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
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Sustainable Graduates Achieving Global Learning Outcomes Through Innovative Curricular Design
- Northern Arizona University (AZ)
- Haley & Aldrich, Inc. (MA)
In spite of challenges that many are facing with integrating sustainability into curricula, Northern Arizona University (NAU) has tackled this on an even larger scale by purposefully infusing environmental sustainability ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Framing Career Technical Programs within Social Frameworks
- Portland Community College (OR)
It is not enough to teach students how to be sustainable; we must also embed the questions and answers as to why it matters into our curriculum and institutional practices ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Education for Sustainability, Not Less Unsustainability: WCU's EFS Certificate Programs
- West Chester University of Pennsylvania (PA)
This paper/presentation is for those who are drawn to the work of education for sustainability (EFS), yet who suspect that tinkering with or even overhauling what happens in formal ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Students and Faculty Lead Local Green Building Projects: A Sustainable Model
- Colorado State University (CO)
An interdisciplinary university institute focused on sustainable design and development brings together students and faculty to perform green building research and LEED project coordination for campus building projects and many ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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High-Impact Experiential Approach to Sustainability in Northeastern University's Curriculum
- Northeastern University (MA)
The NU Core, Northeastern's first institution-wide general education program, includes requirements for substantial out-of-classroom experience and for integration of that experience with the in-class curriculum. Inherent in the NU ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sharing a Passion and Connecting Students to Sustainability Experiences
- Saint Louis University (MO)
The Department of Nutrition and Dietetics exemplifies what it takes to launch a sustainability program by tapping into a passion. Its undergraduate dietetics program was added to the existing dietetic ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Advancing Collaboration and Student Engagement in the Sustainability Curriculum
- University of Texas at San Antonio (TX)
This paper is based on the premise that integrating sustainability issues into educational curricula is best achieved through activities that encourage students to take an active role in addressing real ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability in Civil and Environmental Engineering Courses at CU-Boulder
- University of Colorado Boulder (CO)
Recent modifications have been made to two first-year courses for civil (CivE) and environmental (EnvE) engineering majors and the senior capstone design course in EnvE. A pre-survey was used to ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Impact of Educational Context on Teaching Sustainable Design and Construction
- Colorado State University (CO)
Teaching sustainability is critical to the education of Construction Management (CM) students and professionals. The authors have participated in and taught classes focused on the integration of sustainable principles and ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The impact of "No Impact Week" in ENVS 101
- Denison University (OH)
The syllabus for ENVS 101 (People and the Environment) at Denison University typically involves the examination of issues like climate change, food security, impacts of agriculture, water quality and scarcity ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Bombing Detroit: Activist Architecture as a Pedagogical Model
- Lawrence Technological University (MI)
Are traditional models of architectural practice still viable in cities mired in physical, psychological, and economic crisis? Are Universities initiating programs that educate students in a manner that allows them ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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National Council for Science & the Environment (NCSE): Building Community, Creating Solutions
- Global Council Science and the Environment (DC)
NCSE has many programs and offers high-quality resources for those working to advance sustainability at colleges and universities:
• NCSE provides more than 150 University Affiliates with resources to strengthen their ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Assessment of Education for Sustainable Development in Costa Rican Universities
- University of Phoenix (AZ)
The purpose of this two-part study is to examine relationships between knowledge of and attitudes towards sustainability in the apparel and textile (AT) industry and students' apparel purchasing behaviors.
In ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability and informal learning in a UK university
- University of Plymouth (Devon)
This paper reports on research undertaken in the UK to identify the ways and extent to which aspects of the university campus impact on students' understanding of sustainability through informal ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The End of Oil: A Model Course for Sustainability Education
- Prescott College (AZ)
Because energy is central to all socio-ecological systems, a course on energy can easily become a course on everything. Therein lies both the promise and the challenge of a course ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Global Greening: Study Abroad and Sustainability at New York University
- New York University (NY)
New York University has established its academic and cultural identity around the "global network university" model. With twelve different study abroad sites and the highest number of students studying abroad ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Transformative Learning in Interior Design: Sustainability as a Professional Responsibility
- Kansas State University (KS)
In a profession that holds the power to create and modify the built environment, interior designers have an obligation and responsibility to meet the needs of the present without compromising ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Advancing Sustainability Education: Transformative Learning and Undergraduate Research Experiences
- Kansas State University (KS)
Sustainable energy is a critical area of importance nationally and internationally in terms of education and workforce development. To address this need, K-State has implemented a National Science Foundation (NSF ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Incorporating Sustainability into the Curriculum at a Small University
- University of Mount Union (OH)
After attending an AASHE sponsored workshop on implementation of sustainability across the curriculum in January 2010, we felt prepared to develop our own version of a faculty workshop that would ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Lessons from a Capstone Course Focused on Campus Sustainability
- University of Lynchburg (VA)
With the first offering of Lynchburg College's "Capstone Course in Environmental Studies" in Spring 2010 came the challenge of determining what would constitute an appropriate capstone experience for junior ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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A Liberal Education Requirement: People of the Environment
- Bemidji State University (MN)
Bemidji State University has delivered a cross-disciplinary, liberal education environmental course for over a decade. The course objective is the following: "The major purpose of this course is to heighten ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Greening for a Grade: Leveraging Action-Based Learning for Sustainability Progress
- University of Central Florida (FL)
- University of Michigan (MI)
This panel will include perspectives from diverse institutions and presenters on how action-based course projects can catalyze and leverage campus sustainability initiatives. The presenters will provide practical guidance on course ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Teaching Campus Sustainability: A Service Learning Class Focused On AASHE STARS
- University of Vermont (VT)
Sustainability directors are charged with educating the university population and helping the institution make real progress toward sustainability goals. Teaching a service-learning class is a feasible way for campus sustainability ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Interdisciplinary Environmental Education Programs: Three Approaches to Sustainability
- Global Council Science and the Environment (DC)
In 2009, the Council of Environmental Deans and Directors of the National Council for Science and the Environment completed an extensive research project that explored the field identity of interdisciplinary ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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IIICE: A New Model for Sustainability in Higher Education
- University of South Florida (Tampa) (FL)
A new model for sustainability in higher education has been created recently by the University of South Florida based on Integrated, Interdisciplinary Inquiry and Community Engagement (IIICE). The IIICE model ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Cultivating a Culture of Sustainability on Campus
- Haywood Community College (NC)
- University of California, Irvine (CA)
- University of Minnesota, Morris (MN)
- Second Nature (MA)
Roundtable speakers will: 1) outline their thoughts on fostering the cultural changes that are imperative in successfully engendering deep sustainability in the higher education context; and 2) present replicable, practical ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Engaging faculty from a non-academic post
- Meredith College (NC)
- North Carolina State University (NC)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (NC)
- Wake Forest University (NC)
Campus sustainability programs often begin with operations-based projects led by a sustainability director housed in the business and finance division of the institution. The director frequently struggles to create student ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability and the Humanities: Links to the Global Campus
- Ball State University (IN)
- Bridgewater State University (MA)
- Wake Forest University (NC)
- Willamette University (OR)
This panel will focus on the fertility of exchange between sustainability and traditional disciplines in the humanities and on how cross-pollination between the two creates unique educational experiences in higher ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Infusing Sustainability into the Curriculum through Mellon Post-doctoral Fellowships
- Centre College (KY)
- Furman University (SC)
- Washington and Lee University (VA)
This panel features three post-doctoral fellows from select institutions of the Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) who received funding from the Mellon Foundation to host two-year post-docs in environmental ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Community Colleges - National Initiatives and Resources for You
- Lane Community College (OR)
- Oakland Community College (MI)
- American Association of Community Colleges (DC)
Community Colleges educate adults of all ages and backgrounds and are at the center of workforce development for a green and sustainable economy. The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Designing Sustainability Curricula to Foster a New and Diverse Generation of Leaders
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
- University of Vermont (VT)
- Queen's University
Utilizing case studies of sustainability curricula at multiple universities, we will engage in a dialogue on how to educate a new generation of leaders on interdisciplinary sustainability thinking for a ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Effectiveness of a Seagoing Immersion Program in Fostering Environmental Awareness
- Coastal Carolina University (SC)
- University of Virginia (VA)
In Spring 2010, approximately 700 students, faculty, staff and life-long learners circumnavigated the globe as participants in the University of Virginia's Semester at Sea study abroad program. Over the ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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From Learning to Action: Sustainability Stories from the Field
- Antioch University, New England (NH)
- Colorado Mountain College (CO)
As the integration of sustainability content into a wide range of higher education degree programs and disciplines explodes, how do students, faculty, and administrators ensure that this training yields actual ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Interregional Infusing Sustainability Across the Curriculum: Experiences from Furman and Middlebury
- Furman University (SC)
- Middlebury College (VT)
This panel examines the experiences of infusing sustainability across existing curriculum. Furman and Middlebury are pursuing general education requirements, concentrations and majors at the undergraduate level. To integrate sustainability further ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability's Petri-Dish: Community Colleges as Incubators for the Sustainability Curricula
- North Seattle College (WA)
- Evergreen State College, The (WA)
The advancement of sustainability curricula at the community college is obviously important due to the diverse and large student population that these institutions serve. In addition, community colleges provide a ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability learning outcomes for an interdisciplinary general education curriculum
- Portland State University (OR)
- EcoChallenge.org (OR)
Over the past 15 years sustainability has emerged as a prominent theme within Portland State University's interdisciplinary general education curriculum. For example, a web-based survey of faculty found that ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Regional Collaboration on Integrating Sustainability into the Curriculum
- Luther College (IA)
- Nova Scotia Community College (NS)
This panel will focus on a successful model of ten institutions collaborating on a faculty development workshop for integrating sustainability into the curriculum. The project is supported by the Associated ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Creating a Truly Sustainable Campus: Integrating Sustainability Into Curriculum and Operations Throughout an Entire College
- Algonquin College (ON)
- Sustainability Solutions Group (QC)
The workshop will highlight the importance of taking an integrated approach to sustainability by bridging the divide between curriculum and operations. Algonquin College is currently integrating a broad-based sustainability strategy ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Saving Environmental Law Clinics: The Benefits of A Real-Word Education
- Tulane University (LA)
- University of Maryland, College Park (MD)
There are over 30 environmental law clinics located in U.S. law schools offering students the real-world experience of representing people who otherwise could not afford to enforce their environmental ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability at Sea: Greening an Around-the-World Educational Voyage
- Coastal Carolina University (SC)
- University of Virginia (VA)
The spring 2010 voyage of Semester at Sea (SAS) provided an unusual opportunity for students and faculty to work together to achieve measurable improvements to the sustainability of this unique ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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sustainability and the arts of democracy, innovating engaged learning
- Northern Arizona University (AZ)
this four person panel showcases an innovative engaged learning project. attached to graduate and undergraduate courses with parallel content, the project brings first year students, graduate students, faculty, and community ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability Education at the Edge: A cohort model for doctoral study
- Prescott College (AZ)
The challenge for the field of Sustainability Education is how to develop and support "agents of change" who can profoundly impact and transform our educational systems and communities to produce ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Pipelining Talent for Sustainable Careers: Role of Curriculum
- Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
Business schools play a key role in producing leaders for tomorrow's global market today. As sustainability emerges as a distinct market force across industries and functions, schools are experiencing ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Adopting and Adapting Suitable Program Level Sustainability Competencies
- Michigan State University (MI)
Despite the proliferation of sustainability programs in higher education, consensus is lacking about the key competencies required for sustainability literacy. Sustainability competency expectations should differ depending on the level of ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Teaching Sustainability at the Graduate Level
- Northern Arizona University (AZ)
The M.A. in Sustainable Communities program at Northern Arizona University, one of the earliest graduate programs in the country organized around the theme of sustainability, is an interdisciplinary, issue-focused ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Promoting and Practicing Sustainability
- Red Rocks Community College (CO)
The panel will present short papers on how we promoted sustainability across the curriculum, set up faculty workshops, but also trained students and faculty to go and participate in helping ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainable Engineering and Community Development
- Colorado School of Mines (CO)
Sustainability is clearly coming to the fore of undergraduate education in the United States and abroad. In higher education and in the broader discourse, however, engineers and engineering often seem ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Aligning Sustainability Commitments with Actions at A Wild West University
- New Mexico State University (NM)
This is a panel on how to encourage a university to align stated sustainability commitments with actions. Four faculty at a Wild West University (hereafter WWU, not its real name ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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A Multidisciplinary Model for an Undergraduate Minor in Sustainability
- University of Arkansas (AR)
This article provides the theoretical rationale of the multidisciplinary framework for curricula in a new sustainability minor at the University of Arkansas. Sustainability is by its very nature multidisciplinary, and ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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AMS Climate Studies: Dynamic Climate Science Exploration for College Students
- American Meteorological Society (DC)
The American Meteorological Society has a long history of developing introductory college-level courses and has found them to be important avenues for advancing scientific literacy among the public. As a ...
- 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.