| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 55.44 |
| Liaison | Bradley Flamm |
| Submission Date | March 4, 2022 |
West Chester University of Pennsylvania
AC-1: Academic Courses
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
12.32 / 14.00 |
Bradley
Flamm Director of Sustainability Office of the President |
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 | 1,520 | 788 |
| Number of sustainability-focused courses offered | 70 | 20 |
| Number of sustainability-inclusive courses offered | 238 | 72 |
Percentage of courses that are sustainability course offerings:
Total number of academic departments that offer courses:
Number of academic departments with sustainability course offerings:
Percentage of academic departments with sustainability course offerings:
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?:
A brief description of the methodology used to complete the course inventory :
A task force of two WCU faculty members, the Director of the Office of Sustainability and the Graduate Assistant for Data Monitoring and Analysis developed a 13 question survey distributed electronically to all full- and part-time WCU faculty to obtain detailed information on their teaching, research, and service activities that were, in the 2020-21 Academic Year, sustainability-focused or sustainability-inclusive. The survey was released in mid-December 2021 and was open for responses until mid-February 2022. Announcements were sent via the Provost’s office, with reminder requests distributed by the Office of Sustainability. The definitions for the terms used were these: “A sustainability-focused course is one in which the main goals and objectives include the concepts of environmental, social or economic sustainability. A sustainability-inclusive course is one in which environmental, social or economic sustainability is addressed, but not as one of the main goals and objectives of the course.
Many courses that are sustainability-focused or sustainability-inclusive address one or more of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals identified in the introduction to this survey:
1. No Poverty
2. Zero Hunger
3. Good Health and Well-being
4. Quality Education
5. Gender Equality
6. Clean Water and Sanitation
7. Affordable and Clean Energy
8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
9. Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
10. Reducing Inequality
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
12. Responsible Consumption and Production
13. Climate Action
14. Life Below Water
15. Life On Land
16. Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
17. Partnerships for the Goals”
The Office of Sustainability analyzed the data, comparing responses to entries in the university’s official course catalogue. The Office of Sustainability also included courses that had been identified by faculty in the Academic Year 2018-2019 survey, that were offered Academic Year 2020-2021. All duplicate course IDs were removed from the final count.
Department count pulled from: https://www.wcupa.edu/departments/academicdepartments.aspx
Note, the Honors College and Youth Empowerment and Urban Studies were added in the department counts total.
How were courses with multiple offerings or sections counted for the figures reported above?:
A brief description of how courses with multiple offerings or sections were counted:
Website URL where information about the sustainability course offerings is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Data on Undergraduate and Graduate Course Counts provided by: Nilima R. Inamdar (NInamdar@wcupa.edu), Director of Quantitative Analysis and Decision Support, Office of Institutional Research
Data Entry: Lois Howell, 24-Feb-22
Data on Undergraduate and Graduate Course Counts provided by: Nilima R. Inamdar (NInamdar@wcupa.edu), Director of Quantitative Analysis and Decision Support, Office of Institutional Research
Data Entry: Lois Howell, 24-Feb-22
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.