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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Embedding Sustainability Curriculum Pathways across the University
- The 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
- The 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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Natural Dye Campus Garden: Art and Permaculture
- University of North Texas (TX)
Funded by the environmental services fee, the University of North Texas Natural Dye Garden is a student initiated project in the College of Visual Arts and Design. Inspired by a …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Developing a Sustainability Degree with minimal resources
- University of Northern Colorado (CO)
The University of Northern Colorado developed an Environmental Studies Minor program in 1970. In 2011 it launched an interdisciplinary Environmental & Sustainability Studies Program B.A degree. While it was initially …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Graduate Attribute Development at the University of Saskatchewan
- University of Saskatchewan (SK)
The School of Environment and Sustainability (SENS) at the University of Saskatchewan, located in Saskatoon, Canada, is home to a thriving community of eighty-five graduate students, a dozen post-doctoral fellows, …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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A Framework for Systematic Learning for Sustainability Science
- University of Saskatchewan (SK)
The urgency of global problems including growing income inequality, climate change, threats to water security, loss of species and the intensification of urbanization suggest that the aspirations for sustainable development …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Environmental Life Cycle Analysis of Food at University of Washington
- University of Washington, Seattle (WA)
In spring 2014, twenty-five students in the class Sustainability Studio (in the undergraduate Environmental Studies program) partnered with University of Washington Housing and Food Services to assess the environmental impacts …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Campus Sustainability Planning Studio
- Western Washington University (WA)
This session will cover the Campus Sustainability Planning Studio (CSPS), a hands-on, problem-based learning class that has been taught at Western Washington University’s Huxley College of the Environment since 1999. …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Learning How to Apply Social Science Research by Solving Campus Sustainability Challenges
- University of Michigan (MI)
“Social Sciences and Environmental Problems,” a 75-student class at taught annually at the University of Michigan (U-M), introduces six social sciences and how each can help understand and address environmental …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Show Me the Learning!
- Moraine Valley Community College (IL)
Over the past four years, over 60 faculty across the disciplines participated in a series of 9-20 hour long workshops internalizing the key concepts of sustainability and unearthing the connections …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Teaching Sustainable Business 101: Required Readings
- University of Arkansas at Little Rock (AR)
If you teach introductory sustainable business, you need to hear to this presentation. Based on a review of 96 introductory courses representing 63 universities, the most common reading assignments and …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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STARS Curriculum: Trends, Challenges and a Proposed Solution
- East Tennessee State University (TN)
STARS Curriculum: Trends, Challenges and a Proposed Solution
M. Moin Uddin, Ph.D., East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN
STARS (The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System) curriculum subcategory recognizes …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Case Studies in Educating for Sustainability Across the Curriculum: Liberal Arts Edition
- Dickinson College (PA)
- Furman University (SC)
- Sewanee - The University of the South (TN)
Small colleges possess a unique opportunity to infuse sustainability across the curriculum. Dickinson College, Furman University, and Sewanee: The University of the South will share three case studies that demonstrate …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Libraries as Partners Around the University Table
- University of California, Los Angeles (CA)
- University of Florida (FL)
- University of Nevada Las Vegas (NV)
The university table where sustainability campus initiatives and academic programs are discussed is relatively busy. Seats are filled by representatives from academic and student affairs; buildings and grounds; housing services; …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Assessing Undergraduate Sustainability Knowledge Campus Wide: From design to implementation and analysis
- The Ohio State University (OH)
- University of Maryland, College Park (MD)
Many universities and colleges have adopted goals to increase the knowledge and awareness of sustainability concepts and issues among their student populations. To this end, more and more sustainability themed …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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GS3: Developing Sustainable Business Leaders
- University at Albany (NY)
The proposed workshop will provide an in-depth review of the unique Going Green Globally program, or G3, designed for the first year MBA students at the University at Albany. The …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Four Approaches to Sustainability Education: One Degree
- Prescott College (AZ)
A look at doctoral programs across the United States reveals there is only one focused specifically in Sustainability Education. In its 9th year of operation, Prescott College’s Sustainability Education PhD …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Partnerships for Youth Development: Green Leadership Academy for Diverse Ecosystems (GLADE)
- Missouri State University (MO)
The Green Leadership Academy for Diverse Ecosystems (GLADE) is a week-long academy for high school students sponsored by the Greater Ozarks Audubon Society, Missouri State University, Missouri Department of Conservation …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Engaging Students in Climate Research with High Altitude Stratospheric Balloons
- Trevecca Nazarene University (TN)
For the last four years, Trevecca Nazarene University has been using small-scale high altitude balloon flights to engage students in climate research and raise awareness of that research within the …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Incubation of a New Suite of Courses in Food Systems
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
Five innovative new courses at the University of Minnesota--Twin Cities focus on issues of changing food systems and global sustainability. Responding to student interest, the courses developed independently. Even as …
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Integrating Sustainability Initiatives and Green Energy Infrastructure on Engineering College Campuses
- Stevens Institute of Technology (NJ)
Emphasis on sustainability in higher education over the last decade prompted the formation of nonprofit organizations, like the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), which administers …
- 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.