Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 76.41
Liaison Krista Bailey
Submission Date Dec. 12, 2023

STARS v2.2

Pennsylvania State University
EN-12: Continuing Education

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 5.00 / 5.00 Krista Bailey
Sustainable Campus Strategist
Sustainability Institute
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1 . Continuing education courses in sustainability

Total number of continuing education courses offered:
1,262

Number of continuing education courses that are sustainability course offerings:
541

Percentage of continuing education courses that are sustainability course offerings:
42.87

Course Inventory 

A copy of the institution’s inventory of its continuing education sustainability course offerings and descriptions:
Institution’s inventory of its continuing education sustainability course offerings and descriptions:
See attached list.

The list includes non-credit courses offered through Extension and through Outreach and Online Education. The latter includes offerings by Conferences & Institutes, OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute), and Shaver's Creek Environmental Center (SCEC). All represent calendar year 2022, except for SCEC, which is for academic year 2021-22.

Continuing Education at Penn State's University Park campus collaborates with the academic colleges to deliver for-credit courses, primarily during the evening hours. For this reason, Continuing Education courses are not included here.

All Extension courses, regardless of where they are delivered, are connected to research and programming developed centrally at University Park. These "courses" represent a mix of many types of educational events.

For the purpose of this credit, each individual section or repeat offering of a course or an event was counted separately; this counting method was the same for both sustainability-related and non-sustainability courses.

Do the figures reported above cover one, two, or three academic years?:
One

Part 2. Sustainability-focused certificate program

Does the institution have at least one sustainability-focused certificate program through its continuing education or extension department?:
Yes

A brief description of the certificate program(s):
Penn State Extension offers several sustainability-related non-credit programs that involve coursework, followed by an exam. Individuals who meet the requirements are awarded recognition/ certification and allowed to use a title. These programs include:
Master Watershed Steward Program https://extension.psu.edu/programs/watershed-stewards
Master Gardener Program https://extension.psu.edu/programs/master-gardener
PA Nutrient Management Program https://extension.psu.edu/programs/nutrient-management
All three of these programs aim to build networks of community volunteers with expertise in their respective areas.

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s continuing education courses and programs in sustainability is available:
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.