University of Houston
AC-1: Academic Courses

The Office of Sustainability staff searched the institution's course catalog for possible courses that either include sustainability or were a sustainability course and compiled a list of possible courses (that meet the sustainability course parameters) for each college. Additionally, the research team included courses from sustainability-focused degrees and academic programs. Each college was contacted individually to review the possible sustainability course offerings that the research team identified. Specifically, the staff in the Office contacted the dean, department chairs and faculty engaged in sustainability research or curriculum.* Some of the colleges and departments identified a liaison to review the course list, sent back the confirmed courses and added any additional courses that the Office staff missed. Other colleges and departments had individuals contact the team directly regarding their specific courses. After the data collection process was over, the Office of Sustainability staff compiled all of the feedback to create the complete sustainability course inventory for the university. If a specific course was not confirmed by the dean, department chair or faculty member, the Office of Sustainability staff reviewed the course again and decided whether or not the course was a sustainability course or a course that includes sustainability based off of the course description. Finally, sustainability staff spoke with students from various degree programs about courses they've taken that could be considered sustainability courses. See the third sheet of the course inventory attachment for additional methodology. *The sustainability research list was incorporated during this process to avoid multiple emails sent to the same stakeholders.

There were several special topics courses that included sustainability. Additionally, some undergraduate courses are also listed as graduate courses. Courses were counted as many times in the total count as they were in the sustainability course offerings.

The total number of courses is the total number of courses in the university's academic catalog. Although we counted courses with multiple offerings in the total count, internships, practica, etc., those courses were not necessarily represented in the sustainability course inventory due to insufficient evidence demonstrating those courses' sustainability relevance. However, many selected topics courses were counted when course descriptions or syllabuses could provide proof of sustainability content in the curriculum.