Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 59.34
Liaison Elizabeth MacKenzie
Submission Date July 24, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Iowa
AC-1: Academic Courses

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.30 / 14.00 Sara Maples
Interim Director
The UI Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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 3,671 1,329
Number of sustainability courses offered 25 9
Number of courses offered that include sustainability 110 25

Percentage of courses that are sustainability course offerings:
3.38

Total number of academic departments (or the equivalent) that offer courses (at any level):
95

Number of academic departments (or the equivalent) that offer at least one sustainability course and/or course that includes sustainability (at any level):
42

Percentage of academic departments with sustainability course offerings:
44.21

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?:
Three

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 :

A brief outline of the steps taken were included below.
1) All courses from the Certificate in Sustainability curriculum were included.
2) A data mine was performed of the entire course catalog. These course lists were sent to the individual college deans with a letter that provided a definition of Sustainability (see below) to confirm the accuracy of their inclusion. If we were unable to reliably confirm course content, it was removed from the list.

Excerpt from the letter to the deans:
1) Sustainability Courses (Sustainability Focused - SF)
These courses in which the primary and explicit focus is on sustainability and/or on understanding or solving one or more major sustainability challenge (e.g. the course contributes toward achieving principles outlined in the Earth Charter). This includes:
• Foundational courses in which the primary and explicit focus is on sustainability as an integrated concept having social, economic, and environmental dimensions. Obvious examples include Introduction to Sustainability, Sustainable Development, and Sustainability Science; however, courses may also count if their course descriptions indicate a primary and explicit focus on sustainability.
• Courses in which the primary and explicit focus is on the application of sustainability within a field. As sustainability is an interdisciplinary topic, such courses generally incorporate insights from multiple disciplines. Obvious examples include Sustainable Agriculture, Architecture for Sustainability, and Sustainable Business, however courses may also count if their course descriptions indicate a primary and explicit focus on sustainability within a field.
• Courses in which the primary focus is on providing skills and/or knowledge directly connected to understanding or solving one or more major sustainability challenges. A course might provide knowledge and understanding of the problem or tools for solving it, for example Climate Change Science, Energy Policy, Environmental Justice, or Green Chemistry. Such courses do not necessarily cover “sustainability” as a concept, but should address more than one of the three dimensions of sustainability (i.e. social wellbeing, economic prosperity, and environmental health).
2) Courses that Include Sustainability (Sustainability Related – SR)
A course that includes sustainability is primarily focused on a topic other than sustainability, but incorporates a unit or module on sustainability or a sustainability challenge, includes one or more sustainability-focused activities, or integrates sustainability issues throughout the course.
While a foundational course such as chemistry or sociology might provide knowledge that is useful to practitioners of sustainability, it would not be considered to be inclusive of sustainability unless the concept of sustainability or a sustainability challenge is specifically integrated into the course. Likewise, although specific tools or practices such as GIS (Geographical Information Systems) or engineering can be applied towards sustainability, such courses would not count unless they incorporated a unit on sustainability or a sustainability challenge, included a sustainability-focused activity, or incorporated sustainability issues throughout the course."


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):
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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 Yes
Performance arts Yes

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.