Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 79.37
Liaison Jillian Leach
Submission Date March 4, 2022

STARS v2.2

California State University, Chico
AC-2: Learning Outcomes

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 8.00 / 8.00 Jennifer Rotnem
Director of Energy and Sustainability
FMS
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Institutional sustainability learning outcomes

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?:
Yes

Which of the following best describes the sustainability learning outcomes?:
Sustainability-focused

A list of the institution level sustainability learning outcomes:
Chico State outlines its institutional priorities in the Strategic Plan for 2019-2024. All of the priorities are predicated on the primacy of student success enabled by excellence of faculty and staff as well as communication, technology, and philanthropy. Chico State's Strategic Priorities are:
--Resilient & Sustainable Systems
--Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
--Civic & Global Engagement
https://www.csuchico.edu/strategicplan/index.shtml

To institutionalize these priorities into goals for student success, an Executive Memorandum was created to incorporate these priorities into Chico State's General Education program.
https://www.csuchico.edu/pres/em/2018/18-005.shtml

As per the EM, the GE program at Chico State prepares students for continual learning and application of knowledge to career as well as personal life. It provides the education necessary for success as a lifelong learner and civically engaged individual in the twenty-first century. The sustainability value is described as an understanding of the environmental dynamics associated with human activities and of the value of balancing social justice and human economic demands with the Earth's ability to sustain physical and biological resources and cultural diversity.

The General Education program further describes its Sustainability Learning Outcomes as:
--Describes and explains the environmental dynamics associated with human activities
--Assesses the value of balancing social and economic demands with the Earth's ability to sustain physical and biological resources and cultural diversity.

https://www.csuchico.edu/aap/general-education.shtml
https://www.csuchico.edu/ge/faculty/slo.shtml

Part 2. Program-level sustainability learning outcomes

Total number of graduates from degree programs:
4,436

Number of graduates from degree programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability:
2,460

A brief description of how the figure above was determined:
Although sustainability is a University strategic priority, it is difficult to capture the institution-wide sustainability learning outcomes in terms of number of graduates. To determine program-level sustainability outcomes, we counted: 1) graduates from programs identified as sustainability focused programs; 2) the number of graduates from degree programs that have adopted sustainability-focused learning outcomes; AND 3) the number of graduates from degree programs that require a sustainability-focused course. We reviewed each departments student learning outcomes for a sustainability-focus; and we reviewed the departments list of required courses for sustainability-focused courses.

A list of degree programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability:
Agribusiness
Agricultural Education
Agricultural Engineering Technology
Agricultural Science
Anthropology
Biological Sciences
Chemistry &Biochemistry
Microbiology
Concrete Industry Management
Civil Engineering
Construction Management
Environmental Sciences
Ecology
Geography
Geological Sciences
Mechanical Engineering
Plant and Soil Science
Science Education
Sustainable Manufacturing
Sociology
Social Work
Political Science
Social Science and Special Programs
Sustainability in Management Minor
Recreation Administration
Liberal Studies
Kinesiology Option in Outdoor Recreation
English Literature
History
Philosophy
Nutrition and Food Science
General Education (Pathway in Sustainability)

Documentation supporting the figure reported above (upload):
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:
55.46

Optional Fields 

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

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
--CSU, Chico Strategic Plan: https://www.csuchico.edu/strategicplan/index.shtml
--EM General Education ProgramL https://www.csuchico.edu/pres/em/2018/18-005.shtml
--Info about GE Program and Pathways:
----https://www.csuchico.edu/aap/general-education.shtml
----https://www.csuchico.edu/ge/faculty/slo.shtml
--Info about the GE Sustainability Pathway:
----https://catalog.csuchico.edu/viewer/20/GENED/PATHSUSSUM.html

Data sources for the number of graduates from degree programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability listed in the attached Excel file (above).

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.