Weber State University
IN-38: Sustainability Course Designation

Use of a SUS designation for courses was approved unanimously by the Faculty Senate in January 2019. The designator is attached to course numbers to indicate those courses which either include some component focused on/explicitly tied to sustainability or have sustainability as the overall focus of the course. Sustainability is broadly and inclusively defined to include environmental, social and economic components. The SUS designation facilitates tracking courses which include or focus on sustainability offered at WSU. Information on each SUS designated course gathered through the application process allows for the university's Sustainability Practices and Research Center (SPARC) to track internally, for reporting purposes, which courses are “sustainability courses” and those which “include sustainability,” as defined and used in STARS. Either type of course can qualify for WSU’s SUS designator.

A description of the formal sustainability course designation process is attached. Courses approved for sustainability designation must include at least two sustainability-focused learning outcomes:
a. The core sustainability learning outcome: “Students will be able to comprehend the interconnection between environmental, social, and economic systems in relation to sustainability.”

b. At least one disciplinary sustainability learning outcome which explicitly links or applies the faculty’s disciplinary/topic area(s) of focus to sustainability.

A description of the rationale for teaching sustainability, the benefits of using the SUS attribute, and instructions for faculty to apply for the SUS attribute are found here: https://www.weber.edu/sustainability/sus-attribute.html

Courses may either have the SUS attribute for specific sections taught by a given faculty member, or for the whole course (all sections regardless of instructor). Faculty submit a SUS attribute application form along with a copy of their syllabus during either the fall or spring round of application reviews (Oct. 1 or March 1 deadlines). The SUS attribute review committee reviews the applications and evaluates them based on this rubric (https://www.weber.edu/wsuimages/sustainability/pdfs/SUS%20Evaluation%20Rubric%20Jan%202021.pdf).

This is where SUS designated courses can be searched for registration: https://bannerprod.weber.edu/StudentRegistrationSsb/ssb/classSearch/classSearch

Not all courses seem to have included SUS in their titles in the course catalog – that isn’t automatic and has to be done by the department. For SUS courses that are so designated regardless of instructor the SUS attribute is automatically applied by the registrar each semester. For those courses which are SUS only for a given instructor the SPARC provides a list of upcoming classes to the registrar in advance of the coming semester.

Webpage on Sustainability Education & the SUS Attribute at Weber State University:
https://www.weber.edu/sustainability/sus-attribute.html

Sustainability Course Attribute - criteria for eligibility:
https://www.weber.edu/wsuimages/sustainability/pdfs/SUSattributeCriteria(1).pdf

SUS Attribute Review rubric: https://www.weber.edu/wsuimages/sustainability/pdfs/SUS%20Evaluation%20Rubric%20Jan%202021.pdf