Saint Louis University
ER-5: Sustainability Course Identification

The sustainability curriculum at Saint Louis University-- particularly the Master of Sustainability degree program-- is designed to train leaders to understand the complex, cascading issues surrounding society's increasing use of decreasing resources. The curriculum is based on a holistic approach to sustainability, integrating cross disciplinary knowledge and skills including environmental studies, sciences, business, public policy, social work, engineering, and public health into a cohesive program of study. The rigorous course work and field training offered further enables students and graduates to confront sustainability related issues with a systems approach to solution development. Consistent with Saint Louis University’s mission, students learn applied ethical reasoning skills as the foundation for achieving sustainability goals.

The SLU STARS project team worked with the Office of the Registrar to generate a comprehensive report of all courses offered at Saint Louis University. The STARS team then reviewed every course title and description to develop an initial inventory of candidate courses. Next, courses were designated as sustainability-focused or sustainability-related per the specific criteria defined by AASHE through the STARS program. Ambiguous courses were flagged for follow-up. As necessary, the STARS team requested syllabi for questionable courses to assess learning objectives and determine whether they supported or advanced sustainability as defined in Saint Louis University's curriculum. The STARS team also surveyed departmental faculty to identify those courses that the instructors themselves considered to be relevant to sustainability. The STARS project team, Center for Sustainability faculty and staff, and select departmental resources conducted an iterative review of the course inventory until a majority consensus affirmed that the resultant list accurately represented SLU's sustainability offerings. Ever mindful of greenwashing the team took a conservative approach and only included those courses that connected to sustainability in a substantive, if not explicit, manner.