environmental Knowledge and Worldviews of Incoming Freshmen at a Liberal Arts Institution.
- Albright College (PA)
A 2001 National Wildlife Foundation report found that universities and colleges are not doing an adequate job of producing students who are environmentally literate. In order for students to develop …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Realizing Campus Sustainability: One Student Project at a Time
- Arizona State University (AZ)
In transforming a University campus for a sustainable future, operations staff generate a multitude of project opportunities which have the potential to engage students in sustainability research and problem-solving. Simultaneously, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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If You Build it Right, They Will Come: Creating an Academic Program for Sustainability
- Auburn University (AL)
This session is appropriate for faculty as well as non-faculty directors who are interested in building an academic program. Participants will learn strategies for setting the stage, how to run …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Building Curricular Cohesion: Reaching Across Disciplines
- California State University, Chico (CA)
California State Univerisity Chico recently established a general education pathway in Sustainability culiminating in a minor. This general education curriculum incorporates courses from the Arts, Humanities, Social and Natural Sciences …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Synergy in a Faculty Learning Community: Sustainability & Pedagogy at Cal State East Bay
- California State University, East Bay (CA)
Having joined AASHE in fall 2011, Cal State East Bay established its first Faculty Learning Community (FLC) to focus on Sustainability & Pedagogy during the winter and spring quarters of …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Immersed in the Environment: A Concentrated Weekend Course
- Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
The Environment Today' course at Carnegie Mellon is organized by students held over one intense weekend in the spring semester. Course content is expansive and challenging; such as 'Biodiversity and …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Living & Learning Communities for Sustainability Students Studying Abroad
- Danish Institute for Study Abroad (Hovestaden)
DIS - Danish Institute for Study Abroad has created a unique opportunity for American undergraduate students through their "Living & Learning Communities" in Copenhagen. What originally started as a "Green …
- Posted Feb. 26, 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.