Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 76.02
Liaison Stephanie MacPhee
Submission Date July 21, 2021

STARS v2.2

Dalhousie University
AC-2: Learning Outcomes

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.28 / 8.00
"---" 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?:
No

Which of the following best describes the sustainability learning outcomes?:
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A list of the institution level sustainability learning outcomes:
1: College of Sustainability general sustainability learning outcomes

Multiple Literacies:
• Ability to work in and with varied formats of written expression, including academic articles, policy documents, and journalistic sources.
• Ability to assess, create and utilize visual material in support of an argument.
• Ability to manipulate diverse ideas, evaluate evidence, arguments, and conclusions.

Complexity:
• Understanding of complexity, appreciation of the “wicked problem” nature of sustainability challenges.
• Willingness to engage with immediate and timely issues of environment, sustainability, and society.
• Ability to work in ways that are both inquisitive and propositional.

Interdisciplinarity:
• Ability to synthesize and translate knowledge to varied audiences.
• Understanding of one’s own disciplinary methods, capacities and limitations, and awareness of those of other disciplines.
• Awareness of the range of evidence, analysis and synthesis used in different disciplines and fields, and an appreciation of their various strengths and limitations.

Self-awareness and engagement:
• Understanding of one’s own subjective position in the world.
• Ability to work effectively in collaborations and group situations.
• Understanding of the difference between advocacy and research, and the ability to draw relationships between advocacy and research.
• Understanding of ethical integrity in relation to academic work, research, personal conduct.

Part 2. Program-level sustainability learning outcomes

Total number of graduates from degree programs:
5,182

Number of graduates from degree programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability:
2,125

A brief description of how the figure above was determined:
Academic course calendars for the 2019/2020 academic year were used to identify the required courses in each program’s curriculum across the institution. Required courses for each degree program that are included in the sustainable academic course inventory have been counted as a learning outcome. Departmental websites were also employed to locate departmental mission statements or goals that have incorporated sustainability-centric operational mandates generalized sustainability learning outcomes for their student body.

A list of degree programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability:
Degree programs or majors were defined as having a sustainability learning outcome if the program had a stated sustainability learning outcome on the departmental website, in the course calendar, or in other relevant documentation. Additional detail for each program can be found in the uploaded Learning Outcomes document attached below.

Example:

School of Resource and Environmental Management

The Masters of Environmental Studies (MES) program will give you the opportunity to create and share knowledge that will generate positive change in the world. You’ll choose a pressing issue related to resources, environment or human wellbeing and the environment, and focus research and a thesis around your discoveries. The program’s balance of courses and peer interaction allows you to explore a broad range of issues.

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:
41.01

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the sustainability learning outcomes is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.