Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 48.08
Liaison Maddie LoDico
Submission Date Feb. 5, 2013
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.1

Colby College
ER-5: Sustainability Course Identification

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Paul Greenwood
Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs & Associate Dean of Faculty
Academic and Administrative Vice Presidents Office
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Has the institution developed a definition of sustainability in the curriculum?:
Yes

A copy of the institution's definition of sustainability in the curriculum?:

Part 1: Definition
Sustainability is the ability to meet society’s current needs without compromising environmental health and the needs of future generations. It is a prudent approach to resource use that recognizes the interconnectedness of social, economic, and environmental systems and earth’s finite capacity to satisfy human needs and desires.

Campus sustainability and resource conservation are core values of Colby College. The College endeavors to foster an awareness of environmental sustainability through its academic programs as well as activities on and off campus. Colby seeks to lead by example and fosters ethically responsible environmental stewardship. Thus, environmentally safe and sustainable practices inform and guide campus strategic planning, decision-making, and daily operations. Colby recognizes that achieving environmental sustainability will be an ongoing challenge that evolves as conditions change and as we become more aware and educated as a community.

Sustainability-focused courses explore obstacles to maintaining the integrity of the earth’s social, economic, and environmental systems as the central topic of the course and look for interdisciplinary solutions to meet these challenges.

Sustainability-related courses may explore topics other than sustainability as the central focus, but integrate and emphasize a sustainability concept or issue as a distinct unit or subunit within the course.


Has the institution identified its sustainability-focused and sustainability-related course offerings?:
Yes

A brief description of the methodology the institution followed to complete the inventory:

Part 2: Identification of Sustainability-Focused and Sustainability-Related courses
Methodology:
A spreadsheet of all courses taught in the past two years was obtained from the registrar’s database. Course descriptions in the course catalogue were reviewed to identify courses that potentially have sustainability content. The faculty that teach these courses were asked to confirm (or reject) sustainability content and distinguish their courses as sustainability-focused or sustainability-related using the definitions listed above. Faculty were surveyed via email using mail merge to a spreadsheet that contained the list of courses. 56 faculty were contacted; 49/56 responded for an 87.5% response rate. Any additional courses identified by faculty in their year-end annual report were included as well.


Does the institution make its sustainability course inventory publicly available online?:
Yes

The website URL where the sustainability course inventory is posted:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Colby’s definition of sustainability in the curriculum was developed by the four faculty members of the Environmental Advisory Group (EAG): R. Cole, Director of the Environmental Studies Program; J. Holly, Chair Mathematics & Statistics Department; P. Nyhus, Professor of Environmental Studies; L. Reich, Professor of Administrative Science, and Science, Technology and Society.


Colby’s definition of sustainability in the curriculum was developed by the four faculty members of the Environmental Advisory Group (EAG): R. Cole, Director of the Environmental Studies Program; J. Holly, Chair Mathematics & Statistics Department; P. Nyhus, Professor of Environmental Studies; L. Reich, Professor of Administrative Science, and Science, Technology and Society.

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.