| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 77.56 |
| Liaison | Ruairi O'Mahony |
| Submission Date | Feb. 15, 2019 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of Massachusetts Lowell
AC-7: Incentives for Developing Courses
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Ruairi
O'Mahony Executive Director Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy |
Does the institution have an ongoing program or programs that offer incentives for faculty in multiple disciplines or departments to develop new sustainability courses and/or incorporate sustainability into existing courses?:
A brief description of the program(s), including positive outcomes during the previous three years (e.g. descriptions of new courses or course content resulting from the program):
The university's sustainability fund, known as the Sustainability Engagement and Enrichment Development (SEED) Fund, provides funding for projects that promote environmental sustainability, and positively impact and enhance the student experience at UMass Lowell. The Fund supports the sustainability goals outlined in UMass Lowell’s 2020 Strategic Plan. The Fund is supported by student fees and administered through a student-majority committee. Students, faculty, and staff of the University of Massachusetts Lowell community can apply for funds for up to $10,000.
In 2017, Juliette Rooney-Varga, Director of the Climate Change Initiative and a Professor in the Earth, Environmental, & Atmospheric Sciences Department was selected for a $10,000 project entitled "Building Cross-Disciplinary Academic Minors in Sustainability"
The funds were used to free up time for a faculty member to focus on academic programming for the university's sustainability minors “Environment and Society” and “Climate Change and Sustainability”. Through the course release, the chosen faculty member will identify and develop new courses, establish internships, and service learning possibilities, and update online resources for the minors as a result of the course reduction.
In 2017, Climate Change in the High School Classroom, led by Lori Weeden, a lecturer in Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, received a $6,000 grant to host a 10-hour professional development workshop on climate change education for area high school teachers this summer. The project will develop a series of modules that science and non-science teachers can replicate in the high school classroom. The workshop will look at climate change through the disciplines of science, engineering, political science, economics, public health and sociology.
A brief description of the incentives that faculty members who participate in the program(s) receive:
Through the SEED Fund, faculty or staff can apply for funding course load reductions to allow for a fellow faculty member to receive a course reduction, provided the Department Chair and Dean approves it for the receiving faculty member. This course release would have to be specifically-focused on a project that supports building new modules for sustainability within existing curricula or academic programs.
This methodology was endorsed by our University's 2020 Strategic Plan Committee for Sustainability in Academics.
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:
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.