Overall Rating	Gold - expired
Overall Score	65.01
Liaison	Paul Mathisen
Submission Date	May 23, 2017
Executive Letter	Download

STARS v2.1

Worcester Polytechnic Institute
AC-1: Academic Courses

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	9.51 / 14.00	John Orr Professor Liberal Arts & Computer Engineering

"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1

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	754	381
Number of sustainability courses offered	31	8
Number of courses offered that include sustainability	72	20

Percentage of courses that are sustainability course offerings:

11.54

Part 2

Total number of academic departments (or the equivalent) that offer courses (at any level):

None

Number of academic departments (or the equivalent) that offer at least one sustainability course and/or course that includes sustainability (at any level):

Percentage of academic departments with sustainability course offerings:

73.33

Course Inventory

A copy of the institution’s inventory of its sustainability course offerings and descriptions:

2016-2017 Sustainable Course Inventory FINAL.pdf

Do the figures reported above cover one, two, or three academic years?:

One

A brief description of the methodology used to determine the total number of courses offered and to identify sustainability course offerings, including the definitions used and the process for reviewing and/or validating the course inventory :

Sustainability courses and courses that include sustainability were identified in several ways. We searched course catalogs for courses with relevant words (e.g. sustainability, environmental, renewable, justice) and pulled out those that seemed to fit the definitions. We also reviewed the title of every class offered and reviewed the full course descriptions for those that seemed to fit. We also examined the list of courses associated with WPI's Environmental & Sustainability Studies academic programs. Finally, we surveyed the faculty and asked them to identify any courses they had taught in the past year that addressed sustainability and/or related topics.

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 (if different from the options outlined above):

as stated above

Are the following course types included in the inventory? :

	Yes (included) or No (not included)
Internships	No
Practicums	No
Independent study	No
Special topics	Yes
Thesis / dissertation	No
Clinical	No
Physical education	No
Performance arts	Yes

Optional Fields

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_an22f3FgfET0hsdVBzcWVIblE/view

Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

https://www.wpi.edu/offices/sustainability/happening#academics