Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 66.43
Liaison Greg Maginn
Submission Date June 30, 2023

STARS v2.2

The Ohio State University
AC-7: Incentives for Developing Courses

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Gina Jaquet
Director Eduction and Learning
Sustainability Institute
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have an ongoing program that offers incentives for academic staff in multiple disciplines or departments to develop new sustainability courses and/or incorporate sustainability into existing courses? :
Yes

A brief description of the incentive program(s):
The Sustainability Education and Learning Committee (SELC), administered by the Sustainability Institute at Ohio State, supports the development of sustainability-themed courses at all Ohio State campuses. SELC offers the Sustainability Education Grant Program as an incentive to assist in the revision of existing 3 or 4-credit-hour General Education (GE) courses or the development of new 3 or 4-credit-hour GE courses, to increase sustainability-themed course offerings.

To date, the Sustainability Education Grant Program has awarded $25,500 for the development of 23 new GE sustainability theme courses across 12 different academic units. These funded course proposals require review and approval by the university’s Council on Academic Affairs (CAA). The first round of CAA approvals for the funded GE sustainability theme proposals are anticipated in time for offering during the 2023-2024 academic year.

A brief description of the incentives that academic staff who participate in the program(s) receive:
The Sustainability Education Grant through SELC provides faculty and academic units up to $500 for conversion of existing courses, and up to $2,000 for development of new courses that align with the university’s six dimensions of sustainability.

Website URL where information about the incentives for developing sustainability course content is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
https://si.osu.edu/fundingopportunities

https://si.osu.edu/newsustainabilityprograms

Under a separate offering, the Sustainability Education Grant Program has also provided funding to Ohio State faculty for the development of new interdisciplinary sustainability academic programs.

To date, successes from this incentive programming includes CAA’s approval to offer the Environmental Arts and Humanities minor, Climate Change Fundamentals certificate, and a Sustainable and Resilient Social and Ecological Systems (SARSES) certificate:

The Environmental Arts and Humanities minor combines methods and insights to explore relationships between humans and the environment, human epistemology and the environment, and the nature of this knowledge and its limitations. It draws on courses from over ten departments and requires students to complete four of their choosing from at least three departments. Options range from studio art classes to history lectures to philosophy seminars.

The Climate Change Fundamentals certificate is an interdisciplinary certificate to provide a comprehensive understanding of the physical and social science of climate change for 21st century citizens. Upon completion of the certificate, students will be better prepared to explain the causes and consequences of climate change to diverse audiences.

The Sustainable and Resilient Social and Ecological Systems (SARSES) Certificate is designed to function as a degree enhancement or professional credentialing program. It consists of a lead-in course (Anthropology 3050), general education sustainability course, a one credit capstone reflection, and a variety of multi-departmental options.

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.