| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 67.93 |
| Liaison | Emily Zabanah |
| Submission Date | Feb. 1, 2024 |
Seneca Polytechnic
AC-1: Academic Courses
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
14.00 / 14.00 |
Wai Chu
Cheng Sustainability Specialist - Academics Office of Sustainability |
"---"
indicates that no data was submitted for this field
Part 1. Sustainability course offerings
| Undergraduate | Graduate | |
| Total number of courses offered by the institution | 1,845 | 1,103 |
| Number of sustainability-focused courses offered | 25 | 44 |
| Number of sustainability-inclusive courses offered | 733 | 279 |
Percentage of courses that are sustainability course offerings:
36.67
Part 2. Sustainability course offerings by department
24
Number of academic departments with sustainability course offerings:
23
Percentage of academic departments with sustainability course offerings:
95.83
Documentation
Do the figures reported above cover one, two, or three academic years?:
One
A brief description of the methodology used to complete the course inventory :
The course offerings of schools were first compiled by Seneca’s Centre for Institutional Data & Enterprise Analytics (C-IDEA) and the total number of courses offered was confirmed by asking schools the courses that were taught during the one academic year period. A course was listed in no more than one school and as an undergraduate or graduate course. As well, a course offered in multiple terms or sessions was counted as a single course.
The following course types were excluded from the course offerings of schools:
- Co-op/Work Integrated Learning courses
- Field Work/Practicum
- Capstone courses
- Non-credit courses
- Courses that are no longer running
The Office of Sustainability, with the support of a project team, created the course review process to identify sustainability courses in Seneca’s course offerings. The chairs of the schools were requested to provide STARS champions to support the course reviews. These STARS champions were faculty members who were knowledgeable about the course content of the programs offered by their schools. After receiving guiding instructions from the Sustainability Office and consulting with their chairs, the STARS champions either conducted the course reviews themselves or contacted the course leads and supported the course leads doing the reviews.
The STARS champions/course leads were asked to review every course by responding to the following two questions: (1) determine whether the course is sustainability-focused (SF) or sustainability-inclusive (SI) using STARS’ definitions (see bottom); and (2) if the course is SF or SI, identify what key sustainability challenges the course addresses by linking it to at least one of the condensed target statements under the 17 UNSDGs. If the course was neither SF nor SI, the second question would not need to be answered. After all the courses were reviewed, the STARS champions verified all the course responses provided before submitting them to the Sustainability Office.
The review process of the year’s course offerings was divided into two phases for completion, with Phase 1 focusing on reviewing the courses taught during the Winter 2023, and Phase 2 reviewing the courses taught during the Fall 2022 and Spring/Summer 2023.
To determine if a course is SF or SI, the STARS’s definitions below are used. The sustainability course inventory includes both SF and SI courses.
SF: To count as sustainability-focused, the course title or description must indicate a primary and explicit focus on sustainability. The course title or description does not have to use the term “sustainability” to count as sustainability-focused if the primary and explicit focus of the course is on the interdependence of ecological and social/economic systems or a major sustainability challenge.
SI: To count as sustainability-inclusive, the course description or rationale provided in the course inventory must indicate that the course incorporates a unit or module on sustainability or a sustainability challenge, includes one or more sustainability-focused activities, or integrates sustainability challenges, issues and concepts throughout the course.
The following course types were excluded from the course offerings of schools:
- Co-op/Work Integrated Learning courses
- Field Work/Practicum
- Capstone courses
- Non-credit courses
- Courses that are no longer running
The Office of Sustainability, with the support of a project team, created the course review process to identify sustainability courses in Seneca’s course offerings. The chairs of the schools were requested to provide STARS champions to support the course reviews. These STARS champions were faculty members who were knowledgeable about the course content of the programs offered by their schools. After receiving guiding instructions from the Sustainability Office and consulting with their chairs, the STARS champions either conducted the course reviews themselves or contacted the course leads and supported the course leads doing the reviews.
The STARS champions/course leads were asked to review every course by responding to the following two questions: (1) determine whether the course is sustainability-focused (SF) or sustainability-inclusive (SI) using STARS’ definitions (see bottom); and (2) if the course is SF or SI, identify what key sustainability challenges the course addresses by linking it to at least one of the condensed target statements under the 17 UNSDGs. If the course was neither SF nor SI, the second question would not need to be answered. After all the courses were reviewed, the STARS champions verified all the course responses provided before submitting them to the Sustainability Office.
The review process of the year’s course offerings was divided into two phases for completion, with Phase 1 focusing on reviewing the courses taught during the Winter 2023, and Phase 2 reviewing the courses taught during the Fall 2022 and Spring/Summer 2023.
To determine if a course is SF or SI, the STARS’s definitions below are used. The sustainability course inventory includes both SF and SI courses.
SF: To count as sustainability-focused, the course title or description must indicate a primary and explicit focus on sustainability. The course title or description does not have to use the term “sustainability” to count as sustainability-focused if the primary and explicit focus of the course is on the interdependence of ecological and social/economic systems or a major sustainability challenge.
SI: To count as sustainability-inclusive, the course description or rationale provided in the course inventory must indicate that the course incorporates a unit or module on sustainability or a sustainability challenge, includes one or more sustainability-focused activities, or integrates sustainability challenges, issues and concepts throughout the course.
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:
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Optional Fields
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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.