Coastal Carolina University
AC-7: Incentives for Developing Courses

In Spring 2022, the President's Council for Sustainability and Coastal Resilience (PCSCR) announced a new institutional grant program calling for innovative proposals to advance sustainability-related initiatives and expand learning opportunities for Coastal Carolina University students as well as campus and community stakeholders. This inaugural call for Sustainability Grant program is organized to fund projects that generally fall into one of three categories:

1. Course Development: Significant changes or improvements to incorporate sustainability into an existing academic course or a newly developed course;
2. Research: New or ongoing scholarly research and creative production to encourage students, staff, and faculty in multiple disciplines to focus their work on a major sustainability challenge; and
3. Co-Curricular Programming: Projects, programs, and initiatives that advance sustainability on campus and in the greater community.

Of the Sustainability Grant projects awarded during this inaugural call, 3 of the eight focused on incorporating sustainability into existing courses and developing new sustainability course: Course Development SPAN 250 - Spanish for Sustainability; Promoting Coastal Sustainability in Engineering Education; and Early Flood Warning System in Horry County and Georgetown County.

For a list of 2021-22 awardees: https://www.coastal.edu/president/presidentscouncilforsustainabilityandcoastalresilience/2021-2022sustainabilitygrantawardees/

For more information about the Sustainability Grant program at CCU: https://www.coastal.edu/president/presidentscouncilforsustainabilityandcoastalresilience/sustainabilitygrant/
https://www.coastal.edu/ccustories/news/news-article/index.php?id=5399

Additionally, in Fall 2019, the Sustainability Advisory Committee - an interdisciplinary committee of faculty and staff dedicated to developing sustainability curriculum and programs on campus - collaborated to develop the B.A./B.S. Sustainability and Coastal Resilience major. As part of this process, new Sustainability major courses were developed, including the following:

SUST 301 - Environmental and Coastal Resilience (3 credits)
SUST 302 - Sustainability and Community Resilience (3 credits)
SUST 310 - Methods and Tools in Sustainability (3 credits)
SUST 499 - Sustainability Capstone (3 credits)

The major was approved in 2020 and became effective in Spring 2021. Faculty participating in the committee were recognized through their service to the institution, which is one of three primary criteria for promotion, tenure, and evaluation at CCU.

https://www.coastal.edu/honorscollege/academicprograms/sustainabilitymajor/

As part of the Sustainability Grant, academic staff were asked to submit a budget detailing the funds needed to integrate sustainability into their courses. These budgets included funding for supplies, stipends, student stipends, etc.

Faculty participating in the committee to develop the Sustainability Major were recognized through their service to the institution, which is one of three primary criteria for promotion, tenure, and evaluation at CCU.