Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 65.90
Liaison Steve Mital
Submission Date March 6, 2020

STARS v2.2

University of Oregon
AC-2: Learning Outcomes

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.53 / 8.00 Sarah Stoeckl
Assistant Director
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Has the institution adopted one or more sustainability learning outcomes that apply to the entire student body or, at minimum, to the institution's predominant student body?:
Yes

Which of the following best describes the sustainability learning outcomes?:
Sustainability-supportive

A list of the institution level sustainability learning outcomes:

UO undergraduates must take a core general education requirement in US: Difference, Inequality, Agency (US). These courses will develop students’ analytical and reflective capacities to help them understand and ethically respond to the ongoing cultural, economic, political, and social power imbalances that have shaped and continue to shape the United States. In addition, this study may also include the relationship of the United States to other regions of the world. Each course will include scholarship, cultural production, perspectives, and voices from members of communities historically marginalized by these legacies of inequality.


Total number of graduates from degree programs:
6,039

Number of graduates from degree programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability:
398

A brief description of how the figure above was determined:

The number of graduates in AY 2019 from the degree programs listed below. This number does not reflect undergraduate minors (such as graduates of our Sustainable Business or Food Studies minors), nor does it capture our Environmental Studies PhD graduates, all of whom are based in "home" departments such as English or Geography.


A list of degree programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability:

The following majors require at least one course related to sustainability or that has sustainability learning outcomes:
*Architecture (baccalaureate and master): The UO's School of Architecture and Environment is nationally recognized for its strengths in education and research related to sustainability. Architecture master's and undergraduate students all take, at a minimum, Environmental Control Systems I and II, which have overt learning goals related to sustainability. For a course overview example of a recent ECS II course, see https://blogs.uoregon.edu/archenvironment/files/2020/02/ECS-Flyer20201.pdf

*Landscape Architecture (baccalaureate and master): LA also sits in the nationally recognized School of Architecture and the Environment. All LA students are required to take LA 441 Principles of Applied Ecology. For a list of required courses and more, see: https://archenvironment.uoregon.edu/landarch/courses

*Interior Architecture (baccalaureate and master): IA also sits in the nationally recognized School of Architecture and the Environment. All IA students must likewise take Environmental Control Systems II, which has overt learning goals related to sustainability (see link above).

*Environmental Studies (baccalaureate and master) and Environmental Science (baccalaureate): These programs have adopted the following learning goals for all their graduates:
**to provide a solid foundation in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities;
to build on these foundations in advanced coursework within and across a variety of disciplines;
**to develop the skills needed to study human-environment interactions in an interdisciplinary way that respects all of their complexity;
**to encourage practical learning experiences that can prepare students for active participation in the work force and in local and global communities. See: https://envs.uoregon.edu/undergrad/about/

*Geography (baccalaureate and master): Undergraduate students are required to take an introductory sequence that, together, introduce them to intertwined sustainability concepts, The Natural Environment; Human Geography, and Our Digital Earth. Master's students are required to have taken similar courses as undergraduates or to take these courses for MA/MS degrees. For info on these courses, see: https://geography.uoregon.edu/courses/

*Earth Sciences (baccalaureate): Undergraduate students must take a 3-course introductory sequence that includes either Exploring Earth's Environment (102) or Earth Surface and Environment (202). Both of these courses focus on human impacts on earth and vice versa. For an overview of these courses, see: http://uocatalog.uoregon.edu/arts_sciences/geologicalsciences/#courseinventory

*Environmental Science, Studies, and Policy (doctorate): All PhD students are required to take ENVS 631: Theory and Practice, which introduces them to the inherently interdisciplinary nature of environmental studies research, including the interactions between environment, social, and economic systems. See: https://envs.uoregon.edu/graduate/courses/

*Environmental and Natural Resources Law (graduate/JD): UO's ENR Law program is one of the top-ranked in the country and was the first to specialize in environmental law. Because of the inherently human nature of the legal profession, combined with coursework, students come away with strong expertise in the interconnectedness of environmental and human/cultural systems, and they can also specialize in green business law as an optional concentration. For more info, see: https://law.uoregon.edu/jd/concentrations/enr

*Sustainable MBA (MBA): Students in this MBA emphasis are required to take MGMT 640: Sustainable Business Development, which details the interactions between a sustainable business economy and environmental stewardship. For information on this course and others in the program, see: https://business.uoregon.edu/mba/specializations/sustainable-business-practices


Documentation supporting the figure reported above (upload):
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Do the figures reported above cover one, two, or three academic years?:
One

Percentage of students who graduate from programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability:
6.59

Website URL where information about the sustainability learning outcomes is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Data on number of graduates from relevant degree programs came from the Office of Institutional Research: https://ir.uoregon.edu/degrees . We determined eligible departments by looking at their core degree requirements.


Data on number of graduates from relevant degree programs came from the Office of Institutional Research: https://ir.uoregon.edu/degrees . We determined eligible departments by looking at their core degree requirements.

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.