| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 55.24 |
| Liaison | Paul Scanlon |
| Submission Date | Feb. 22, 2019 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Slippery Rock University
AC-7: Incentives for Developing Courses
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Paul
Scanlon Special Assistant to the President President's Office/Sustainability |
Does the institution have an ongoing program or programs that offer incentives for faculty in multiple disciplines or departments to develop new sustainability courses and/or incorporate sustainability into existing courses?:
A brief description of the program(s), including positive outcomes during the previous three years (e.g. descriptions of new courses or course content resulting from the program):
Slippery Rock University offers Green Fund Grants each semester that may be used to fund professional development activities (such as attending conferences and workshops on how to develop new sustainability curriculum). Mini-grants from the Office for Community-Engaged Learning (OCEL) may be used to develop new sustainability courses/components, and for time release for two faculty members to direct activities at the Macoskey Center. This funding source also supports the development of new sustainability programs, courses, and components.
Positive outcomes in the last 3 years include:
(a) adding a sustainable solutions component to an existing Environmental Problems course,
(b) integrating curriculum from the Parks & Recreation Management Department with that of the Environmental Science, Geography & Geology Department, in which a 300-level course class project is used to create an "idea incubator" for new sustainability projects, and a subsequent 600-level course uses the incubator ideas to select projects to implement on campus.
In 2017, two faculty members were granted 1/4 time release to act as co-directors of the Macoskey Center for Sustainable Systems Education and Research. Their role as co-directors includes developing both curricular and co-curricular sustainability course components. One positive outcome is in expanding the curriculum of existing courses to include using the 71-acre site's outdoor classroom areas to create more hands-on curriculum components.
A brief description of the incentives that faculty members who participate in the program(s) receive:
Competitive Green Fund Grants are made available to all faculty, with $20,000 in grant funds available during each of the Fall and Spring semesters. In the past, grants have funded costs involved in faculty attending sustainability conferences such as the annual AASHE conference, where they learned of the latest in sustainability curriculum development.
The Office for Community-Engaged Learning (OCEL) also offers mini-grants of up to $500 to build knowledge and personal & professional capacity of community-engaged teaching, learning and scholarship.
The time-release program allowed two faculty members to act as co-directors of the Macoskey Center for Sustainable Systems Education and Research, where they are able to work on developing new sustainability components for existing courses.
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.