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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Sustainable Design: Student Challenges with the Creative Process
- Daemen University (NY)
Effective design process requires collaboration, creativity, and problem-solving skills applied to the challenges in our local and global communities. As we seek sustainable solutions, we must consider the long-term impacts …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Teaching Sustainability: Perspectives from the Humanities and Social Sciences
- Earlham College (IN)
- Luther College (IA)
- Rice University (TX)
- Stephen F. Austin State University (TX)
- Wells College (NY)
- Willamette University (OR)
The purpose of this session is to provide an informal discussion forum for faculty teaching in the humanities and sciences who are engaged in integrating sustainability into their courses. Each …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Developing a Campus Living Lab: Community College and University Solutions
- California State University, Chancellor's Office (CA)
- Central New Mexico Community College (NM)
- Pennsylvania State University (PA)
- Portland State University (OR)
- American Association of Community Colleges (DC)
As community colleges and universities redesign and retrofit their campuses in more sustainable ways, institutions should use these projects as experiential learning opportunities for students and research opportunities for faculty. …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability across the Curriculum: Promising Strategies
- Skagit Valley College (WA)
- Evergreen State College, The (WA)
- University of Puget Sound (WA)
- Western Washington University (WA)
- Whatcom Community College (WA)
If sustainability perspectives and practices are to become part of college graduates’ thinking, they must start appearing "across the curriculum" in ways that are not only meaningful for students; sustainability …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Sustainability Semester: From Individual to Community Action
- Goshen College (IN)
- Michigan State University (MI)
Each fall, students from various colleges and universities move to the Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College to participate in a Sustainability Semester. For the duration of the …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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How do the arts and culture fit in the undergraduate sustainability curricula?
- Pacific Lutheran University (WA)
- University of Puget Sound (WA)
How do the arts and culture fit in to sustainability curricula? This briefing will inform participants about efforts to highlight and increase the role of arts and culture in Xavier …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Broadening the Definition of Campus: Creating a Collaborative Place to Live & Learn to Reinvent a Sustainable Future with Innovation Districts
- Oklahoma State University (OK)
- Via Suzuki Architecture (WA)
How can we be relevant? How can a town and gown community create a supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem that fosters genuine green innovation, house & grow students to become game changers, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Connect curriculum & co-curriculum to assess engagement campus-wide
- Portland State University (OR)
Student learning occurs in a variety of ways and in a variety of places on campus. However, most measurements of student learning and engagement around sustainability are assessed separately for …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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A Methodology for Sustainability in Higher Learning
- Concordia University (CA)
Our presentation will be an in-depth look at the Sustainable Curriculum Project recently conducted at Concordia University in Montréal. Concordia is a leader in championing innovative initiatives. The University provides …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Teaching and Learning for a Zero Waste Future
- DePauw University (IN)
The global materials economy is a fundamental driver of all of our most serious and urgent crises: climate change, toxic pollution, biodiversity loss, poverty, and injustice. This economic system rests …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Utilization of Experiential Learning: An interdisciplinary Approach to Teaching Sustainability Concepts
- Morehouse College (GA)
The intersection of humanities, business, and science cultivates the area of the triple bottom line of sustainability. The purpose of this session is to demonstrate the application of pedagogy in …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Students Learning Sustainable Practices in Organizations
- Morehouse College (GA)
The purpose of this poster session is to display how the utilization of an impactful pedagogy, case study method can bring interesting, real world situations in the classroom. A case …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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LEED vs. Green Globes: An engaged scholarship approach to advancing campus green building policy
- Pennsylvania State University (PA)
This study examines the value of student engagement in the advancement of green building policies by colleges and universities. The integration of sustainability practices into the design and construction of …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Cross-Disciplinary, Student-led Sustainability Projects that Build Engagement and Realize Core Learning Outcomes
- Portland Community College (OR)
This presentation will share highlights from projects which seek to support instructors in the development and implementation of sustainability curriculum thereby increasing student engagement and improving their knowledge, skills and …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Scan, Link, Learn: Campus Arboretum as Living Lab
- Purdue University (IN)
The Purdue Arboretum is a campus landscape arboretum that began as an idea in late 2008 to recreate the Purdue campus as a living laboratory. The mission of the Purdue …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Global Sustainability for Social Justice
- Santa Clara University (CA)
Santa Clara University’s Food & Agribusiness Institute (FAI) offers a unique approach to immersion trips; they are designed differently than other trips sponsored by universities, and even from other immersion …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Engaging Faculty in Sustainability
- Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (IL)
To achieve a truly sustainable campus, expertise from all corners of campus needs to be brought together, while providing learning opportunities for students. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) and the …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Developing Green Revolving Funds to Reduce Environmental Footprint
- Sustainable Endowments Institute (MA)
This discussion will explore how students have created green revolving funds on their campuses and the tips and tricks they suggest to other students that are interesting in creating such …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Community Engagement Through the Arts
- Transylvania University (KY)
This presentation will focus on “Community Engagement Through the Arts” (CETA), a course we teach at Transylvania University in Lexington, KY with the stated goal of creating and maintaining sustainable …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Embedding Sustainability Curriculum Pathways across the University
- University of British Columbia (BC)
Sustainability and student learning are key commitments of the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) Place and Promise plan. UBC’s long-term vision is to embed sustainability in all teaching programs, so …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Koch Campus: Compromising Academic Freedom
- University of Kansas (KS)
Academic freedom in higher education ensures the ability to freely seek and disseminate the truth. Yet, as our universities become increasingly dependent on private funding, "academic freedom" is marginalized and …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Nuts & Bolts of Adapting the UO’s Sustainable City Year Program
- University of Oregon (OR)
In 2010, the New York Times called the University of Oregon’s Sustainable City Year Program (SCYP) “perhaps the most comprehensive effort by a U.S. university to infuse sustainability into its …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Change Management and Implementation
- University of Washington, Seattle (WA)
Getting buy-in for change means building consensus with stakeholders and finding collaborative ways of mitigating/managing risk. This presentation focuses on strategic change management through collaborations with the university’s administration, academic …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability & the Pacific Rim: Willamette University’s Program
- Willamette University (OR)
In conjunction with Japan’s Tokyo International University (TIU), Willamette University (WU) has developed a new interdisciplinary program bringing together the natural and social sciences with the humanities called "Sustainability across …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Knowledge matters: Sustainability education trumps narcissism
- Appalachian State University (NC)
Recent research has indicated troubling trends for sustainability in higher education. Student narcissism and individualism are at record high levels, yet empathy is headed in the opposite direction. Is it …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Solutions Learning at ASU’s School of Sustainability
- Arizona State University (AZ)
Why Solutions Learning? How we implement SL: Curriculum; Program Learning Objectives; workshops; applied projects. Sustainability Solutions Studios (highlighting Croatia Summer 2014). Sustainability Solutions Service and graduate Solutions Assistants (SAs). Global …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability, Community and Voice: The Power of Student TED Talks
- Chapman University (CA)
Sustainability as an area of focus for the first-year seminar can seem abstract and distant, with only occasional connections to students’ everyday lives. By asking students to give their own …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Critical Perspectives on Sustainability
- Earlham College (IN)
Sustainability education can take on value stances that are, at times, taken-for-granted and uninterrogated. In an effort to educate students and raise awareness, advocacy can justifiably take the place of …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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From Surplus to Purpose: A student study to rediscover the value of outdated furniture
- Johnson County Community College (KS)
In the spring of 2012, Johnson County Community College’s (JCCC) Interior Design program introduced a Special Topics course in re-upholstery, having been prompted by students curious about new ways to …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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From Positivist to Post-normal Science: Rhetoric and Stakeholder Communication and Action Surrounding Complex Environmental Issues
- Kent State University (OH)
This presentation looks closely at rhetorical communication issues surrounding complex environmental topics. In what ways can and does sustainability science research include both academic and community, or local knowledges? The …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Forging Access Between Sustainable Campus Initiative and Students
- Kent State University (OH)
This talk considers how knowledge sponsorship and technological determinism of English Departments and campus communities hinder the sustainability consciousness raising for students and campus community members. Kent State University is …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Building a community farming network with the KPU Lab Farm
- Kwantlen Polytechnic University (BC)
The Bachelor of Applied Science in Sustainable Agriculture is a unique program at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) that seeks to advance sustainable communities and food systems through integrated education, applied …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Gaia Education Curriculum for Sustainable Community Development
- Living Routes, Inc. (MA)
We need to continually develop curriculum that can equip citizens and decision-makers to respond to current challenges and help create a viable world. This Case Study will describe a well-developed, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Transforming the Local Food Economy in Louisville and Vermont via Summer Consulting Internships
- Middlebury College (VT)
FoodWorks is Middlebury College’s Fellowship program for students interested in food systems and sustainable development. Middlebury students participate in this for credit summer program every summer through a nine-week competitive …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Product Based Sustainability Framework for Universities
- North Carolina A&T State University (NC)
The transformation of a University towards sustainable development requires a paradigm shift from an activity based focus to a product based focus. In an activity based focus, several projects are …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Developing a Baccalaureate Degree in Sustainability in Canada
- Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (AB)
The impact of sustainability in all aspects of our life is certainly an emerging trend. All industries including the construction industry are taking active initiatives to support sustainability practices. This …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Implicit Nature of Holistic Sustainability Education: The Student Perspective at Green Mountain College
- Oklahoma State University (OK)
Much has been written about the theoretical underpinnings of a holistic approach to sustainability education, including deep learning and systems theories. Though some studies discuss the need to implement such …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Using Competencies in the Design and Assessment of Sustainability Programs
- Pennsylvania State University (PA)
At Penn State University, the Sustainability Leadership Minor has been administered using a list of sustainability and leadership competencies that are the basis of the expectations of the program. Now, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Addressing Campus Sustainability Challenges with the Social Sciences: Linking Applied Learning to Student Performance
- Portland Community College (OR)
What do the social sciences have to offer for understanding and addressing campus sustainability challenges? This is the question undergraduate environmental science and studies students explore as part of a …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Using Bluegrass Music to Power Careers in Sustainable Energy
- Portland State University (OR)
This presentation will analyze the problems of human capital flight and ecological decline in the coal fields of Appalachia. An affective strategy for engaging these economic and ecological problems using …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Establishing Sustainability as a General Education Directive
- Southern Oregon University (OR)
Colleges and universities nationwide continue to struggle with strategies for integrating sustainability within higher education curricula. While many universities have encouraged faculty to develop one or more courses that introduce …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainable Study Abroad: A Critical Framework
- Southwestern University (TX)
In the past decade, sustainability and global citizenship have emerged as two of the most prominent themes in contemporary higher education. Literature that specifically merges the two themes has, however, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Planting seeds of sustainability leadership in engineering education
- University of British Columbia (BC)
More than 480 courses are offered at the University of British Columbia (UBC) where environmental, social and/or techno-economic aspects of sustainability are incorporated; of which, 88 reside in the Faculty …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Connecting Academic Work with Funds to Address Campus Sustainability
- University of Colorado Colorado Springs (CO)
In order to educate future sustainability leaders we must bridge the academic operational divide by connecting student coursework with funding to address real campus sustainability projects. We must begin to …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Coding and Theorizing Syllabi for Sustainability Skills and Competencies
- University of Florida (FL)
My doctoral research has involved collecting over 200 syllabi from sustainability programs all over the United States. I have been coding these syllabi for evidence of skills-based sustainability education. My …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Greenhouse: A Place-Based Sustainability Living Learning Program
- University of Kentucky (KY)
Greenhouse is a living-learning community at the University of Kentucky that engages students in learning about many aspects of the local environment through the lens of sustainability. Greenhouse will bring …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Integrating Service-Based Learning and the Flipped Classroom through the National Energy Leadership Corps Program
- University of Kentucky (KY)
Engineering pedagogies traditionally aim to teach students technical skills and large quantities of information over relatively short periods while in a classroom setting. The successful construction of buildings that reach …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Institutional Behavior Change and Sustainability
- University of Louisville (KY)
It is well established that human behavior underlies almost all environmental problems, e.g. air and water pollution, climate change, loss of biodiversity, resource overuse, waste generation and recycling, etc. Most …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Pedagogic elements for student interest in an introductory course
- University of Louisville (KY)
While there are many contested strategies for delivering an education for sustainable development, there are far fewer empirical studies demonstrating the relationships between classroom elements that generate the interest necessary …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Immersion Education: Transcending Psychological Barriers to Action
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
In this briefing, we will bring together some of the best thinking on psychological barriers to action at local and global scales from the American Psychological Association and combine it …
- 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.