Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 60.76
Liaison Brad Spanbauer
Submission Date March 4, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
AC-1: Academic Courses

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 5.75 / 14.00 Brad Spanbauer
Campus Sustainability Officer
Campus Sustainability Office
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Sustainability course offerings

Figures required to calculate the percentage of courses offered by the institution that are sustainability course offerings:
Undergraduate Graduate
Total number of courses offered by the institution 1,471 322
Number of sustainability-focused courses offered 28 10
Number of sustainability-inclusive courses offered 40 19

Percentage of courses that are sustainability course offerings:
5.41

Part 2. Sustainability course offerings by department

Total number of academic departments that offer courses:
52

Number of academic departments with sustainability course offerings:
28

Percentage of academic departments with sustainability course offerings:
53.85

Documentation

A copy of the institution’s inventory of its sustainability course offerings and descriptions:
Do the figures reported above cover one, two, or three academic years?:
Two

A brief description of the methodology used to complete the course inventory :
The Campus Sustainability Council of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, which includes at least three faculty members who teach courses in different departments, adopted the definition of sustainability in the curriculum to guide sustainability course identification. They also recommended applying a rubric developed by faculty working on General Education Reform. The rubric included a matrix listing goals/competencies for three levels: Knowledge, Analysis, and Action.

The Director of Sustainability, the Director of the Sustainability Institute for Regional Transformations (SIRT), the SIRT department associate, and a student intern analyzed the syllabi available for courses taught in the 2019-2021 Academic Years. Some syllabi were not available for analysis because they were not posted online and faculty did not respond to repeated requests. A complete listing of courses/sections offered was obtained from the Registrar. A table was constructed to document the syllabus analysis. The course list was updated to reflect courses that have been taught in recent academic years and have been defined as sustainability courses or courses that include sustainability.

The new general education program features sustainability as one of its main cross disciplinary focuses for every incoming freshman.

Signature Questions
To build intellectual curiosity, USP incorporates three broad Signature Questions that are woven throughout the Quests. As an incoming student, you will begin to question in a discipline-based first-year experience (FYE) course while concurrently enrolled in a second course focused on the skills employers repeatedly name as the most crucial to success in the 21st century. Among these skills is the ability to write and speak effectively and to collaborate successfully with others. By enrolling in these paired courses during your first two semesters on campus, you are placed in small learning communities that begin to examine USP's Signature Questions.

How do people understand and create a more sustainable world?
Knowledge of Sustainability and Its Applications is the ability to understand local and global earth systems; the qualities of ecological integrity and the means to restore and preserve it; and the interconnection of ecological integrity, social justice and economic well-being.

How were courses with multiple offerings or sections counted for the figures reported above?:
Each course was counted as a single course regardless of the number of offerings or sections

A brief description of how courses with multiple offerings or sections were counted:
Going through the overall course catalog, we ran through each course and decided on counting as one (looking at just department/course number). We did not count lab courses since labs are required as part of lectures, which every student is a part of, otherwise would be double counted.

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the sustainability course offerings is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Courses being counted for this credit are in the Fall 19-Sprin20 and Fall 20-Sprin 21 tabs, not the Master List tab.

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.