Case Western Reserve University
AC-1: Academic Courses
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
Reporter |
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 | 2,240 | 3,363 |
| Number of sustainability-focused courses offered | 309 | 294 |
| Number of sustainability-inclusive courses offered | 290 | 276 |
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 full list of academic courses offered by CWRU in the latest three academic years (Summer 2021 to Spring 2024) are obtained from the Registrar Office. Courses have been taught or are currently teaching during three academic years are count into total courses. We conduct data analysis following the steps below.
1. Courses offered in multiple sections are counted as a single course.
2. Individually-directed courses (e.g. thesis, research/independent study, practicum) are excluded from total courses.
3. Special topics courses (e.g., courses that address emerging issues or specialized content and that are not offered on an ongoing basis) are excluded from total courses.
4. Courses that are strictly practice-oriented are excluded from total courses.
e.g. Medical courses dedicated to clinical practice.
Arts courses dedicated to performance, technique, or composition.
Physical education courses that are activity-based.
Trades courses dedicated to hands-on learning or practice.
A total of 5603 courses containing both undergraduate and graduate courses are reported to STARS. Keyword searching is employed to narrow down the sustainability courses (1169 courses) from the overall course inventory (5603 courses). These keywords include but not limited to sustainability, climate change, drought, natural disaster, disaster resilience, natural hazards, greenhouse gas, green design, green materials, green cities, green product, green chemistry, green energy, green infrastructure, human and ecological health, health and wellness, health and well-being, inequality, equity, poverty, gender, social development, social justice, community, biofuel, energy, renewable, environment, pollution, pollutant, contamination, contaminant, remediation, water, mineral, aquatic, groundwater, watershed, wetland, nitrogen, phosphorus, food safety, crop, fertilizer, ecology, wildlife, ecosystems, ocean, marine, oceanography, electric vehicles, forest, natural resources, recycled, waste, biodiversity, life cycle analysis, life cycle assessment.
Courses were identified as sustainability-focused or sustainability-inclusive courses if they met AASHE's definition for sustainability encompassing human and ecological health, social justice, secure livelihoods, and a better world for all generations. Major sustainability challenges include (but are not limited to) climate change, global poverty and inequality, natural resource depletion, and environmental degradation. Courses are identified as sustainability-focused if they focus on sustainability, sustainable development, sustainability science, architecture for sustainability, green chemistry, sustainable agriculture, sustainable business, climate change science, environmental justice, global poverty and development, renewable energy policy, gender equality, ocean acidification, sustainable forest management, community-based research, local/regional resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters.
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:
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.