University of Washington, Seattle
ER-5: Sustainability Course Identification

Sustainability courses at the University of Washington explore environmental, economic, and/or social aspects of sustainability, addressing the ability for society to innovatively utilize, develop, and protect natural resources and ecosystems in a way that meets the current and future generations' needs.   Sustainability Focused Courses: • Examine one or more topics with regard to all 3 dimensions (environmental, economic, and social) of sustainability in depth Or • Analyze a broad range of topics using a sustainability lens   Sustainability Related Courses: • Examine one or more topics with regard to at least one dimension of sustainability or • Sustainability or the environment is a discrete element of the course description, but not necessarily the main focus

The inventory of University of Washington Sustainability focused and related courses was completed in three phases. Phase 1: An initial filter of the entire University of Washington course catalog was performed searching titles and descriptions of courses for certain key words that would indicate the course may relate to the environment or sustainability. A staff member read through each of these to decide whether the context of the key words found was appropriate. A list of courses was then compiled from this search. Phase 2: The College of the Environment asked faculty and departments to self-identify sustainability courses using the College's Environmental Literacy Statement and the definition of sustainability-focused courses provided by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) within the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS): courses that focus on or concentrate on the concept of sustainability throughout the course, including its social, economic, and environmental dimensions, or examine an issue or topic using sustainability as a lens. After gathering recommended courses from faculty and departments, College of the Environment staff reviewed course objectives and course descriptions and assembled a list of sustainability focused courses offered in the College of the Environment. Phase 3: These two lists were brought together by a committee in the College of the Environment, and separated into focused and related courses based on the same criteria in phase 2, but now including courses identified in phase 1 that are not within the College of the Environment. The list is maintained by reviewing the Monthly Curriculum Reports released by the University of Washington Curriculum Review Committee. Phase 4: Faculty & Staff are currently working together to further create and communicate a consolidated sustainability curriculum.