Amherst College
AC-1: Sustainability Course Offerings

1.1 Percentage of academic departments with sustainability course offerings

An institution earns 8 points when all of its academic departments have integrated sustainability into their course offerings or equivalent units of instruction, as evidenced by the presence of one or more sustainability-focused courses or sustainability-inclusive courses. Incremental points are available and earned as outlined in the Technical Manual.

Measurement

Report on courses and equivalent units of instruction (e.g., modules or subjects) that are currently offered or have been offered within the previous three years.

A comprehensive listing of each department’s sustainability course offerings is welcome, but not required. Rather, an institution may identify one or more examples of sustainability-focused and/or sustainability-inclusive courses for each department for which it is claiming points. A list of suggested keywords to help identify sustainability course offerings is available for download from the STARS website.

Each department with a sustainability course offering may be counted, even if the courses are offered or administered jointly with other departments. 

Departments that exclusively offer practice-oriented courses (e.g., clinical practice, activity-based physical education, hands-on trades, and arts performance, technique, or composition) may be excluded as long as they are also excluded from the count of departments with sustainability course offerings.

1.2 Published sustainability course listings

An institution earns 3 points when it maintains a public multidisciplinary listing of its sustainability course offerings or equivalent units of instruction as a resource for current and prospective students. The listings must include courses spanning multiple departments or fields of study, clearly distinguish sustainability courses from other course offerings, and be accessible to current and prospective students A) on the institution’s public website, B) through formal designation in the institution’s official course catalog, or C) in a standalone publication.

Measurement

Report on the institution’s currently available sustainability course listings.

To qualify, the listings must have been updated within the previous three years, e.g., to exclude courses that are no longer offered. At minimum, the listings must include sustainability-focused courses, but may also include sustainability-inclusive courses if the institution finds value in identifying them.

1.3 Support for academic staff to integrate sustainability into the curriculum

An institution earns 3 points when it A) provides incentives for individual academic staff working to integrate sustainability into the curriculum to pursue relevant professional development and/or training and B) hosts an ongoing multidisciplinary community of practice, sustainability across the curriculum training program, or equivalent support program for academic staff who are working to integrate sustainability into the curriculum. Partial points are available and earned as outlined in the Technical Manual.

Measurement

Report on the current status of the institution’s programs.

To qualify, an incentive program must A) have a stated intent to support academic staff in increasing student learning about sustainability, B) support participation in a sustainability across the curriculum training program or equivalent, or C) have resulted in the development of new sustainability courses, units, modules, or instructional content during the previous three years.

Applicable to institutions that offer courses or equivalent units of instruction for academic credit.