University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
AC-1: Academic Courses

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.

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.

Courses being counted for this credit are in the Fall 19-Sprin20 and Fall 20-Sprin 21 tabs, not the Master List tab.