Raritan Valley Community College
AC-7: Incentives for Developing Courses

The RVCC Center for Environmental Studies has received funding through the RVCC Foundation to partner with the CTLS Sustainability Across the Curriculum (SAC) FIG in piloting a new faculty grant program that will encourage and facilitate the integration of sustainability into the curriculum across disciplines. Sustainability is by definition a transdisciplinary subject and pursuit, perhaps best illustrated by the triple bottom line concept (https://sustain.wisconsin.edu/sustainability/triple-bottom-line/), in which societies and/or institutions seek to achieve sustainability by simultaneously maximizing economic, social, and environmental benefits (people, prosperity, and planet). Sustainability may be defined as the space where these three spheres intersect.

Due to the transdisciplinary nature of sustainability, the SAC FIG recognizes the possibility for faculty across a wide range of disciplines to incorporate sustainability content and perspectives into their courses. Sustainability is not a topic to be reserved exclusively for environmental science and studies disciplines, but rather can be integrated into a nearly limitless number of academic disciplines. Some RVCC faculty have already embraced this idea by integrating sustainability into their courses. Examples include greening business practices and supply chains as a topic in business courses, the impacts of fast fashion in English Composition courses, and greening heating and cooling systems in HVAC courses.

In order to encourage and facilitate faculty efforts to integrate sustainability topics and perspectives into their courses, the SAC FIG is seeking proposals for the 2022-2023 academic year. Faculty will submit proposals to receive funding to incorporate sustainability into their curriculum in a manner that is relevant to their particular discipline. The SAC FIG encourages faculty to be creative in developing their proposals. What is your sustainability angle?

Faculty can apply for a grant at one of three different tiers (see below). In all tiers, funding may be used for faculty and/or student stipends and supplies to support the proposed project.

$1500 in grants were awarded in 2022.

Tier 1 grants of $250:

At Tier 1 faculty will commit to integrating sustainability content into one or more of their courses. This may involve changes including (but not limited to) designing a new course module or case study, modifying existing course content, designing a new lab exercise, incorporating a field trip, or adding a guest lecture and associated exercise related to sustainability. At this funding tier recipients will be encouraged (but not required) to share the materials they develop in a repository that is available to all RVCC faculty members (i.e., Canvas Commons, library course guide, Open NJ, etc.).

Tier 2 grants of $500 per faculty member:

At Tier 2 faculty will commit to working collaboratively with at least one other faculty member in a different academic discipline to integrate sustainability content into multiple courses and/or academic programs. Faculty may be from the same or different departments as long as they represent different academic disciplines/programs. At this funding tier recipients are required to share the materials they develop in a repository that is available to all RVCC faculty members (i.e., Canvas Commons, library course guide, Open NJ, etc.). Proposals at this tier should explain how the collaboration among multiple faculty members is envisioned and why this collaboration is critical to the success of the project.

Tier 3 grants of $750 per faculty member:

At Tier 3 faculty (individually or in teams) will involve students in designing sustainability-related course content for one or more courses or academic programs. At this funding tier recipients are required to share the materials they develop in a repository that is available to all RVCC faculty members (i.e., Canvas Commons, library course guide, Open NJ, etc.). Proposals at this tier should explain the roles of faculty and students in designing and implementing the project and why student participation is critical to the success of the project.

Taken from RFP document provided by Prof. Emilie Stander on 3/17/22.