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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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 and …
- 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 course …
- 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 35% …
- 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 rights …
- 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 increased …
- 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, activist-oriented …
- 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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Educating for Sustainability through Campus and Community Service
- Daemen University (NY)
In an interdisciplinary collaboration between a biologist and artist/designer at Daemen College, our service learning course engages students in environmental science through the creation of a campus outdoor education area …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Experiential Learning and Sustainability Education: Hands-on and How-To
- International Sustainable Development Studies Institute (Chiang Mai)
Universities and colleges have the potential to address sustainability and social justice in unique and powerful ways. However, effective teaching about sustainability and the links between culture (how we live) …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Assessing Systems Thinking Skills of Apparel and Textiles Undergraduate Students
- Kansas State University (KS)
The UN has challenged higher education to reorient education and integrate sustainability across all disciplines. This reorientation has pedagogical implications for advancing skills and attitudes supporting sustainable development. One skill, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Creating a B.S. in Sustainability Science: Lessons Learned
- Kean University (NJ)
In less than 12 months, a B.S. in Sustainability Science degree proposal moved from conception to state approval at Kean University (NJ). It is the only degree of its kind …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Gusts and Breezes of Change: Outcomes of a Faculty Curricular Workshop
- Missouri State University (MO)
We will describe the process and outcomes of a full-day workshop for eleven Missouri State University faculty that was modeled after AASHE's "Sustainability Across the Curriculum" leadership workshops. The workshop …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Building Capacity for Sustainability Through Faculty and Curricular Development
- Portland State University (OR)
Portland State University has made integration of sustainability across its academic programs an institutional priority, including adopting sustainability as one of eight campus-wide undergraduate learning goals in 2009. This workshop …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Quickfire Challenges for Classroom Sparks: One-Day Experiences for Sustainability Skills
- Presidio Graduate School (CA)
It's an ongoing academic tension: How do we reconcile passions for sustainability with sometimes-sleazy capitalism? This presentation illustrates how combining seminal texts with service learning adds a richer level of …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Ideas to Implementation-Catalizing Student, Staff and Faculty Sustainability Efforts
- University of British Columbia (BC)
This session will describe a decade-long award-winning initiative that partners students, faculty and students to catalyze sustainability efforts on our 60,000 person campus. Using the campus as a living laboratory, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Using campus green space for learning about learning and teaching
- University of Plymouth (Devon)
This action research project explores the student experience of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) embedded into a postgraduate course on teaching and learning at the University of Plymouth, with particular …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Refining and Assessing Workshops for Infusing Sustainability across the Curriculum
- University of Scranton (PA)
While the call for curricular attention to sustainability has been made often and widely, real obstacles exist to infusing sustainability issues across the curriculum. Faculty development seminars have been an …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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First-Year Experience: A Cross-Campus Integration of Sustainability Education
- Appalachian State University (NC)
This presentation will highlight a unique cross campus collaboration focused on the integration of sustainability education and service learning into Appalachian State University's First Year Seminar Program and Residential Learning …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Building a New Sustainability Minor: Discovering Walls and Building Alliances
- Bowling Green State University (OH)
Growing consensus about the importance of college graduates understanding the principles of sustainability is driving the creation of various academic programs and approaches. Although the President's Climate Commitment and the …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Green Spring Break: Lessons in Sustainable Service
- Bowling Green State University (OH)
The presence of "alternative" spring breaks based in service across the U.S. seems firmly entrenched in higher education, and their popularity is increasing as students become more service-oriented. Newer is …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Nature as Guide for Vibrant Learning: Multi-Dimensional Sustainability Pedagogy
- California Institute of Integral Studies (CA)
In this workshop, participants will explore how to design academic learning experiences (courses, workshops, conferences) inspired by nature. Principles of living systems and metapatterns of nature will be introduced as …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Teaching Sustainability 101: Learning and the Models of Teaching
- Colorado State University (CO)
Just what is our responsibility to our students, the larger society, and the health of the planet? As faculty, we are hired to be experts. As teachers, we are presenters, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Getting started with effective interdisciplinary instruction
- Creative Change Educational Solutions (MI)
College courses often reflect the disciplinary expertise of the professor, leaving little room for interdisciplinary connections even when the desire is there. So how can professors "stretch" sustainability instruction to …
- 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.