Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 65.20
Liaison Denice Koljonen
Submission Date Feb. 17, 2022

STARS v2.2

Boston College
AC-2: Learning Outcomes

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.58 / 8.00 Tara Pisani
Assistant Professor
Earth and Envronment
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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?:
No

Which of the following best describes the sustainability learning outcomes?:
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A list of the institution level sustainability learning outcomes:
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Total number of graduates from degree programs:
4,171

Number of graduates from degree programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability:
305

A brief description of how the figure above was determined:

UG degrees conferred in 2020 were counted for the 2 Environmental dept. majors and the Environmental Studies minor as well as 4 additional minors described below that have sustainability focused learning outcomes


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

Goals of the Environmental Studies Major are to provide students with:
- the knowledge and perspective to cultivate rewarding lives as responsible citizens of the planet;
- a deep understanding of the scientific, political, and cultural aspects of the world's environmental challenges; the tools and creativity necessary to envision and implement paths to sustainable solutions; and a solid background for environmentally related graduate programs and/or careers in business, education, law, policy, planning, government, or research.

Goals of the Environmental Studies Minor are to provide students with:
- an awareness of the scientific, political, and cultural aspects of the world’s environmental problems and paths toward sustainable solutions;
- a background for environmentally related careers in business, education, law, policy or research; and
- preparation for graduate study.

Description of the Environmental Geosciences Major:
The field of Environmental Geoscience is interdisciplinary and evolving. This bachelor of science program serves as an excellent major for students who wish to concentrate in the scientific aspects of sustainability, including those who might not be looking toward professional careers as scientists. Many Environmental Geoscience students go on to graduate work in environmental law, environmental policy, or sustainability studies.
Learning Outcomes:
Environmental Geoscience majors will be able to:
1. Describe and apply basic Earth and environmental scientific concepts and information.
2. Collect and interpret quantitative Earth and environmental scientific data.
3. Think critically about scientific aspects of challenges currently facing society.
4. If this is their goal, enter graduate or professional school in environmental science, policy, law, or other related fields.
5. If this is their goal, obtain a job or internship in a field related to the environmental sciences.

The Managing for Social Impact and the Public Good interdisciplinary minor is a structured 18 credit program centered on one of three social impact focus areas: (1) Digital Economy, Social Innovation and Citizenship, (2) Economic Development, Equality and Enterprise, or (3) Environmental and Economic Sustainability.
Learning Outcomes:
- Develop a theoretical and practical understanding of the extended social impacts of local and global organizations and why responsible enterprise values and the public good are relevant for all organizational stakeholders
- Learn to apply research and critical thinking to understand the challenges, benefits and current best practices in responsible social impact management
- Explore the philosophical, ethical, legal, economic and ecological implications of the decisions made by corporate, non-profit and public sector global leaders
- Analyze the available tools and innovative models for measuring social impacts and balancing stakeholder value in a variety of corporate, nonprofit and public sector organizations
- Develop and articulate a personal vision for integrating moral decision-making, social justice, citizenship and responsible management in their future professional lives.

Faith, Peace, and Justice Minor
Offers students the opportunity to explore, in an interdisciplinary manner, how their own serious questions about faith, peace and justice are related to concrete work for peace and justice in our world. One of the structured clusters within the minor is "Environmental Problems" https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/mcas/sites/fpj/minor/structured-exploration.html
Learning Outcomes:
- acquiring and developing empirical, social scientific analysis of concrete issues for justice and peace
- gaining a solid intellectual and moral grasp of the ethical and justice principles which arise from these issues
- learning how to formulate public policy or to initiate social change which would help solve these problems and
- implementing creative methods for conflict resolution, appropriate for the level of problem solving their particular issues require.

Global Public Health and the Common Good minor. Enrollment in the 6-course (18 credit) minor is by competitive application submitted in the spring of the freshman or sophomore year. Students accepted into the minor have the opportunity to delve deeply into epidemiology, the core science of public health, and to pursue coursework and research in diverse areas of public health such as infectious disease epidemiology, the epidemiology of cancer, children’s environmental health, environmental epidemiology, nutritional epidemiology and refugee health. A distinctive future of the minor is its strong emphasis on the ethical, moral and legal foundations of global public health.
The goal of the minor in Global Public Health and the Common Good is to introduce students from a wide range of majors, disciplines and schools across Boston College to key concepts in Global Public Health. Program graduates will gain knowledge of:
1. The theory, history and key issues in Global Public Health
2. Epidemiology, the study of the distribution and determinants of health and disease in populations – the core science of public health
3. The social, economic and environmental determinants of health and disease
4. The contributions of public health to the stability and well-being of modern societies
5. The moral, ethical and legal foundations of Global Public Health

Description of the Sustainability Certificate (Woods College):
With a six-course curriculum offered entirely online, this program comprises courses such as Sustainability Science, Energy in the 21st Century, Water Resources, and Building Green Buildings. Students are exposed to both science and policy as they explore such pressing concerns as climate change, population growth, and the limits of natural resources.


Documentation supporting the figure reported above (upload):
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Do the figures reported above cover one, two, or three academic years?:
One

Percentage of students who graduate from programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability:
7.31

Website URL where information about the sustainability learning outcomes is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Source: 2020-2021 Fact Book

Total Undergraduate BS and BA degrees conferred in 2020:2,258
UG Advancing Studies students: 68
Total Graduate degrees conferred in 2020: 1845

2019/2020 Degrees Conferred from the following majors and minors:
Environmental Studies Major: 8
Environmental Geosciences Major: 12
Environmental Studies Minor: 57
Faith, Peace, and Justice Minor: 38
The Managing for Social Impact Minor: 97
Schiller Institute: Global Public Health: 93


Source: 2020-2021 Fact Book

Total Undergraduate BS and BA degrees conferred in 2020:2,258
UG Advancing Studies students: 68
Total Graduate degrees conferred in 2020: 1845

2019/2020 Degrees Conferred from the following majors and minors:
Environmental Studies Major: 8
Environmental Geosciences Major: 12
Environmental Studies Minor: 57
Faith, Peace, and Justice Minor: 38
The Managing for Social Impact Minor: 97
Schiller Institute: Global Public Health: 93

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