| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 55.77 |
| Liaison | Susan Kaspari |
| Submission Date | July 16, 2022 |
Central Washington University
AC-7: Incentives for Developing Courses
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Kathleen
Klaniecki Sustainability Coordinator Operations |
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? :
A brief description of the incentive program(s):
Program 1: Sustainability in the Curriculum Workshops
In 2021, CWU launched a series of Sustainability in the Curriculum Workshops. The first workshop (May 20, 2021) offered a $100 stipend to any faculty teaching a Sustainability Pathway course in the new General Education Program. Through this workshop, faculty evaluated how sustainability is presented in their courses and explored how students who take multiple sustainability courses can make connections between courses. We used the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a framework. After taking the 2hr workshop, faculty submitted documentation showing how they integrated sustainability themes and connections to the UN SDGs into their course. Thirteen faculty participated in the first workshop.
In addition, three Sustainability in the Curriculum Workshops have been conducted with faculty in the Associate Certificate for Excellence in Teaching and Learning program offered by Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL). Faculty from all four colleges participated in the program and were provided release time and trainings offered by the institution to participate in this certificate program.
- April 2021 and November 2021: faculty in these workshops identified course ties to sustainability themes and used the UN SDGs as a framework to brainstorm ways to increase student learning of relevant local and global sustainability challenges. Each faculty was asked to identify the SDGs most closely linked to their course and to upload documentation of how they will integrate sustainability and the SDGs into a course (e.g., syllabus, learning objectives/outcomes, and/or course introduction).
- February 2022: faculty identified course ties to the global UN SDGs and then brainstormed opportunities to help students localize sustainability challenges by partnering with community organizations and partners. This engaged learning practice was designed to strengthen community partnerships and to make sustainability and 'here and now' issue for students in across disciplines. Each faculty uploaded documentation of the local organizations whose efforts are tied to their course's big idea and ideas for learning activities that facilitated students understanding of how local efforts scale to the SDGs.
Program 2: Provost Fellows program for 2021/2022
In the 2021-2022 academic year, Dr. Michelle DenBeste, Provost/Vice President for Academic & Student Life (ASL) at Central Washington University, appointed one faculty fellow and one staff fellow from ASL to focus on sustainability initiatives. The Faculty Fellow (Dr. Susan Kaspari, Geological Sciences) received 15 WL to serve in a leadership role in the Provost’s Office. The Staff Fellow (Heather Spalding, College of Education and Professional Studies) received a .25 reassignment from September 30th to June 30th. Fellows were also provided with a modest discretionary and training budget.
The Fellows designed and implemented sustainability projects focused on infusing sustainability into curriculum and research and enhancing the level of engagement collaboration and goodwill between the university and surrounding communities.
A brief description of the incentives that academic staff who participate in the program(s) receive:
- May 2021 workshop with faculty teaching in the Sustainability Pathway: $100 incentive
- April 2021, November 2021 and February 2022 workshops with faculty in the CETL Associate Certificate: release time and trainings offered by the institution
- Provost Fellows for Sustainability for 2021/2022: Faculty Fellow received 15 WL buy-out and Staff Fellow received .25 reassignment
Website URL where information about the incentives for developing sustainability course content is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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