Colorado State University
AC-2: Learning Outcomes

Colorado State University Institutional Learning Objectives were officially adopted by the Faculty Council on November 5, 2019. Sustainability is included in the introduction: "Understanding the ethical implications and societal applications of discoveries in science and technology. Here, these components are joined with the distinctive features of a CSU education, including the consistent pursuit of environmental sustainability, multidisciplinary approaches to human and animal health, and our sustained commitment to equity and inclusive excellence that is oriented toward expanding educational opportunity and building collaborative communities that apply and adapt knowledge to pursue solutions to the complex problems that impact the citizens of Colorado, the United States, and the world." CSU has five institutional learning outcomes with sustainability, equity and inclusion woven throughout. Sustainability is explicitly mentioned in two learning outcomes: Creativity - "Education for creativity includes the development of an understanding of the ways in which the arts and sciences support expression of the diversity of the human experience and human community, and the development of the ability to apply creative skills in problem-solving; it stimulates the imagination to inform new ways of understanding our place in the world and contributes to innovative solutions addressing the challenges we face locally and globally." Collaboration - "Education for collaboration is oriented toward the effective and sustainable stewardship of human, economic, and environmental resources". In addition to the Institutional Learning Outcomes, some colleges also have sustainability learning outcomes. College of Business: "An understanding of the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability and how to measure, report, and manage sustainability in organizations." College of Engineering: "The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context."

Ecosystem Science and Sustainability: Students in the major are learning: • How to help people use natural resources in a sustainable way. • About environmental change at local and global scales. • How they can identify ways people can adapt to change and improve their lives. • The amazing connections between different earth system components. • How to conduct fieldwork in a variety of settings addressing questions important to sustainability. Human Dimensions of Natural Resources: Students will apply social science concepts and techniques to understand and address conservation problems, attain a breadth of understanding of how different social science disciplines can contribute to conservation, describe the linkages between conservation and human livelihoods, ecosystem services and human well-being. Environmental Health: Students will effectively communicate the health consequences of actions, behaviors, or environmental degradation to the public, political community, legal experts, or the media, demonstrate critical thinking and problem solving abilities for environmental issues as an individual and as a member of a problem solving team and, integrate knowledge in social, physical, and biological sciences to evaluate environmental issues. Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology: Demonstrate a mastery of ecological concepts and fundamental principles and techniques to manage and conserve fish and wildlife populations, and how they apply to current natural resource management issues Environmental Horticulture: Management and leadership skills necessary for a successful career in the green industry. Technical competencies in their understanding of growth and development of horticultural plants and landscapes, including development as influenced by manipulation of horticulture technologies, such as fertility and water management, and integrated pest management for all aspects of landscape horticulture. Skills to assess site issues, provide creative environmentally sound solutions and manage designed and built landscapes Environmental and Resource Economics: Successful [graduating] students will demonstrate...an ability to solve real-world problems beyond the pedagogical context. Students will be able to identify a problem and its scope, evaluate resources available to address the problem, formulate alternative solutions, and select the solution(s) most consistent with a stated objective. Forestry: Students will demonstrate proficiency in subject areas outside their major study focus, including principles/issues in wildlife, water, recreation, wilderness, soil, range, and fishery resources. Students will learn comprehensive knowledge of subject areas relevant to the major fields of study in forest sciences, including forest ecology and forest management, and apply this knowledge in a complex, problem-solving environment. Natural Resources Management: Students will demonstrate knowledge of a wide range of natural resource topics spanning ecological, social and physical aspects of wildland ecosystems, and demonstrate proficiency in an area of specialization through completion of a minor in an area complementary to natural resource management. They will be able to apply their broad natural resources knowledge to create sustainable solutions at local, national, and global scales. Global Environmental Sustainability Minor: Students will gain an understanding of the issues of sustainability and develop the tools to bring sustainability into their career paths. A full description of learning outcomes is available for each department through the course catalog.

GES 520 - Issues in Global Environmental Sustainability The students will develop an understanding of the complexity of problems in sustainability and how to place these issues in a context that structures solutions in economic and social frameworks. GES 470 - Applications of Environmental Sustainability Students will learn and apply tools for assessing environmental issues and best practices for working in interdisciplinary teams. Case studies demonstrating sustainability principles will be evaluated through discussion and writing, and students will conduct a team project that addresses and dissects an important issue related to global environmental sustainability. Finally, students will assess their personal academic program (Interdisciplinary Minor) in sustainability, and set goals for their future sustainability endeavors. GES 450 - Global Sustainability and Health Students will participate in didactic lectures, group discussions and mini-projects that will both educate and empower them to understand the relationship between sustainability and health. CSU has a large number of Sustainability Courses (i.e. the primary focus is sustainability) as well as Courses that Include Sustainability (fully listed in AC1).

The Institutional Learning Outcomes are linked under "Resources & Information" on the Provost's website at https://provost.colostate.edu/ The CSU course catalog includes learning outcomes for many programs and courses: http://catalog.colostate.edu/general-catalog/courses-az/