Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 49.13
Liaison Michael Kensler
Submission Date Jan. 15, 2013
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.2

Auburn University
ER-5: Sustainability Course Identification

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Nanette Chadwick
Director, Academic Sustainability Programs
Biological Sciences
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Has the institution developed a definition of sustainability in the curriculum?:
Yes

A copy of the institution's definition of sustainability in the curriculum?:

Sustainability-focused courses concentrate on the concept of sustainability, including its social, economic, and environmental aspects, or examine an issue or topic using sustainability as a lens.

Sustainability-related courses incorporate sustainability as a distinct component or module but not as the primary focus of the course.


Has the institution identified its sustainability-focused and sustainability-related course offerings?:
Yes

A brief description of the methodology the institution followed to complete the inventory:

Using the online Schedule of Courses for each semester, staff members in Academic Sustainability Programs compiled lists of all courses offered by each department on campus during Fall 2010-Fall 2012. Then we removed all courses that were online-only outreach courses that were not taught in person on campus (= courses ending in 06), and laboratory-only courses (ending in 01) that must be taken together with lecture courses, so that linked laboratory and lecture courses were counted together as one course each. We also excluded courses in which students did not meet as a group formally with instructors, such as independent study and senior capstone project courses. We were left with all courses taught in person on campus in which instructors met formally with groups of students for regular instruction. We then set up meetings with faculty members in each department, to examine the course lists and determine which courses were sustainability-focused and sustainability-related, using the Auburn University definitions for these course types. We added notes concerning course content to these lists, to explain what types of content justified the inclusion of each course in each of these 2 categories. Then the total number and percent of sustainability courses of both types were calculated for each department, and the course lists with the content notes and calculations were posted online.


Does the institution make its sustainability course inventory publicly available online?:
Yes

The website URL where the sustainability course inventory is posted:
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.