University of California, San Diego
AC-7: Incentives for Developing Courses

In 2016, every UC -- including UC San Diego -- offered a Faculty Climate Change Curriculum Workshop and Networking Event program. Any UC San Diego faculty member could apply to participate in a curriculum workshop and networking event focused on infusing concepts of climate change science, impacts, mitigation, and what the UC system and UC San Diego in particular were doing to become carbon neutral into existing undergraduate courses. Over 20 participants from across many disciplines -- including those who taught large gen ed and/or requirement writing courses - participated in a one-day workshop on campus and a follow-up afternoon networking event. The workshop was a hands-on discussion of climate change content and an opportunity to brainstorm with others on how to include relevant aspects of climate change into existing courses. Participants had six months to work up a new module, lecture, assignment, lab exercise or entire new syllabus for an existing course that they teach. All participants gathered for a networking event to report back and share results. Each faculty participant received $1,200 in funding, transferred into a departmental account of their choice. The VC for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the VC for Research have also supported teaching faculty with funding to further expand this effort and possibly create not only new courses but also a new undergraduate climate minor, along other efforts. In 2016 every UC, including UC San Diego, also have its first Faculty Climate Champion. Any faculty member could apply. Champions from each campus were invited to attend the University of California Summit on Pathways to Carbon and Climate Neutrality: California and the World and shared the engagement work they did on and off campus around their climate-related teaching and/or research with participants at the UC Carbon Slam student competition (sending their own student teams) and the CA Higher Education and Sustainability Conference. Each Faculty Champion received statewide recognition and $5,000 for their climate action‐related work: http://climatechampions.ucop.edu/ UC San Diego also has an incentive program: faculty incentives to develop courses focused on diversity and inclusion. In 2015, the Executive Vice Chancellor implemented an Excellence in Teaching Diversity Award that all faculty who teach a course fulfilling the DEI requirement are eligible to receive. This information, along with the list of courses already approved, is available at the Academic Affairs website:

Funding for professional development, resources for teaching, curriculum development, etc.

Other contact: Dr. Magaret Lienen, VC Marine Sciences and Director of the Scripps Institutional of Oceanography http://sciencestudies.ucsd.edu/minor/index.html https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/uc-announces-first-faculty-climate-action-champions http://climatechampions.ucop.edu/