Overall Rating Bronze
Overall Score 41.18
Liaison Mira Dzhakshylykova
Submission Date July 19, 2024

STARS v2.2

American University of Central Asia
AC-2: Learning Outcomes

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.30 / 8.00 Mira Dzhakshylykova
Sustainability Coordinator
Center for Civic Engagement
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Institutional sustainability learning outcomes

Has the institution adopted one or more sustainability learning outcomes that apply to the entire student body or, at minimum, to the institution's predominant student body?:
Yes

Which of the following best describes the sustainability learning outcomes?:
Sustainability-supportive

A list of the institution level sustainability learning outcomes:
 

Sustainability-Supportive Learning Outcomes

Sustainability-supportive learning outcomes at AUCA University focus on equipping students with essential skills, attitudes, and values that are critical for addressing sustainability challenges, even if they do not explicitly mention sustainability. These outcomes emphasize systems thinking, ethical responsibility, interdisciplinary approaches, and global awareness. Here are specific examples of these learning outcomes:

  1. Understanding the Nature of Systems

    • Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the nature of systems. This includes recognizing the interconnections and interdependencies within natural and human systems and understanding how changes in one part of a system can affect other parts.

  2. Social Responsibility as Future Professionals and Citizens

    • Students will have an understanding of their social responsibility as future professionals and citizens. They will learn to act with integrity and accountability in their professional and personal lives, considering the broader impact of their actions on society and the environment.

  3. Accommodating Individual Differences

    • Students will be able to accommodate individual differences in their decisions and actions and be able to negotiate across these differences. This includes developing skills in empathy, communication, and collaboration to work effectively with diverse groups and perspectives.

  4. Analyzing Power, Inequality, and Social Systems

    • Students will be able to analyze power, structures of inequality, and social systems that govern individual and communal life. They will critically examine how power dynamics and social structures influence behavior, access to resources, and opportunities, and work towards creating more equitable systems.

  5. Recognizing Global Implications of Actions

    • Students will be able to recognize the global implications of their actions. They will understand how local actions can have far-reaching effects on global systems and will be encouraged to think globally while acting locally to promote sustainability and social justice.

These learning outcomes are integral to AUCA University's commitment to preparing students to meet the complex sustainability challenges of the future with the necessary intellectual and practical skills.


Part 2. Program-level sustainability learning outcomes

Total number of graduates from degree programs:
779

Number of graduates from degree programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability:
127

A brief description of how the figure above was determined:
 

Over the past three years, AUCA University has tracked the number of graduates from various degree programs to assess the integration of sustainability within the curriculum. This analysis involved the following steps:

  1. Total Number of Graduates:

    • The total number of graduates from all degree programs over the past three years was recorded, amounting to 779 graduates.

  2. Graduates from Sustainability-Focused Programs:

    • To identify graduates from sustainability-focused programs, the university considered degree programs that:

      • Have been identified as sustainability-focused,
      • Have adopted sustainability-focused learning outcomes, or
      • Require a sustainability-focused course.

    • This process resulted in identifying 127 graduates from programs that meet one or more of these criteria.

The determination process ensures that AUCA University accurately captures the extent to which sustainability concepts are embedded in the education of its students, reflecting the institution's commitment to preparing graduates equipped to tackle sustainability challenges.

 

A list of degree programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability:

AUCA Sustainable focused courses

 

Investment Law and Sustainable Development

This course is focused on legal aspects of foreign direct investment (FDI) and sustainable development. As the world is moving towards the new generation of investment promotion and regulation, the comprehension of this field of law has become essential. Classes are aimed at providing you with the knowledge and critical understanding of main investment law as well as sustainable development concepts and issues. In addition, special attention is paid to the study of key multilateral and bilateral investment agreements and major court, arbitration cases. As the course is interactive and practice-oriented, it has a number of practical assignments among which are international investment agreement and investment contract negotiation rounds (including the one based on Harvard Law School program on negotiation). All of these in-class activities are aimed at helping you not only to put substantive knowledge gained into practice, but also further improve your proficiency in verbal and written communication as well as their analytical and problem-solving skills.

 

Human Rights and Environmental Law

As sustainable and healthy environment is essential to the full enjoyment of human rights, there is a growing need to understand the legal framework of environmental protection and explore its nexus with human rights. This course will look at environmental challenges through the prism of human rights by covering relevant core concepts, issues, actors, and institutions. In particular, it will focus on the human rights-based approach to environmental protection, “green” human rights, UN human rights mechanisms related to the promotion of environmental issues, environmental human rights defenders, environmental oversight mechanisms for human rights claims, climate change litigation, and many other issues. The development of concepts of the right to a healthy environment and its operational effect through human rights jurisprudence and implementation of the Aarhus Convention will also be discussed in the course.

 

International Environmental Law and Sustainable Development

ESCS- ENV-216 Climate Change and Sustainable Development Goals

ESCS - ENV/NS-215 Trees, Forests and Sustainability

ESCS - ENV-100 Introduction to Environmental Management and Sustainable Development

ESCS - ENV-100 Introduction to Environmental Management and Sustainable Development

ESCS - ENV/NTR- 101 Sustainable Ecosystem Development

ESCS - ENV/NTR - 210 Green Spaces in Urban Development

ESCS - ENV-205 Environmental Health and Safety

ESCS - ENV/NTR-200 Waste Management: Recycle and Waste Disposal

ESCS - ENV-301 Ecosystem Services

Advanced Issues in Public International Law

Internship 

Master Thesis I

Technology, Justice and Human Rights

International Trade Law

Corruption, Development and Good Governance

Human Rights and Health

 

 


Documentation supporting the figure reported above (upload):
AUCA_Sustainable_focused_courses.docx.pdf

Do the figures reported above cover one, two, or three academic years?:
Three

Percentage of students who graduate from programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability:
16.30

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the sustainability learning outcomes is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.