University of California, Santa Barbara
AC-2: Learning Outcomes

List of sustainable learning outcomes:

UNDERGRADUATE
- Earth Science (BA): Describe the broad attributes and interactions of the Earth System, as well as its geological history, how and why it is changing today, and how those changes impact society
- Earth Science (BS): Describe the broad attributes and interactions of the Earth System, as well as its geological history, how and why it is changing today, and how those changes impact society
- Environmental Studies (BA): Identify the societal (social, political, economic, cultural and ethical) agents and structures that contribute to environmental change
- Environmental Studies (BS): Identify the societal (social, political, economic, cultural and ethical) agents and structures that contribute to environmental change
- Geography (BA): Describe the interrelationships of physical, biological, socio-cultural, and economic components of the Earth system
- Global Studies (BA): Explain the basic contours of contemporary global social, cultural, economic, environmental, and political issues.
- History of Public Policy (BA): Compare and contrast how broadly similar historical developments in public policy (i.e., state formation, domestic and interstate conflicts, economic and social welfare development, cultural promotion and incorporation, urbanization, migration, environmental use, and mitigation) have been experienced in different times and places
- Hydrological Sciences and Policy (BS): Identify the societal (social, political, economic, cultural, and ethical) agents and structures that contribute to environmental change.
- Physical Geography (BS): Identify and measure changes in Earth's physical landscape related to human, biological, geological, and climatological forcing factors

GRADUATE
- Environmental Science and Management (MESM): The program focuses on application and problem-solving and has three parts: the first-year core curriculum, the second-year work in one of seven Specializations, and the Group Project or Eco-Entrepreneurship Project. The Bren School MESM degree involves core curriculum that provides a solid foundation in coupled human and environmental systems. The specializations offered by Bren School include Coastal Marine Resources Management, Conservation Planning, Corporate Environmental Management, Economics and Politics of the Environment, Energy and Climate, Pollution Prevention and Remediation, and Water Resources Management. Lastly, students complete a Group Project or Eco-Entrepreneurship Project focused around coursework that develops skills and experiences that help them pursue new technologies and strategies for addressing society's environmental and resource challenges.
- Environmental Science and Management (PhD): The Bren School’s PhD program is designed to develop the broad knowledge, analytical powers, technical skills, and creative thinking demanded of leaders in Environmental Science & Management. The program is also designed to accommodate a wide range of research interests, from those highly focused in a particular discipline to strongly interdisciplinary ones. All courses offered by the Bren School are open to PhD students. Courses are also available in such other departments as Geography; Earth Science; Economics; Political Science; and Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology; as well as others. PhD research topics can be as focused or interdisciplinary as the courses. Current research projects include "Economics of water management, including markets, pricing, auctions, and payments for ecosystem services"; " Using computational numerical methods to develop a better understanding of energy and material resource management problems that are dynamic over space and time"; and "Environmental impacts of energy technologies and agricultural systems, approaches for regionalizing life cycle inventory, and China's environmental issues."
- Global Studies (MA): Graduate students will acquire a basic understanding of major ideas and writings and acquire an in-depth knowledge of the kinds of subjects, issues, and problems that constitute the three broad interdisciplinary specializations that comprise our M.A. curriculum: global political economy, sustainability and the environment; global culture, ideology, and religion; and global governance, civil society, and human rights

We focused on program-level learning outcomes because this was the level where we had the most complete set of outcomes.

The above calculation includes the number of students who graduated from a program with at least one sustainability learning outcome over the past three years (2012-13; 2013-14; 2014-15). This total number of graduates from all degree programs is likewise calculated over the past three years (2012-13; 2013-14; 2014-15).

We likely double-counted on double-majors, due to the difficulty in separating that data out.

Learning outcomes were mostly pulled from the Assessment of Student Learning, completed as part of the WASC Accreditation process (http://assessment.ucsb.edu/plo). We used the WASC outcomes to justify undergraduate learning outcomes.

We could not find specific program-level outcomes at the Graduate level; the WASC outcomes were more general and did not adequately address each specific program. For this, we used information from credit AC 4 (Graduate Programs). More information about the PhD and MESM in Environmental Science and Management can be found below, respectively:
http://bren.ucsb.edu/academics/phd.html
http://bren.ucsb.edu/academics/MESM.html

In reporting, we ensured that we only included degree programs with learning outcomes that addressed all three components of sustainability: environment, economy, and society, or that at least included environmental issues and broadly addressed “impacts to society” (which we counted as the social/economic side).