Overall Rating Platinum - expired
Overall Score 85.51
Liaison Jennifer Andrews
Submission Date July 27, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of New Hampshire
AC-1: Academic Courses

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 12.61 / 14.00 Miriam Nelson
Director
Sustainability Institute
"---" 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 2,798 1,315
Number of sustainability courses offered 104 31
Number of courses offered that include sustainability 454 123

Percentage of courses that are sustainability course offerings:
17.31

Total number of academic departments (or the equivalent) that offer courses (at any level):
75

Number of academic departments (or the equivalent) that offer at least one sustainability course and/or course that includes sustainability (at any level):
64

Percentage of academic departments with sustainability course offerings:
85.33

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?:
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 :

Staff at the Sustainability Institute coordinated the data gathering and assessment for AC1. Below is the process the staff followed to conduct an inventory of sustainability in UNH undergraduate and graduate courses.

1. The Sustainability Institute staff and five interns met to review the process and agree upon criteria for assessing what courses were sustainability focused or included sustainability. The criteria used in this assessment were grounded in the guidance given by AASHE in section G. A course was considered sustainability focused or inclusive of sustainability if it addressed environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and economic vitality to meet the needs of present and future generations and courses that furthered our collective commitment to human dignity for all people and ecological integrity in all places. To differentiate between courses that focused on sustainability and those that included sustainability, the following parameters were utilized:
• Courses that focused on sustainability needed to have a clear focus on sustainability as a theme or an application. Examples include Principles of Sustainability, Politics & Policy Warming World, and Renewable Energy.
• Courses that include sustainability were defined as courses that are focused on another topic but incorporate a sustainability section or weave sustainability throughout the course. Examples include Introduction to Food Management, Wildlife Ecology, Feminist Thought, and Community Ecology.

2. Once the process and criteria were agreed upon, Sustainability Institute staff gathered the undergraduate and graduate course catalogs and the UNH Registrar's Time/Room Schedule to ensure that the courses reviewed were active.

3. Sustainability Institute staff and interns then met weekly for three months to review courses. In the meetings, batches of course descriptions were analyzed, discussed, and then categorized into “Sustainability Focused,” “Includes Sustainability,” or courses without ties to sustainability.

4. If designation was not obvious (focus on or related to sustainability) from personal knowledge of the course and/or from the course description, syllabi were reviewed to make the determination. If designation was still unclear, course instructors were contacted to gain further information. Sustainability Institute staff then made a determination as to appropriate course categorization.

5. Through this three-month closely monitored process, we were able to inventory active UNH undergraduate and graduate courses that focused on or contained sustainability.

The list is up to date as of summer 2017.


How were courses with multiple offerings or sections counted for the figures reported above?:
Each offering or section of a course was counted as an individual course

A brief description of how courses with multiple offerings or sections were counted (if different from the options outlined above):

If a course was open to both undergraduates and graduates, it was counted as both an undergraduate course and a graduate course. A course was only counted once if it was taught in a year, regardless of whether it was offered more than one semester.


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 Yes
Physical education No
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:

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.