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.
Featured Resources
Latest News from AASHE Bulletin
New Resources
Experiential Sustainability Certificates - Connecting the Classroom to the Real World
- Duke University (NC)
- University of Kansas (KS)
The 'living lab' concept is not new in the higher ed. sustainability world. However, developing robust programs that allow students, across disciplines, to study these complex issues while linking curricular …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Infusing Sustainability Across the Campus: Sustainability Learning in Expected and Unexpected Places at Beloit College
- Beloit College (WI)
Beloit College's Pathways to Sustainability Leadership Program engages students in sustainability learning and leadership development through its 'Liberal Arts in Practice' curriculum. Students develop expertise and capacity for action in …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Finding Heart: Generating and Maintaining Hope and Agency through Sustainability Education
- Colorado Mountain College (CO)
Indigenous educator Gregory Cajete (2000) articulates the motivations and questions that drive the presenter's research. For Cajete, effective education entails 'finding heart,' an active process within and beyond the person …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
From Baltimore to Burundi: The Case for Crossing the Divides of Diversity by Building toward Sustainable Peace and Development
- Colorado State University (CO)
Amahoro' is the Kirundi word for peace. After forty years of genocide and civil war during which a large percentage of its educated citizens were targeted, exiled or killed, impoverished …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Energize Colleges: Energy Education and Internships for the Campus and Community
- Skyline College (CA)
- Strategic Energy Innovations (CA)
Energize Colleges is an innovative program bringing energy education and project-based internships to 12 California community colleges and universities. Launched earlier this year, the program employs clean energy as the …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Sustainability as a Lifestyle from Campus to the Community
- Grand Valley State University (MI)
Grand Valley State University piloted an introductory course called 'Sustainability as a Lifestyle.' This 1-credit course was designed to examine sustainability through an academic lens and use the campus as …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Urbanism and the Search for Sustainability
- Natural Sustainability (MA)
With the majority of humans now living in urban centers, with both numbers and percentages trending up, the study of urbanism is an excellent format to consider what sustainability really …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Finding the Hidden Gems While Building Community: Place-based Pre-orientation Programs at Earlham College
- Earlham College (IN)
Earlham College's PLACE (Perspectives on Living and Community Engagement) Program, first offered in 2015, aims to connect incoming students with the local community, student and faculty leaders, and one another. …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
The University of Baltimore Know Your Bay Learning Community
- University of Baltimore (MD)
The University of Baltimore Know Your Bay Learning Community involved 3 courses: Urban Solutions, First Year Seminar, and Great Issues in History. Students in the learning community explored the historical …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Engage, Steward, Discover: Aligning Global Sustainability Curriculum with Strategic Student-Led On-Campus Projects
- University of Virginia (VA)
The University of Virginia's interdisciplinary Global Sustainability course prepares students to understand, innovate and lead efforts to confront challenging sustainability issues. The course provides foundational knowledge on the multifaceted aspects …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Immersive Learning in Sustainable Building Design and Construction Practices
- University of Arkansas (AR)
Sustainability registers a high appeal among students as they face climate change. At Florida International University, a research program has been established to test if the Technology Mediated Learning Environments …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Strategic Sustainability Planning for a Community College District
- San Mateo County Community College District Office (CA)
The San Mateo County Community College District, located just south of San Francisco, consists of three colleges, Cañada College, College of San Mateo, and Skyline College. Sustainability is the underlying …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Homestead Campus to Cure Higher Ed's Hang-Ups: Affordability, Access, & Sustainability Lip-Service
- University of Mount Union (OH)
Students and families complain that college is too expensive and exclusive. Employers complain that college graduates lack practical skills and critical thinking abilities. Sustainability educators call it systems thinking but …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Engaging Students in Sustainable Behaviors: Reflection and Action in the UW Carbon Challenge
- University of Washington, Tacoma (WA)
Many sustainability educators hope to provide students with not only information, but also opportunities to reflect on, and perhaps change, their own attitudes, values, and beliefs leading to pro-environmental behaviors. …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Developing a Campus-wide Sustainability Assessment
- Colorado State University (CO)
This presentation will describe a dissertation project from Colorado State University that examines individuals' knowledge of sustainability in relation to the concepts of the Triple Bottom Line; economic sustainability, environmental …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Sustainability Transformation at a Rural University: Building New Linkages across the Campus
- Frostburg State University (MD)
Frostburg State University's commitment to sustainability has developed over a number of years as new linkages allowed to University to connect academic, residential, co-curricular, and community activities under the strategic …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Advocating for Sustainability
- University of Arizona (AZ)
During Fall 2015, the Sustainability Advocate program was instated in each of the Panhellenic sorority chapters with house facilities at the University of Arizona. The advocate's job is to educate …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Understanding Sustainability in Light of Our Changing Climate
- American Meteorological Society (DC)
How can students lead the change to live sustainably? The American Meteorological Society (AMS) believes it starts with education. As students learn of their impact on the climate system, they …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Knowledge Flows Downstream: Partnering to Build Watershed Awareness on Campus and at Local Elementary/Middle Schools..
- Pennsylvania State University (PA)
A collaboration between Pennsylvania Sea Grant and Penn State Erie, The Behrend College provided undergraduate students with science-based information about watershed health, water quality and the impacts of excess storm …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Creating effective service-learning projects for the sustainability curriculum
- University of Saskatchewan (SK)
Service-learning (SL) cultivates academic development, personal growth and civic engagement among students; enables them to contribute to community and recognize their ability to act as agents of social change. I …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Measuring Undergraduate Students' Learning Over Time
- James Madison University (VA)
The Environmental Stewardship Reasoning and Knowledge Assessment (ESRKA), a validated, 50-question test with good reliability, is being used to measure undergraduate students' learning over time at a large, public university. …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Classroom, Campus and Community Sustainability Engagement: Resources for Engaging the Social Dimensions of Change
- EcoChallenge.org (OR)
Sustainability education and engagement should encompass more than mere knowledge acquisition, instead integrating a transformative learning process that engages the whole person. This 30 minute workshop highlights why participatory, dialogue-based …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Systems Thinking for Campus Sustainability: Utilizing the University of Central Florida Campus as a Living Laboratory
- University of Central Florida (FL)
In Spring of 2016, UCF's College of Engineering and Computer Science offered a new honors-level course titled Systems Analysis for Sustainability in Engineered Systems. The 14 week course introduces principles …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Integrating Resilience Across the Campus and the Curriculum: The Climate Change Risk and Resilience Open Lab
- Plymouth State University (NH)
Within higher education sustainability efforts have integrated resiliency by creating a new generation of climate commitments that combine existing pledges to reduce carbon emissions with new frameworks for engaging stakeholders …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Breaking Barriers to Innovation: The Sustainable Gardening Library
- Sustainable Gardening Institute (NJ)
Meet the creators of the Sustainable Gardening Library, a centralized, easy-to-use repository for science-based information on sustainable gardening and farming that's built on state-of-the-art, user-friendly, device-responsive GIS mapping technology. It's …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Importance of Student-led Efforts in Initiating Sustainability Programs in a Location With Predominantly Conservative Values
- Tarleton State University (TX)
Tarleton State University provides an interesting dichotomy It is located in a small town in rural Texas where sustainability has neither been promoted nor required. For years, faculty were stymied …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Greeks Go Green
- University of Nebraska - Lincoln (NE)
Greeks Going Green is a collaborative project with the student government at the University of Nebraska, which aims to show people that through simple actions, they have the power to …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
A first year Honors seminar, Exploring Sustainable Solution, challenges students with interdisciplinary case-based learning.
- Colorado State University (CO)
The first year Honors Seminar--Exploring Sustainable Solutions: A Case-Based Approach--is intended to prepare students to deepen their understanding of sustainability through active involvement in campus projects and how these can …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Agentic educators for a sustainable future: Hopeful voices from the field
- Manhattanville College (NY)
At last year's AASHE conference, representatives of a band of autoethnographic researchers presented a case study in which conference participants explored the ways in which theories of collective hope, praxis …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Using Service-Learning to Integrate Sustainability into the Business Curriculum
- Appalachian State University (NC)
This proposal describes a service-learning project used in a graduate business course to integrate sustainability into the curriculum. Benefits included the ability of students to bring best practices to management …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Using the Campus as a Living Learning Laboratory: Experiential Learning & Scaffolding in Informal Sustainability Education
- University of Michigan (MI)
This poster will explore how new and existing sustainability projects at the University of Michigan are being integrated into a pathway for student sustainability engagement and leadership as we aim …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Drones, Geographic Information Systems, and Streetlights: Community Partnerships for Safer Streets
- Furman University (SC)
When we began our partnership with the neighborhood of New Washington Heights our goal was straightforward: Within the context of a class project, use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Sustainable General Chemistry: Incorporating Sustainability into Both Theme and Experiment Design in the Freshman Chemistry Lab
- Concordia College (NY)
Over the past decade, the general chemistry laboratory experience at Concordia College has evolved from a traditional expository style program to an inquiry based program which incorporates a number of …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Creating Global Impact
- Arizona State University (AZ)
Science museums in the U.S. provide trusted venues and foot-traffic of 95 million visits per year by people who seek to be inspired and to stretch their minds. Schools represent …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Journal of Sustainability Education: Special Issue on Hope and Agency
- Colorado Mountain College (CO)
Hope and agency are foundational to sustainability practice and leadership on and beyond the campus. Without hope and a sense of one's own efficacy, meaningful action and leadership may remain …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Using Case-based Instruction and Service-Learning to Teach Triple Bottom Line Thinking
- Colorado State University (CO)
The use of case-based instruction enhances students' content knowledge, affects their motivation to learn, and helps develop verbal communication skills (Ozdelik, 2014). William Perry's (1981, 1999) work on cognitive development …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Do You See Our STARS Now? Making an Institution's STARS Report More Visible and Relevant To Community Via Student Infographics
- Maryville College (TN)
One of the most transparent ways an institution can share their holistic sustainability story is through STARS. However, outside the sustainability community, STARS is one of the least commonly reviewed …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Growing Community Sustainability: Student projects from the playground to the boardroom to the building site and more.
- Fleming College (ON)
This case study will demonstrate how students' participate in authentic learning through community projects across a range of disciplines- all with sustainable results. For the past forty years, our School …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Sustainability, Dignity and Higher Education
- Widener University (PA)
Sustainability discourse in higher education seldom considers human dignity as an institutional objective or a means to achieve it. Dignity embodies subjects as diverse as health care, imprisonment, privacy, education, …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Capitalizing on Faculty-Administration Collaborations to Build Sustainable Campus Communities
- Hobart and William Smith Colleges (NY)
This session will provide insight into the collaboration between administration and faculty on the creation and assessment of a sustainability-themed learning community for first-year students at a liberal arts college. …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Beyond Captain Planet: Curriculum Design for EcoReps & Peer Educators
- Texas A&M University (TX)
Captain Planet inspired millennials to embrace sustainability through the avenue of television. Utilizing Captain Planet's inspiration and efforts within the Department of Residence Life at Texas A&M as the backdrop, …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Planning for interdisciplinary, community-oriented, and networked sustainability programs
- University of North Carolina, Charlotte (NC)
Sustainability education requires approaches that reach across disciplines, universities, and national boundaries, preparing students for issues without clear boundaries. Creating partnerships among faculty, students, communities, and industries is a promising …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Promoting College-Community Collaboration
- Concordia College (NY)
Several years ago, as Concordia College was increasing its efforts to embrace sustainability as a priority, it was recognized that engagement with the surrounding community should be a core part …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Students For Sustainability: A Transformative Workshop Approach to Student Engagement in Sustainability
- University of Arizona (AZ)
The Students for Sustainability workshop at the University of Arizona (UA) provides a model for how institutions of higher education can guide students in engaging with their communities on environmental …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Designing and Conducting a Public Engagement Project Through an Intensive-Semester Course
- Furman University (SC)
During a May semester course, faculty and students at a liberal arts college conducted a participatory planning process with a local community and county government. Students facilitated a public participation …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Leveraging Campus Natural Areas for Urban Ecology Research, Education, and Management
- University of Central Florida (FL)
The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a 1,415-acre urban campus, of which 876 acres (62%) is undeveloped green space that includes 337-acres (24%) of upland and wetland conservation easements, …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Sticky Sustainability: Tapping Untapped Resources on Campus #ULMapleMadness
- University of Louisville (KY)
In spring 2016, a maple sugaring community partner collaborated with faculty, staff & students at the University of Louisville to launch a new Sustainable Community Engagement section of the Intro. …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
How to Move Sustainability into the B-School
- Wake Forest University (NC)
Business schools can provide students with a high caliber education and prepare them to enter the workforce or create new ventures to address the social, economic, and environmental demands in …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
Curriculum Development, Cross-campus Collaboration, and Industry Engagement in Partnership with the B Corporation Community
- North Carolina State University (NC)
Presenters: - Jessica Thomas, Director, Business Sustainability Collaborative, Poole College of Management, NC State University - Craig Dalen, Senior Fellow, Director of B Corps on Campus, B Lab This session …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
An Exploration of Sustainable Business Measurement and Performance Criteria
- Duke University (NC)
A great deal of current effort is focused on developing and aligning sustainability performance criteria. We will explore together what is happening with GRI, SASB, etc. in institutionalizing clear metrics …
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
- Conference Presentations
- View more
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.