Overall Rating	Silver - expired
Overall Score	53.97
Liaison	Stephen Ellis
Submission Date	Aug. 2, 2019
Executive Letter	Download

STARS v2.1

Boston University
AC-1: Academic Courses

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	3.47 / 14.00	Dennis Carlberg Associate Vice President for Sustainability BU Sustainability

"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1

Figures required to calculate the percentage of courses offered by the institution that are sustainability course offerings:

	Undergraduate	Graduate
Total number of courses offered by the institution	5,425	3,728
Number of sustainability courses offered	97	59
Number of courses offered that include sustainability	121	86

Percentage of courses that are sustainability course offerings:

3.97

Part 2

Total number of academic departments (or the equivalent) that offer courses (at any level):

209

None

Number of academic departments (or the equivalent) that offer at least one sustainability course and/or course that includes sustainability (at any level):

Percentage of academic departments with sustainability course offerings:

28.23

Course Inventory

A copy of the institution’s inventory of its sustainability course offerings and descriptions:

AC-1 Sustainability Course Inventory Final.xlsx

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

Two

A brief description of the methodology used to determine the total number of courses offered and to identify sustainability course offerings, including the definitions used and the process for reviewing and/or validating the course inventory :

All sustainability courses and courses that include sustainability are compiled from a list provided by Institutional Research. A sustainability@BU intern then excludes course types indicated in this section, then identifies sustainability courses and courses that include sustainability. A list of courses that lack clarity is vetted with the AVP for University Sustainability and the faculty teaching these courses. Courses that are not verified are removed from the list of those meeting the criteria for courses including sustainability. Courses offered to both undergraduate and graduate students are counted in the undergraduate category. Courses offered by multiple schools and colleges within the University are specially formatted to avoid double counting. Courses are also filtered by type to ensure the most accurate reporting possible. Directed Study, Physical Education, and Performing Arts course types are excluded from the inventory, due to the highly individualized course content of these offerings.

How were courses with multiple offerings or sections counted for the figures reported above?:

Each course was counted as a single course regardless of the number of offerings or sections

A brief description of how courses with multiple offerings or sections were counted (if different from the options outlined above):

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Are the following course types included in the inventory? :

	Yes (included) or No (not included)
Internships	No
Practicums	No
Independent study	Yes
Special topics	Yes
Thesis / dissertation	Yes
Clinical	Yes
Physical education	No
Performance arts	No

Optional Fields

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:

http://www.bu.edu/sustainability/academics/education/

Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

All courses on the first spreadsheet were included in accordance with the definition of sustainability/sustainable development outlined within the Earth Charter at http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/mods/theme_a/img/02_earthcharter.pdf. In addition, this credit, specifically the "total number of academic departments", is reflecting data points from our most recent analysis; fiscal years 2016 & 2017.