| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 56.45 |
| Liaison | Bambi Ingram |
| Submission Date | Feb. 7, 2020 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of Alabama at Birmingham
AC-2: Learning Outcomes
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.05 / 8.00 |
Julie
Price Sustainability Coordinator Sustainability |
Total number of graduates from degree programs (i.e. majors, minors, concentrations, certificates, and other academic designations):
Number of students that graduate from programs that have adopted at least one sustainability learning outcome:
Percentage of students who graduate from programs that have adopted at least one sustainability learning outcome:
Do the figures reported above cover one, two, or three academic years?:
Does the institution specify sustainability learning outcomes at the institution level (e.g. covering all students)?:
Does the institution specify sustainability learning outcomes at the division level (e.g. covering particular schools or colleges within the institution)?:
A list or brief description of the institution level or division level sustainability learning outcomes:
UAB counts the School of Engineering and the School of Public Health as Divisions with sustainability learning outcomes applied to all division graduates.
1. The School of Engineering is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). The criteria for accreditation includes student outcomes, including (c) below requiring sustainability learning outcomes for all engineering programs.
GENERAL CRITERION 3. STUDENT OUTCOMES
The program must have documented student outcomes that prepare graduates to attain the program educational objectives.
Student outcomes are outcomes (a) through (k) plus any additional outcomes that may be articulated by the program.
(a) an ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering
(b) an ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data
(c) an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability
(d) an ability to function on multidisciplinary teams
(e) an ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems
(f) an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility
(g) an ability to communicate effectively
(h) the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context
(i) a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning
(j) a knowledge of contemporary issues
(k) an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice.
Furthermore, many departments within Engineering have individual governing bodies. For example, the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering follows the associated canons of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in curriculum instruction and must demonstrate that their graduates are equipped to follow the ASCE's Code of Ethics. The first Canon of the Code specifies compliance with sustainable development in the performance of their professional duties (see link below). Therefore, all students graduating from the department are considered to have graduated from a program with formally adopted sustainability learning outcomes.
http://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/About_ASCE/Ethics/Content_Pieces/CodeofEthics2006.pdf
2. School of Public Health
All students pursuing a professional degree (MPH or DrPH) take at least one class equivalent to three credits in each of the five core areas of public health. All students [pursuing a Bachelor's degree] must complete courses that provide a basic understanding of the five core public health knowledge areas Collectively, this coursework should be at least the equivalent of 12 semester credit hours." Two of the five core areas that all students have to take includes environmental health and population health. Elective Public Health Coursework: in addition to the required public health core knowledge courses, students must complete additional public health-related courses. Public health-related courses may include those addressing social, economic, quantitative, geographic, educational and other issues that impact the health of populations and health disparities within and across populations. Students learn the fundamentals of public health history, theory, and practice, including how biological, environmental, social and behavioral factors interact to influence health and disease. Identifying the health needs of communities and the role of health disparities is emphasized.
https://www.soph.uab.edu/files/osas/CEPH_Final_Response_2016.pdf
Does the institution specify sustainability learning outcomes at the program level (i.e. majors, minors, concentrations, degrees, diplomas, certificates, and other academic designations)?:
A list or brief description of the program level sustainability learning outcomes (or a list of sustainability-focused programs):
The Peace, Justice, and Ecology minor is an interdisciplinary program for students seeking a broad learning experience in human-ecological interactions, bio-cultural diversity, and strategies to foster social justice, peace, and environmental sustainability from a holistic perspective. This minor offers you the opportunity to examine themes of ecological adaptation and sustainability as well as environmental health and human rights in local, cross-cultural, and global contexts. It will teach you to apply scientific, philosophical, and ethical reasoning to real-world problems.
Masters in Peace and Human Rights: The new program focuses on peace as a behavioral process at multiple levels including at the level of individuals, families, groups, communities, cultures, and nations. Students will critically analyze how factors such as ecological sustainability, human security, democracy, justice, non-violence, conflict resolution, and human rights are interconnected constructs related to the unifying construct of peace.
Anthropology offers an important set of perspectives that address knowledge about and appreciation of cultural diversity, cultural relativism, multiculturalism, cross-cultural interaction, variation in norms, values, beliefs, conflict resolution styles, and respect for cultural differences and human rights. This unique set of perspectives is at the basis of the new program’s focus on peace and human rights and makes it relevant to the goals of diversity and the challenges and opportunities posed by globalization.
The new program complements the educational and outreach activities of the recently established UAB Institute for Human Rights (IHR). Graduates of similar programs have found positions in human and social services, community mediation organizations, in multicultural education, at legal centers, as U.S. Congressional staffers, at NGOs and human rights organizations, and at the United Nations.
Do course level sustainability learning outcomes contribute to the figure reported above (i.e. in the absence of program, division, or institution level learning outcomes)?:
A list or brief description of the course level sustainability learning outcomes and the programs for which the courses are required:
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:
Year totals are from academic year 2018-2019, including fall, spring, summer graduations.
Year totals are from academic year 2018-2019, including fall, spring, summer graduations.
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.