Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 47.15
Liaison Drew Dullen
Submission Date Nov. 24, 2020

STARS v2.2

Brock University
AC-1: Academic Courses

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 12.21 / 14.00 Elenore Breslow
Sustainability Coordinator
Facilities Management and Environmental Sustainability Research Centre
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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 3,569 947
Number of sustainability-focused courses offered 207 113
Number of sustainability-inclusive courses offered 288 100

Percentage of courses that are sustainability course offerings:
15.68

Total number of academic departments that offer courses:
46

Number of academic departments with sustainability course offerings:
41

Percentage of academic departments with sustainability course offerings:
89.13

A copy of the institution’s inventory of its sustainability course offerings and descriptions:
Do the figures reported above cover one, two, or three academic years?:
One

A brief description of the methodology used to complete the course inventory :

All courses in the 2018-2019 academic year were analyzed and sorted into one of three categories - “Sustainability-Focused”, “Sustainability-Inclusive”, or “Non-Sustainability”. Brock’s definition of Sustainability was followed from our Sustainability Policy: “a practice that considers the preservation of present and future resources in a way that does not compromise the ability to meet the needs of those using them. Practicing Sustainability involves acknowledging the limits of available resources; it is the ability to maintain a defined and balanced system indefinitely with a focus on the conservation of resources. Sustainability can refer to environmentalism, social equity, physical consumption, cultural preservation, and economic development.” This definition was followed in conjunction to the STARS 2.2 explanation and examples of “Sustainability-Focused” versus “Sustainability-Inclusive”.

Each course was critically evaluated according to its course description to determine how it should be classified. To count as a Sustainability-Focused course, the title or description must have indicated a primary and explicit focus on sustainability. All courses that are required to complete Brock’s Sustainability Programs (Minor in Environmental Sustainability and Masters in Sustainability) were deemed “Sustainability-Focused”. A course was counted as “Sustainability-Inclusive", if it did not have an explicit focus on sustainability but did have sustainability clearly incorporated into course content. If the course did not meet the criteria for “Sustainability-Focused” or “Sustainability-Inclusive”, it was deemed as a “Non-Sustainability” offering.

The course listings were initially reviewed by a single reviewer and then validated by additional reviewers to ensure that the correct distinction was made.


How were courses with multiple offerings or sections counted for the figures reported above?:
Each offering or section of a course was counted as an individual course

A brief description of how courses with multiple offerings or sections were counted:

- Each course was counted as an individual course
- Non-credit courses were included
- Thesis courses were included
- Course offerings (Fall/Winter) were not taken into consideration
- Internship/Co-op courses were not included


Website URL where information about the sustainability course offerings is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Department is defined as a division of a faculty devoted to a particular academic discipline and must offer courses; the term department includes centres.

Interdisciplinary graduate programs that do not fall under one specific department were listed as distinct departments. These interdisciplinary programs were also included in the total count of departments.

Any department that is listed under more than one faculty was not double counted.

Undergraduate sustainability course listings: https://brocku.ca/webcal/2018/undergrad/ensu.html
Graduate sustainability course listings: https://brocku.ca/webcal/2018/graduate/snss.html


Department is defined as a division of a faculty devoted to a particular academic discipline and must offer courses; the term department includes centres.

Interdisciplinary graduate programs that do not fall under one specific department were listed as distinct departments. These interdisciplinary programs were also included in the total count of departments.

Any department that is listed under more than one faculty was not double counted.

Undergraduate sustainability course listings: https://brocku.ca/webcal/2018/undergrad/ensu.html
Graduate sustainability course listings: https://brocku.ca/webcal/2018/graduate/snss.html

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.