Kwantlen Polytechnic University
AC-1: Academic Courses

73 academic departments (out of 86 at KPU) were included in the inventory based on the following methodology: 

• Using KPU's online course repository, called CourseLeaf, KPU's courses were sifted through by department and program code (e.g. HSCI for Health Sciences).


• Only courses that were current, revised, or new were considered for the inventory.


• Each course was examined for its sustainability criteria by analyzing two main sections "course description" and "learning outcomes". A course was considered to be related to/focused on sustainability based on STARS criteria. STARS criteria states “To count as a sustainability course, the course title or description must indicate a primary and explicit focus on sustainability. The course title or description does not have to use the term “sustainability” to count as sustainability-focused if the primary and explicit focus of the course is on the interdependence of ecological and social/economic systems or a major sustainability challenge such as climate change.” As per the requirements from STARS, if a course only included “social components” and did not reference the ecological dimensions in the course description or learning outcomes, then the course was omitted.


• Courses were cross-referenced with KPU’s SDG Mapping Project’s SDG course inventory. This inventory included:


• If courses involved Indigenous content to a significant extent, they were included as a sustainability related/focused course given that Indigenous peoples – the original stewards of the land – have co-existed with nature since time immemorial.


• The inventory excluded:
  
  
  
  • Individually-directed courses (e.g. thesis, independent study, practicum)
  
  
  • Special topic courses (e.g. courses that address emerging issues or specialized content that are offered on an ongoing basis)
  
  
  • Courses that are strictly practice-oriented. This meant that courses from the following programs were excluded: Brewing, Trades, Nursing, Acupuncture, Art, Health courses dedicated to technique/composition (e.g. Fine Arts). Given KPU is a polytechnic university, this course inventory excludes a significant number of courses/programs.
  
  
  
  

Each course was counted as a single course regardless of the number of offerings.

Although this inventory was restricted to course descriptions and learning outcomes in the university's online course repository, a group on campus called the Climate+ Challenge has a self-reported list of courses which faculty members incorporate climate issues into their teachings. This was not cross-referenced for the purposes of simplifying the methodology for this exercise, however, it is valuable to highlight: https://wordpress.kpu.ca/climatepluschallenge/courses/fall-2023-courses/