Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 64.13
Liaison Michael Kensler
Submission Date Feb. 4, 2022

STARS v2.2

Auburn University
AC-7: Incentives for Developing Courses

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Sarah Hamilton
Associate Professor and Director
Academic Sustainability Program
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Does the institution have an ongoing program that offers incentives for academic staff in multiple disciplines or departments to develop new sustainability courses and/or incorporate sustainability into existing courses? :
Yes

A brief description of the incentive program(s):

The Academic Sustainability Program’s 2021 Fall Line Course (Re)Design Workshop is run every two years in early May. The most recent workshop took place from May 3-7, 2021. Participants were a disciplinarily diverse group of fifteen participants, representing twelve departments and seven colleges from across the university. They proposed and planned courses addressing a wide range of sustainability-related issues as defined by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, ranging from masculinity, race, and place to local environmental hazards. When completed, these courses will qualify as electives in the Sustainability Studies Minor, a designation that will assist faculty in attracting an eager audience of engaged and motivated students.

Facilitators from the Academic Sustainability Program and the Biggio Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning worked with participants to develop meaningful course objectives, craft innovative assignments, and explore ways to incorporate multiple aspects of sustainability into their work. Topics included “backwards course design,” systems thinking, interdisciplinary teaching, support services and campus resources, and opportunities for service and experiential learning.


A brief description of the incentives that academic staff who participate in the program(s) receive:

At the 2019 workshop, $500 was awarded to each faculty member who submits a revised or new syllabus with substantial sustainability content.
At the 2021 workshop, the award amount was increased to $1000 and participants worked closely with peers and facilitators to address issues of concern in their syllabi and classrooms. Participating faculty (and their department heads and chairs) committed to teaching the course within two years, and all completed courses have been automatically listed as approved electives in the Sustainability Studies minor.


Website URL where information about the incentives for developing sustainability course content is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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