Overall Rating Bronze - expired
Overall Score 39.16
Liaison Kristina Bryan
Submission Date Oct. 9, 2011
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.0

Saint Louis University
ER-5: Sustainability Course Identification

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 David Webb
Director
Emerson Leadership Institute
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Has the institution developed a definition of sustainability in the curriculum?:
Yes

A copy of the institution's definition of sustainability in the curriculum?:

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.


Has the institution identified its sustainability-focused and sustainability-related course offerings?:
Yes

A brief description of the methodology the institution followed to complete the inventory:

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.


Does the institution make its sustainability course inventory publicly available online?:
Yes

The website URL where the sustainability course inventory is posted:
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.