Furman University
AC-7: Incentives for Developing Courses
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Laura
Bain Associate Director of Sustainability Assessment David E. Shi Center for Sustainability |
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):
The Shi Institute for Sustainable Communities (an interdisciplinary center housed in Academic Affairs) provides funding, resources, and monthly faculty workshops or networking opportunities to encourage sustainability course development. This has resulted in a course on the topic of food and farming in the Carolinas, a China and the Environment engaged living program, subscription to and incorporation of an ESG database into classes, and an increase in classes that utilize campus living laboratory spaces for various teaching objectives.
The Shi Institute's Faculty Affiliate program is the primary point of entrée into dialogue and action on curricular enhancement around sustainability. It currently has 65 members (30-45 active), representing 22 of 24 academic departments. Recent Faculty Affiliate workshops have included the topics of campus as lab, interdisciplinary research, dining service integration, levels of integration of sustainability in curriculum (in-class, whole class, field trip, CLP, May X, whole course or major), how to use facilities data in the classroom, and teaching climate change.
Furman is also an AASHE Center for Teaching Sustainability Across the Curriculum. In addition to our Faculty Affiliate workshops mentioned above, we also offer one national workshop for curriculum integration per year. https://www.aashe.org/partners/centers-for-sustainability-across-the-curriculum/
A brief description of the incentives that academic staff who participate in the program(s) receive:
Depending on the nature of faculty interest, curricular topic, and scope of the curricular development, faculty may also receive advising, guest lectures by Center staff or their contacts, collaborative time with relevant community professionals, and grant funding to support their associated research endeavors or course development. Grant funding requires that faculty from at least two different departments work together and include at least one student in their research.
Faculty are incentivized to join and participate in the Affiliate program by providing a fun atmosphere and providing free refreshments. Members must attend at least one monthly meeting each semester to remain active.
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:
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.