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
New Resources
Using a Social Justice Lens to Address the Doubt, Denial and Dismissal of Climate Change and the Need for a Sustainable Future
- Hackman Consulting Group
This half-day workshop is designed to help participants respond to campus doubt, denial and dismissal regarding climate change through the utilization of a social justice perspective on climate change and ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
- Conference Presentations
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Growing a Crop of 21st Century Innovators: Adapting our Learning Garden to Changing Times at Portland Community College’s Rock Creek Campus
- Portland Community College (OR)
This interactive session will provide the historical perspective of developing a large learning garden at Portland Community College’s Rock Creek Campus. The Learning Garden includes 51 raised beds, 2 ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
- Conference Presentations
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The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University: A Case Study in Sustainability
- Saint John's University (MN)
College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University (CSB/SJU) embarked actively on incorporating sustainability into operations and education by declaring 2010-2011 as the Year of Sustainability. This focus ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
- Conference Presentations
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Integrated Design: Linking Curriculum, Sustainability and Buildings that Teach
- Pierce College District 11 (WA)
- Opsis Architecture (OR)
Through a "cross-campus, multi-disciplinary" process, the Science and Technology Center was conceived as an interactive and sustainably-focused facility where the building becomes an integral part of math and science curriculum ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
- Conference Presentations
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Using experiential learning to create community linkages
- University of Toronto (ON)
The University of Toronto Mississauga environment program offers a practicum course that features environmental sustainability campus based initiatives for small groups of students. This structure engages students to undertake primary ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
- Conference Presentations
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AASHE, USGBC, NWF and Second Nature Announcement
- National Wildlife Federation (VA)
- Second Nature (MA)
- U.S. Green Building Council (DC)
- AASHE (MA)
Meghan Fay Zahniser from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), Julian Keniry from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), Jaime Van Mourik from the U.S ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Videos & Webinars
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Environmental Literacy and Sustainability as Core Requirements: Success Stories and Models
- Oakland Community College (MI)
At a number of colleges and universities, the core General Education requirements for all degrees include an in depth exposure to environmental literacy. Many colleges are also including a degree ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Publications
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Rice U 2012 Syllabus - Engineering Solutions for Sustainable Communities
- Rice University (TX)
The Rice University course Engineering Solutions for Sustainable Communities is cross-listed between Chemical Engineering and Environmental Studies. The class explores the principles of sustainability, the science of global warming, and ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Course Materials
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Ecological Footprint Journal Assignment
- Bellevue College (WA)
This is a journal assignment that I ask students to do after calculating their ecological footprint. The prompt from the last time I gave this assignment is attached.
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Citizen Pledge Assignment
- Bellevue College (WA)
As a Political Science instructor, one of my primary goals is to help students realize their rights and responsibilities as citizens. By “realize” I mean both knowing and appreciating what ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Global Trade Game
- Bellevue College (WA)
One of the ways I like to assess student learning is through class games. I use this particular game to assess knowledge about globalization and the stake holders involved in ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Facebook Project
- Bellevue College (WA)
Here is a quarter long project that I use in my SOC:278 Global Sociology class. The Project Outline includes weekly assignments that require students to spend 50 minutes on ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Rice U 2012 Syllabus - Environmental Issues: Rice Into the Future
- Rice University (TX)
Attached is the course syllabus for Rice University's ENST 302 / SOCI 304 "Environmental Issues: Rice Into the Future," a project-based class that uses the university as a laboratory for ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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SCT100: Introduction to Sustainable Built Environments
- Maricopa County Community College District Office (AZ)
Study of the built environment and implications on human health, the natural environment, and society. Understanding of strategies that achieve sustainable design. Exploration of positive and negative sustainable product attributes ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Triple Bottom Line Reporting
- University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (MA)
Triple Bottom Line Reporting focuses on transparent disclosure of the organization’s triple bottom line: economic, environmental and social aspects, also known as the three pillars of sustainability. While not ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Imagined Landscapes: Visions of Sustainability
- University of Utah (UT)
Sustainability is often characterized, graphically, as three overlapping ellipses, typically labeled “People”, “Planet”, and “Profit”. If we think of these ellipses as individual lenses though which to view the world ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Externalities in Microeconomics
- Harper College (IL)
This assignment will be introduced when externalities is being taught in the course. In microeconomics externalities is a cost (negative) or benefit (positive) that is not passed on to the ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Honors Seminar: The Sustainable Campus
- University of Illinois Chicago (IL)
This seminar examines social, economic and environmental sustainability issues as they pertain to complex institutions like colleges and universities. Using examples from universities and businesses around the country (including UIC ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Introduction to Sustainability (ACR 187 - Michigan State University)
- Michigan State University (MI)
Integration of balance among social equity, ecological integrity, economic vitality, civic engagement, aesthetic understanding, critical thinking, systems thinking, personal development, and competency-based learning. Portfolio assessment. ACR 187 is an introductory ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Sustainable Design 101: A Syllabus Supplement
- BuildingGreen, Inc. (VT)
Use this syllabus outline if you are teaching an existing course on sustainable design or developing a new course. The weekly topic headings can help organize and prioritize the overall ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
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Green Design Institute
- Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
The Green Design Institute is a major interdisciplinary education and research effort to make an impact on environmental quality by partnering with companies, government agencies and foundations to develop pioneering ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Brooke Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems
- Georgia Institute of Technology (GA)
The Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems enhances Georgia Tech’s research, education, and service missions, and campus operations through leadership, communications, development, and decision making inspired and defined by ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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IITAC Research Center
- Illinois Institute of Technology (IL)
The keynote of the IITAC Research Center is "Rethinking Metropolis," the architecture of the multiple, competing entities defining urban life in the new millennium. Urban migrations and the proliferation of ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Center for Sustainable Design
- Mississippi State University (MS)
The center focuses on developing, systematizing, and promulgating methods that will allow growing populations to live in a sustainable manner.
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Institutes of Energy and the Environment
- Pennsylvania State University (PA)
The mission of the Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment is to foster and facilitate interdisciplinary scholarship and collaboration to positively impact important energy and environmental challenges.
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Engineering and Design Institute
- Philadelphia University (PA)
Founded in 2000, the Engineering and Design Institute is an interdisciplinary research center focusing on green materials, sustainable design and education. The Institute works on a variety of projects to ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Golisano Institute for Sustainability
- Rochester Institute of Technology (NY)
Golisano Institute for Sustainability is a multidisciplinary academic unit at RIT whose mission is to undertake world-class education and research programs in sustainability with major foci on sustainable production, sustainable ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Design Center for Global Needs
- San Francisco State University (CA)
The Design Center for Global Needs has been the research and development component in the Department of Design & Industry (DAI). The Center promotes and fosters community, national and international ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Center for Sustainable Communities
- Temple University (PA)
The Center for Sustainable Communities (CSC) develops and promotes new approaches to protect and preserve quality of life through sustainable development. The Center acts as a resource for government agencies ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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College of Environmental Design
- University of California, Berkeley (CA)
CED stands among the nation’s top environmental design schools. It is one of the world’s most distinguished laboratories for experimentation, research, and intellectual synergy. The first school to ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Powell Center for Construction and Environment
- University of Florida (FL)
The Powell Center for Construction and Environment is primarily a research organization dedicated to the resolution of environmental problems associated with planning and architecture activities and the determination of optimum ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Center for Urban and Community Design
- University of Miami (FL)
The Center offers exhibitions and symposiums, and local and international outreach events related to urban and community design and planning.
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Center for Sustainable Systems
- University of Michigan (MI)
Center for Sustainable Systems advances concepts of sustainability through interdisciplinary research and education. CSS collaborates with diverse stakeholders to develop and apply life cycle based models and sustainability metrics for ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Center for Sustainable Building Research
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
The Center for Sustainable Building Research's mission is to lead and support—through research, outreach, and education—the transformation of the regional built environment to provide for the ecological ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Ecological Design Center
- University of Oregon (OR)
The Ecological Design Center (EDC) promotes a sustainable relationship between the built and natural worlds. The EDC educates University of Oregon design students with the awareness, sensitivity, and expertise necessary ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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ecoMOD Project
- University of Virginia (VA)
ecoMOD / ecoREMOD is a research and educational project at the University of Virginia, striving to create sustainable modular and renovated housing units for affordable housing organizations
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives
- Arizona State University (AZ)
The Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives utilize the brightest minds in sustainability science to develop solutions to real-world problems throughout the globe. A program administered by Arizona State University's Global ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Center for Corporate Citizenship
- Boston College (MA)
Based in the Carroll School of Management, the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship was founded in 1985, inspired by an early recognition that community expectations of companies were changing ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Fowler Center for Sustainable Value
- Case Western Reserve University (OH)
The Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit exists to advance the scholarship and practice of flourishing enterprise. It is allied with like-minded initiatives helping all institutions ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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The Tamer Center for Social Enterprise
- Columbia University (NY)
All Columbia University graduates will be called upon to contribute to society at some point in their lives. The Tamer Center for Social Enterprise trains the next generation of leaders ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise
- Cornell University (NY)
Established in 2003 through the generosity of Sam Johnson, Johnson’s Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise is a world-class academic institution producing and disseminating relevant knowledge for managers seeking innovative ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Center for Business & Society
- Dartmouth College (NH)
The Center for Business & Society at Tuck aims to prepare Tuck students for leadership in this increasingly complex, interconnected world. A connected world, shifting ideologies, and the changing role ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship
- Duke University (NC)
The Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) is an award-winning research and education center based at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. CASE’s mission is to ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Institute for Sustainable Enterprise
- Fairleigh Dickinson University (NJ)
A catalyst for sustainable enterprise in New Jersey and beyond for a decade, ISE is a thought leadership and research hub for current and future leaders who are interested in ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Environmental Sustainability Program of the George Washington Institute for Corporate Responsibility
- George Washington University (DC)
The Institute for Corporate Responsibility officially received its charter from the George Washington University in October, 2006. The Institute is devoted to the development and dissemination of scholarship, including research ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Victorian Centre for Sustainable Chemical Manufacturing (VCSCM)
- Monash University (VIC)
The VCSCM was designed to foster closer ties between manufacturers and researchers through access to practical scientific outcomes and innovative solutions to key issues faced by the industries, hands-on outreach ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Center for the Sustainable Built Environment
- New York University (NY)
The NYU School of Professional Studies Schack Institute of Real Estate's Center for the Sustainable Built Environment (SBE) was established in December 2009 with support from industry leaders and ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility
- Queen's University
The mission for the Centre for Social Impact at Smith School of Business is to educate students and foster outreach and advocacy on issues of social impact. The Centre does ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Center for Social Innovation
- Stanford University (CA)
The Center for Social Innovation's mission is to bring social and environmental change to the world. Through research, education, and experiential learning, the Center strengthens the capacity of individuals ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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Center for Responsible Business
- University of California, Berkeley (CA)
Building upon over a decade of research, teaching, and industry engagement, the Center for Responsible Business (CRB) brings students, company leaders and faculty together to: Learn a new way of ...
- Posted Feb. 25, 2016
- Research Centers & Institutes
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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.