University of California, Santa Barbara
AC-1: Academic Courses

The course inventory includes all courses offered at least once between the three-year period of fall, 2014 and summer, 2017. 2017-2018 data was not available at the time of reporting. All courses count for at least 1 unit of academic credit and had at least 1 enrollee. Cancelled courses and courses with zero enrollment were removed from the course inventory. Special topic courses (both one-time and repeating) and seminars were counted as separate courses if the course had a unique course code. Courses that were excluded from the course inventory include extension courses, travel study courses offered by other institutions, courses transferred for credit from other institutions, as well as independent study and independent research courses. Group studies courses were not included as those do not have standard syllabi and are a form of giving credit for active research rather than a typical course. Extension courses were listed under the Public Engagement credit. Curriculum For the purposes of STARS, UCSB reported on any courses that addressed the interconnection between humans and environmental issues or solutions. To help us flush out this definition and fully understand for ourselves what this entails we developed a set of goals and outcome measures below. Broad Definition of Sustainability Courses: Goal Measures (Courses must identify one or more of the following goals): 1. Identifies one or more serious environmental problems and explain its underlying causes and possible consequences. 2. Explores the conceptual foundations of our environmental attitudes, values and challenges from a variety of cultural perspectives. 3. Examines the scientific understanding of Earth’s natural systems and cycles, emphasizing humanity’s role as the planet’s ecologically dominant species and how that affects the continuing viability of habitats for life on Earth. 4. Demonstrates the interconnectedness of environmental, economic, and social systems. 5. Investigates how our relationship to the natural world has been shaped historically, politically, and/or economically. 6. Examines the controversies surrounding questions of values and ethics as they relate to creating a sustainable future. In addition, it will be expected that at least one student learning outcome (SLO) is developed that reflects the focus of the course. Outcome Measures (Students learning objectives): 1. Understand and be able to effectively communicate the concept of sustainability. 2. Analyze how the well-being of human society is dependent on ecosystems and the materials and services they provide to humanity. 3. Recognize the physical and biological attributes, basic functioning, and limits of planetary ecosystems. 4. Develop and use an ethical perspective in which they view themselves as embedded in the fabric of an interconnected world. 5. Become aware of and explore the connections between their chosen course of study and sustainability. 6. Synthesize understanding of social, economic, and environmental systems and reason holistically. 7. Be able to create models, products, designs or creative representations that highlight an understanding of the connections among people, processes and the environment.

Some courses that include sustainability were cross-listed between departments. To account for this overlap, these courses were condensed into a single entry within the course inventory that included all possible course codes and departments. These cross-listed courses were only counted once, although the multiple departments under which they were listed were all counted as departments offering sustainability courses or courses that include sustainability. Courses that had both an undergraduate and graduate course code were counted as two courses since the requirements of the two course codes are quite different. No sections, including honors sections, were included. If the course was offered multiple times over the three-year reporting period, it was counted only once. Courses with one course code, but varying subject matters, were only counted as one course. These courses were very difficult to track because they were taught differently each time they were offered, based on the Professor’s preference. They were counted as sustainability related only when we could demonstrate that the course addressed sustainability more than half of the times they were offered. An example of this occurring is with the courses offered through the Literature and the Environment Program within the English Department. Many of these courses didn’t count because the exact subject matter of the class fluctuates frequently, making precise data difficult to obtain.

Please note that for this credit, we listed any program/department that offers courses that could count for this credit. An example is "Interdisciplinary Studies" which offers their own courses, but which is not a "department." If the "department" does not offer any courses, we did not count it. For IC3, we included only departments as officially defined by UCSB. For AC9, we counted research units, centers, and institutes as well as departments that house researchers. The following departments offered at least one course related to sustainability and were counted in the numerator: Anthropology Art Black Studies Bren School of Environmental Science & Management Chemistry and Biochemistry Chicano Studies College of Creative Studies Comparative Literature Program Earth Science (formerly Geological Sciences) East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology Economics English Environmental Studies Feminist Studies Film and Media Studies Geography Gevirtz Graduate School of Education; Department of Education Global and International Studies Global Peace and Security (PROGRAM) History History of Art and Architecture Interdisciplinary Studies Latin American and Iberian Studies Program Linguistics Mechanical and Environmental Engineering Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Political Science Religious Studies Sociology Writing Program The following programs that offer courses were not counted under IC3 as departments: 1 Biomolecular Science and Engineering 2 Comparative Literature 3 English for Multilingual Students 4 Global Peace and Security 5 Interdisciplinary Studies 6 Latin American and Iberian Studies 7 Marine Science 8 Medieval Studies 9 Renaissance Studies 10 Technology Management 11 Technology Management 12 Women, Culture, and Development Studies 13 Writing The total list of courses counted for this credit in the denominator include: Anthropology Art Asian American Studies Biomolecular Science and Engineering Black Studies Bren School of Environmental Science & Management Chemical Engineering Chemistry and Biochemistry Chicano Studies Classics College of Creative Studies Communication Comparative Literature (PROGRAM) Computer Science Earth Science East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology Economics Electrical and Computer Engineering English English for Multilingual Students Environmental Studies Exercise & Sport Studies, Department of Feminist Studies, Department of Film and Media Studies French and Italian Geography Germanic and Slavic Studies Gevirtz Graduate School of Education; Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology Gevirtz Graduate School of Education; Department of Education Global and International Studies Global Peace and Security (PROGRAM) History History of Art and Architecture Interdisciplinary Studies Program Latin American and Iberian Studies (PROGRAM) Linguistics Marine Science Materials Mathematics Mechanical Engineering Media Arts and Technology Medieval Studies (PROGRAM) Middle East Studies Military Science (ROTC) Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Music Philosophy Physics Political Science Psychological & Brain Sciences Religious Studies Renaissance Studies (PROGRAM) Sociology Spanish and Portuguese Speech and Hearing Sciences Statistics and Applied Probability Technology Management (PROGRAM) Technology Management Program Theater and Dance Women, Culture, and Development Studies Writing Program