Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.84
Liaison Natalie Sobrinski
Submission Date June 6, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Muhlenberg College
AC-1: Academic Courses

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 11.13 / 14.00 Richard Niesenbaum
Professor, Biology, Director, Sustainability Studies Program
Biology
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1

Figures required to calculate the percentage of courses offered by the institution that are sustainability course offerings:
Undergraduate Graduate
Total number of courses offered by the institution 600 0
Number of sustainability courses offered 23 0
Number of courses offered that include sustainability 94 0

Percentage of courses that are sustainability course offerings:
19.50

Part 2 

Total number of academic departments (or the equivalent) that offer courses (at any level):
54

None
Number of academic departments (or the equivalent) that offer at least one sustainability course and/or course that includes sustainability (at any level):
27

Percentage of academic departments with sustainability course offerings:
50

Course Inventory

A copy of the institution’s inventory of its sustainability course offerings and descriptions:
Do the figures reported above cover one, two, or three academic years?:
One

A brief description of the methodology used to determine the total number of courses offered and to identify sustainability course offerings, including the definitions used and the process for reviewing and/or validating the course inventory :
Sustainability Courses offered were identified using the requirements for the Sustainability Studies minor (https://www.muhlenberg.edu/main/academics/sustainability/courses/). The sustainability courses listed in the previous submission were also used and Capstone was used to verify whether these courses were being offered in the Spring 2017 or Fall 2017 semester. Data for courses offered was calculated using the Spring 2017 and Fall 2017 data so that the most recent past two semesters were used. The relatively large increase in the amount of sustainability-inclusive courses offered compared to the previous submission stems from the inclusion of courses that fulfill the Human Difference and Global Engagement(DE) requirement as sustainability-inclusive courses. Course descriptions were taken from Capstone, the platform that Muhlenberg uses for course registration.

How were courses with multiple offerings or sections counted for the figures reported above?:
Each course was counted as a single course regardless of the number of offerings or sections

A brief description of how courses with multiple offerings or sections were counted (if different from the options outlined above):
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Are the following course types included in the inventory? :
Yes (included) or No (not included)
Internships Yes
Practicums Yes
Independent study Yes
Special topics Yes
Thesis / dissertation Yes
Clinical No
Physical education No
Performance arts No

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
To calculate the # of academic departments that offer a sustainability-based or sustainability-inclusive course, the 2 attached spreadsheets were used. Intergroup Dialogue; Languages, Literatures and Cultures; and Geology were not counted as formal academic departments. The number of departments was calculated using the list of majors and minors in the attached Source Book data; if a major and minor were offered under the same name, it was only calculated once. Education was also counted as an academic department. There were 600 courses offered in fall 2017. Contact information for a responsible party (a staff member, faculty member, or administrator who can respond to questions regarding the data once it is submitted and available to the public) **Please note, the excel spreadsheet contains 2 workbook pages. The second page is a more recent addition due to changes in the curriculum. The information submitted is to the best of the knowledge of: Richard A. Niesenbaum, Biology Professor, Director of Sustainability Studies Program, richardniesenbaum@muhlenberg.edu Nicole Hammel, Director of Institutional Research, nicolehammel@muhlenberg.edu

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.