Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 53.75
Liaison Dan DeZarn
Submission Date March 31, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

State University of New York at Geneseo
AC-1: Academic Courses

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 6.00 / 14.00 Dan Dezarn
Director of Sustainability
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Figures required to calculate the percentage of courses with sustainability content::
Undergraduate Graduate
Total number of courses offered by the institution 3,093 155
Number of sustainability courses offered 63 5
Number of courses offered that include sustainability 39 1

Number of academic departments (or the equivalent) that offer at least one sustainability course and/or course that includes sustainability (at any level):
14

Total number of academic departments (or the equivalent) that offer courses (at any level):
20

Number of years covered by the data:
One

A copy of the institution’s inventory of its course offerings with sustainability content (and course descriptions):
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An inventory of the institution's course offerings with sustainability content (and course descriptions):

ANTHROPOLOGY

___1__ Undergraduate sustainability-focused courses

A. Undergraduate sustainability-focused courses:
Course name: ANTH 307 – Third World Development
Brief course description: This course explores development paradigms, and the cultural, political, and economic implications of these paradigms. As such, the entire focus of the course is about social justice issues and the promotion of economic sustainability. and poverty.
Number of times offered: once in Fall 2014
Number of sections, if applicable: one
URL where syllabus is located: http://www.geneseo.edu/anthropology/anth_307

Department: Geological Sciences Chair: Ben Laabs

CURRICULUM
4 Undergraduate courses with a sustainability component
A. Undergraduate courses with a sustainability component:
Course name: GSCI 140/141: Environmental Science and Lab, GSCI 150/151: The Geology of Climate Change and Energy, GCI 200: Environmental Geology, GSCI 335: Paleoclimatology
Brief course description: GSCI 140: An introduction to the interaction of humansand the natural world, with focus on global environments, resources, population dynamics, energy, geology, and human impacts. GSCI 141: An introduction to laboratory principles and techniques in the environmental sciences for the critical analysis of scientific methods through data collection, data analysis, and interpretation.
GSCI 150: This course is intended for non-science majors who have an interest in understanding the relationship between energy usage in the industrial era and climate change. Understanding and adapting to global-scale climate change is one of the most important issues facing scientists and world leaders in the 21st century. The interrelationship of past climate changes and energy consumption from fossil fuels is clear, and understanding the response of the Earth system to rising greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere is of critical interest as the human population approaches maximum sustainable levels. This course explores the fundamental geologic records of global climate change, Earth-system processes in the context of climate change and the global carbon cycle, critical improvements to the scientific understanding of natural verses human-induced climate change, and the recent and future impact of global-scale energy use on the Earth system. GSCI 151: This laboratory course is designed for nonscience majors. Weekly exercises explore the global carbon cycle, Earth-system processes, geologic records of climate change, national and global-scale consumption of hydrocarbon fuels, and the potential for renewable energy resources in western New York.
GSCI 200: A survey of important geologic concepts relevant to current environmental issues. Emphasis is placed on geologic principles underlying problems related to water resources, pollution, natural hazards, waste disposal, energy and mineral resources, and on the scientific bases for current strategies proposed to limit adverse consequences of our impact on environmental systems. The geologic information bases available from governmental agencies are used to characterize and demonstrate practical problems for classroom exercises. Although not required, a general survey course in geology, physical geography, or high school earth science would provide an appropriate background.
GSCI 335: The study of fundamental concepts of global scale environmental and climatic changes in the context of Earth-surface pchemical and biological signatures of past environments preserved in the geologic record; causes and effects of major climate changes over various timescales in Earth history; and geologic responses to Pleistocene, Holocene and historical climate change. Laboratory exercises involve characterizing surface processes, data-rich studies of climate- change records and discussions of climate science literature.
Number of times offered: each of these classes was offered once in 2014-15.
Number of sections, if applicable: one section of each lecture class, 3 sections of GSCI 141 and six of GSCI 151.
URL where syllabus is located: syllabi not posted online but can be provided.
GEOGRPAHY

Do you offer any sustainability-focused degrees (major, minor, or concentrations), diplomas, or certificates?

__X__Yes

_____No

If you answered “Yes”, what are they and what is the URL for where they can be found?
Degree… name: Environmental Studies Minor & Concentration
Brief description: The Environmental Studies minor is truly interdisciplinary, with courses from twelve different departments in addition to those courses that have ENVR prefixes. Students are provided with an opportunity to approach environmental issues from a holistic or integrative perspective, and are required to take courses from the social sciences and humanities, as well as from the natural sciences. Qualified students may have opportunities to engage in supervised research related to environmental processes and problems, and they may also conduct an internship with an environmental organization. Students are required to complete eight courses (25-28 credit hours) in at least four different disciplines.
URL site:
Minor: https://www.geneseo.edu/geography/environmental_studies or http://www.geneseo.edu/webfm_send/10247 (pages 336-338)
Concentration: http://www.geneseo.edu/webfm_send/10247 (pages 152-153)


The website URL where the inventory of course offerings with sustainability content is publicly available:
A brief description of the methodology the institution followed to complete the course inventory:

A faculty survey was conducted that rated the emphasis of sustainability in Geneseo courses including components and outcomes of courses as well as a brief description.


How did the institution count courses with multiple offerings or sections in the inventory?:
Not applicable; no courses with multiple offerings or sections were included

A brief description of how courses with multiple offerings or sections were counted (if different from the options outlined above):
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Which of the following course types were included in the inventory?:
Yes or No
Internships No
Practicums No
Independent study No
Special topics Yes
Thesis/dissertation No
Clinical No
Physical education No
Performance arts No

Does the institution designate sustainability courses in its catalog of course offerings?:
No

Does the institution designate sustainability courses on student transcripts?:
No

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Jeremy Hall


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.