| Overall Rating | Platinum |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 85.74 |
| Liaison | Mike Wilson |
| Submission Date | Dec. 13, 2023 |
University of Victoria
AC-2: Learning Outcomes
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
5.83 / 8.00 |
Karina
Giesbrecht SRI Research Data Analyst VPRI |
"---"
indicates that no data was submitted for this field
Part 1. Institutional sustainability learning outcomes
Yes
Which of the following best describes the sustainability learning outcomes?:
Sustainability-supportive
A list of the institution level sustainability learning outcomes:
UVic addresses learning outcomes in two ways:
1. “University of Victoria Learning Outcomes” (2014) - UVic recognizes that their learning outcomes will prepare students “with diverse backgrounds to come together and work toward resolving complex environmental, ethical, scientific and social problems” within the “substantive content knowledge” of their specific fields of study.
2. UVic Strategic Framework 2018-2023
Specifically, the Senate approved UVic Learning Outcomes (2014) encourages all students to “take advantage of opportunities they will be given to achieve the following learning outcomes:
1. Intellectual, academic and practical skills; and,
2. Personal and social responsibility capacities.”
In relation to sustainability, personal and social responsibility capacities refer to:
• “informed civic engagement and understanding - from local to global;
• Intercultural knowledge and sensitivity;
• Ethical and professional reasoning and action; and,
• Life-long learning.”
The UVic Learning Outcomes is embedded into UVic’s Strategic Framework (p.5):
Strategy 3.2: Ensure that across all programs, in and out of the classroom, students actively develop the skills, abilities and attributes that support academic and personal success, lifelong learning, leadership and social responsibility, as set out in the “University of Victoria Learning Outcomes”.
The University of Victoria Learning Outcomes: https://teachanywhere.uvic.ca/teach-a-course/uvic-institutional-wide-learning-outcomes/
UVic Strategic Framework (2018-2023): https://www.uvic.ca/strategicframework/assets/docs/strategic-framework-2018.pdf
1. “University of Victoria Learning Outcomes” (2014) - UVic recognizes that their learning outcomes will prepare students “with diverse backgrounds to come together and work toward resolving complex environmental, ethical, scientific and social problems” within the “substantive content knowledge” of their specific fields of study.
2. UVic Strategic Framework 2018-2023
Specifically, the Senate approved UVic Learning Outcomes (2014) encourages all students to “take advantage of opportunities they will be given to achieve the following learning outcomes:
1. Intellectual, academic and practical skills; and,
2. Personal and social responsibility capacities.”
In relation to sustainability, personal and social responsibility capacities refer to:
• “informed civic engagement and understanding - from local to global;
• Intercultural knowledge and sensitivity;
• Ethical and professional reasoning and action; and,
• Life-long learning.”
The UVic Learning Outcomes is embedded into UVic’s Strategic Framework (p.5):
Strategy 3.2: Ensure that across all programs, in and out of the classroom, students actively develop the skills, abilities and attributes that support academic and personal success, lifelong learning, leadership and social responsibility, as set out in the “University of Victoria Learning Outcomes”.
The University of Victoria Learning Outcomes: https://teachanywhere.uvic.ca/teach-a-course/uvic-institutional-wide-learning-outcomes/
UVic Strategic Framework (2018-2023): https://www.uvic.ca/strategicframework/assets/docs/strategic-framework-2018.pdf
Part 2. Program-level sustainability learning outcomes
5,054
Number of graduates from degree programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability:
2,422
A brief description of how the figure above was determined:
Using AC 1 data, programs with sustainability courses were cross compared in excel using power query and identified, and graduates from those programs in 2021-2022 were counted. Graduates were also counted for this credit if their programs were listed either here: https://reports.aashe.org/institutions/university-of-victoria-bc/report/2020-05-05/AC/curriculum/AC-2/ or here: https://www.uvic.ca/undergraduate/programs/undergraduate-programs/index.php#category-environmentAndSustainability-hdr.
Programs that are primarily practice based have been excluded from the total count, as per aashe STARS technical manual.
Programs that are primarily practice based have been excluded from the total count, as per aashe STARS technical manual.
A list of degree programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability:
Anthropology
The Anthropology program encourages students to value research founded on perspectives that:
• Challenge racism, ethnocentrism, sexism, and anthropocentrism
• Respect cultural and biological diversity and similarities
• Appreciate diverse approaches to knowledge and ways of seeing the world
• Understands the relationship between global processes, the environment and health technology
Biology
UVic students in the Biology program develop the following program-specific competencies:
• Considers the larger role of biology in society
• Acquires knowledge base of facts about biological diversity of plants and animals including analysis at the levels of genes, cells, organs, individuals, interactions of individuals, populations, and ecosystems
• Integrates an understanding of biological problems at the genetic, molecular, developmental, organismal and ecological levels of analysis
Master of Business in Sustainable Innovation
MBA students integrate triple bottom line (profits, people, planet) thinking in the program. So by the time the grads are ready to walk out the doors, they understand that when it comes to success and sustainability in the world of business, you can’t have one without the other.
Commerce
In Year 3, Commerce students acquire a foundational knowledge in accounting, finance and marketing, managing people and systems, international business and corporate sustainability issues.
Community Development
The program's unique focus on the application of learning outcomes means that Community Development students will graduate:
• with a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the historical and political underpinnings, key concepts, and spheres of practice embedded in the social economy and civil society.
• able to understand key global trends, challenges, threats and opportunities communities face and strategies to address them.
• able to engage in a community-based approach to social change and social justice.
Civil Engineering
Civil Engineering aims to be the greenest civil engineering department in Canada addressing the most pressing global environmental and sustainability challenges through engineering design, science and practical solutions. The research and graduate programs focus on green civil engineering solutions for Canada and beyond. The undergraduate program teaches fundamental competencies supplemented with cutting-edge ideas from environmental science, building science and industrial ecology. Students in the undergraduate program take core courses in:
• Sustainable development in civil engineering
• Building science fundamentals
• Environmental engineering
• Environmental policy
• Sustainable transportation systems
Earth and Ocean Sciences
UVic students in the Earth and Ocean Sciences program develop the following program-specific competencies:
• Understands the underpinning earth science theory that supports professional scientific practice and applies this to own area of interest
• Understands the origin and structure of the oceans and atmosphere and the dynamic processes that drive ocean and atmosphere circulation, weather patterns and global climate change
Economics
UVic students in the Economics program develop the following program-specific competencies:
• Demonstrates knowledge of important issues in economic decision making in public and private sector
• Understands economic implications of government policies in areas of the economy such as labour, health care, education, natural resources, etc
• Understands policy related to urban and regional economic issues such as regional disparity, land use and planning, migration, and economic growth
Environmental Studies
The Major and Minor in Environmental Studies provide students with an understanding of key issues in and research about social-ecological systems. The curriculum also helps students to develop specific skills that allow them to contribute to efforts to solve contemporary environmental problems and plan for the maintenance and restoration of social, cultural, and ecological integrity and resilience.
Gender Studies
UVic students in the Gender Studies program develop the following program-specific competencies:
• Uses diverse feminist theoretical frameworks to explore and analyze historical and contemporary social structures, power relations, development of ideas, and varieties of cultural production
• Understands the socially constructed meanings of categories such as gender, race, class, sexual orientation, age, ability, citizenship, and national identity and the intersections among them
• Understands connections between the local and global as well as theory, praxis, and social justice
• Liaises and works with community-based groups and organizations including advocacy groups, human rights groups, environmental organizations, health care providers and social service organizations
Geography
UVic students in the Geography program develop the following program-specific competencies:
• Demonstrates knowledge of environmental, cultural, political, and economic factors that shape the geographic character of cities, regions, and the global system
• Demonstrates comprehension of the nature of change within human and physical environments
• Demonstrates spatial knowledge of major issues confronting society
• Understands the fields of physical geography (biogeography, climatology, and geomorphology) and how these contribute to the study of the physical environment
• Understands the fields of human geography (cultural geography, economic geography, urban geography, international development) and how these contribute to the study of the human landscape
Indigenous Governance
Students will gain an understanding of the philosophical and political dimensions of governance in Indigenous communities, as well as a background in the theory, methods, and tools appropriate for and relevant to research among Indigenous people. With faculty specializing in areas of Indigenous governance and history, political mobilization, global Indigenous rights, knowledge recovery, and Indigenous women and resistance, the program provides a broad curriculum that highlights traditional social and political thought and encourages a critical analysis of Indigenous-Settler relations and strategies for decolonization.
Indigenous Nationhood
Indigenous Nationhood is a graduate level program that enables students to examine the intersections of law, politics, and governance. Students are trained at an advanced level in the theoretical, methodological and applied aspects of the emerging field of Indigenous Nationhood to enable them to be future active researchers and engaged community members and scholars. Students are prepared for careers in teaching, research and/or leadership in Indigenous communities and organizations in fields related to Indigenous Nationhood.
Indigenous Studies
The Indigenous Studies program provides students with an opportunity to explore Indigenous knowledge through experiential, land-based learning, and to develop the skills necessary to work respectfully and productively with Indigenous communities and organizations.
Intercultural Studies and Practice
Participants can expect to acquire a clearer understanding of issues concerning cultural conflicts, racism, power and equity; skills which will assist in reducing conflict and inequality based on racism and ethnocentrism.
Law
Upper-year law students who are accepted into the Environmental Law and Sustainability Program will participate in a clinical program and take courses focused on this important and growing field of legal study—such as water law, municipal law and sustainability, forest law, energy law and sustainability, and interdisciplinary courses in law and environmental science.
Political Science
UVic students in the Political Science program develop the following program-specific competencies:
• Understands the social, cultural, historical, geographic and other forces that generate conflicts within and among societies
• The relationships between indigenous communities and colonial states and the evolution of indigenous governance
• Understands the issues and policies that affect democracy and the distribution of power, including The political and social questions and policies relating to diversity, pluralism, gender, economic class and culture ✛ The politics of development, both in developing countries and domestic urban settings ✛ Global issues, ethics and policies relating to human rights, nationalism, migration, security, the environment and trade
Psychology
UVic students in the Psychology program develop the following program-specific competencies.
• Explains major perspectives of psychology (social/environmental, biological/neuropsychology, learning/cognition/ perception, developmental, personality/abnormal)
• Understands the concepts, theories and research regarding the nature of human-human and human-environmental interaction
• Studies the interaction of biological, psychological and social factors in human health
• Surveys learning and developmental disabilities with emphasis on the education of children with developmental handicaps
Restoration of Natural Systems
By the end of the Restoration of Natural Systems program students will be able to:
• Design and evaluate restoration projects in a broad range of subject areas
• Use scientifically rigorous approaches to restoration projects
• Identify and understand the decisions and policies governing restoration work
• Interpret technical reports and scientific publications
Bachelor of Science (BSc) program in Climate Science
• Focus on understanding human-caused climate change, climate solutions, and utilizing programming, mapping, and data science to assess climate change impacts on communities.
• Distinguished as the first program on North America's West Coast to receive UN accreditation for delivering UN sustainable development goals (SDGs).
• Develop expertise in climate impacts, adaptation, and mitigation, along with a strong foundation in physical climate science.
• Acquire skills in using programming, mapping, and data science to analyze and communicate climate science effectively.
• Prepare for careers such as climate adaptation consultant, climate change researcher, environmental technician, and renewable energy scientist, aligning with UN SDGs
The Anthropology program encourages students to value research founded on perspectives that:
• Challenge racism, ethnocentrism, sexism, and anthropocentrism
• Respect cultural and biological diversity and similarities
• Appreciate diverse approaches to knowledge and ways of seeing the world
• Understands the relationship between global processes, the environment and health technology
Biology
UVic students in the Biology program develop the following program-specific competencies:
• Considers the larger role of biology in society
• Acquires knowledge base of facts about biological diversity of plants and animals including analysis at the levels of genes, cells, organs, individuals, interactions of individuals, populations, and ecosystems
• Integrates an understanding of biological problems at the genetic, molecular, developmental, organismal and ecological levels of analysis
Master of Business in Sustainable Innovation
MBA students integrate triple bottom line (profits, people, planet) thinking in the program. So by the time the grads are ready to walk out the doors, they understand that when it comes to success and sustainability in the world of business, you can’t have one without the other.
Commerce
In Year 3, Commerce students acquire a foundational knowledge in accounting, finance and marketing, managing people and systems, international business and corporate sustainability issues.
Community Development
The program's unique focus on the application of learning outcomes means that Community Development students will graduate:
• with a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the historical and political underpinnings, key concepts, and spheres of practice embedded in the social economy and civil society.
• able to understand key global trends, challenges, threats and opportunities communities face and strategies to address them.
• able to engage in a community-based approach to social change and social justice.
Civil Engineering
Civil Engineering aims to be the greenest civil engineering department in Canada addressing the most pressing global environmental and sustainability challenges through engineering design, science and practical solutions. The research and graduate programs focus on green civil engineering solutions for Canada and beyond. The undergraduate program teaches fundamental competencies supplemented with cutting-edge ideas from environmental science, building science and industrial ecology. Students in the undergraduate program take core courses in:
• Sustainable development in civil engineering
• Building science fundamentals
• Environmental engineering
• Environmental policy
• Sustainable transportation systems
Earth and Ocean Sciences
UVic students in the Earth and Ocean Sciences program develop the following program-specific competencies:
• Understands the underpinning earth science theory that supports professional scientific practice and applies this to own area of interest
• Understands the origin and structure of the oceans and atmosphere and the dynamic processes that drive ocean and atmosphere circulation, weather patterns and global climate change
Economics
UVic students in the Economics program develop the following program-specific competencies:
• Demonstrates knowledge of important issues in economic decision making in public and private sector
• Understands economic implications of government policies in areas of the economy such as labour, health care, education, natural resources, etc
• Understands policy related to urban and regional economic issues such as regional disparity, land use and planning, migration, and economic growth
Environmental Studies
The Major and Minor in Environmental Studies provide students with an understanding of key issues in and research about social-ecological systems. The curriculum also helps students to develop specific skills that allow them to contribute to efforts to solve contemporary environmental problems and plan for the maintenance and restoration of social, cultural, and ecological integrity and resilience.
Gender Studies
UVic students in the Gender Studies program develop the following program-specific competencies:
• Uses diverse feminist theoretical frameworks to explore and analyze historical and contemporary social structures, power relations, development of ideas, and varieties of cultural production
• Understands the socially constructed meanings of categories such as gender, race, class, sexual orientation, age, ability, citizenship, and national identity and the intersections among them
• Understands connections between the local and global as well as theory, praxis, and social justice
• Liaises and works with community-based groups and organizations including advocacy groups, human rights groups, environmental organizations, health care providers and social service organizations
Geography
UVic students in the Geography program develop the following program-specific competencies:
• Demonstrates knowledge of environmental, cultural, political, and economic factors that shape the geographic character of cities, regions, and the global system
• Demonstrates comprehension of the nature of change within human and physical environments
• Demonstrates spatial knowledge of major issues confronting society
• Understands the fields of physical geography (biogeography, climatology, and geomorphology) and how these contribute to the study of the physical environment
• Understands the fields of human geography (cultural geography, economic geography, urban geography, international development) and how these contribute to the study of the human landscape
Indigenous Governance
Students will gain an understanding of the philosophical and political dimensions of governance in Indigenous communities, as well as a background in the theory, methods, and tools appropriate for and relevant to research among Indigenous people. With faculty specializing in areas of Indigenous governance and history, political mobilization, global Indigenous rights, knowledge recovery, and Indigenous women and resistance, the program provides a broad curriculum that highlights traditional social and political thought and encourages a critical analysis of Indigenous-Settler relations and strategies for decolonization.
Indigenous Nationhood
Indigenous Nationhood is a graduate level program that enables students to examine the intersections of law, politics, and governance. Students are trained at an advanced level in the theoretical, methodological and applied aspects of the emerging field of Indigenous Nationhood to enable them to be future active researchers and engaged community members and scholars. Students are prepared for careers in teaching, research and/or leadership in Indigenous communities and organizations in fields related to Indigenous Nationhood.
Indigenous Studies
The Indigenous Studies program provides students with an opportunity to explore Indigenous knowledge through experiential, land-based learning, and to develop the skills necessary to work respectfully and productively with Indigenous communities and organizations.
Intercultural Studies and Practice
Participants can expect to acquire a clearer understanding of issues concerning cultural conflicts, racism, power and equity; skills which will assist in reducing conflict and inequality based on racism and ethnocentrism.
Law
Upper-year law students who are accepted into the Environmental Law and Sustainability Program will participate in a clinical program and take courses focused on this important and growing field of legal study—such as water law, municipal law and sustainability, forest law, energy law and sustainability, and interdisciplinary courses in law and environmental science.
Political Science
UVic students in the Political Science program develop the following program-specific competencies:
• Understands the social, cultural, historical, geographic and other forces that generate conflicts within and among societies
• The relationships between indigenous communities and colonial states and the evolution of indigenous governance
• Understands the issues and policies that affect democracy and the distribution of power, including The political and social questions and policies relating to diversity, pluralism, gender, economic class and culture ✛ The politics of development, both in developing countries and domestic urban settings ✛ Global issues, ethics and policies relating to human rights, nationalism, migration, security, the environment and trade
Psychology
UVic students in the Psychology program develop the following program-specific competencies.
• Explains major perspectives of psychology (social/environmental, biological/neuropsychology, learning/cognition/ perception, developmental, personality/abnormal)
• Understands the concepts, theories and research regarding the nature of human-human and human-environmental interaction
• Studies the interaction of biological, psychological and social factors in human health
• Surveys learning and developmental disabilities with emphasis on the education of children with developmental handicaps
Restoration of Natural Systems
By the end of the Restoration of Natural Systems program students will be able to:
• Design and evaluate restoration projects in a broad range of subject areas
• Use scientifically rigorous approaches to restoration projects
• Identify and understand the decisions and policies governing restoration work
• Interpret technical reports and scientific publications
Bachelor of Science (BSc) program in Climate Science
• Focus on understanding human-caused climate change, climate solutions, and utilizing programming, mapping, and data science to assess climate change impacts on communities.
• Distinguished as the first program on North America's West Coast to receive UN accreditation for delivering UN sustainable development goals (SDGs).
• Develop expertise in climate impacts, adaptation, and mitigation, along with a strong foundation in physical climate science.
• Acquire skills in using programming, mapping, and data science to analyze and communicate climate science effectively.
• Prepare for careers such as climate adaptation consultant, climate change researcher, environmental technician, and renewable energy scientist, aligning with UN SDGs
Documentation supporting the figure reported above (upload):
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:
47.92
Optional Fields
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Continuing Studies has been omitted in the counts, as per aashe technical manual.
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.