Overall Rating Bronze - expired
Overall Score 40.97
Liaison Sherri Mason
Submission Date June 30, 2020
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
AC-1: Academic Courses

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 9.36 / 14.00 Sherri Mason
Director of Sustainability
School of Science
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1

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 678 0
Number of sustainability courses offered 42 0
Number of courses offered that include sustainability 65 0

Percentage of courses that are sustainability course offerings:
15.78

Part 2 

Total number of academic departments (or the equivalent) that offer courses (at any level):
46

None
Number of academic departments (or the equivalent) that offer at least one sustainability course and/or course that includes sustainability (at any level):
21

Percentage of academic departments with sustainability course offerings:
45.65

Course Inventory

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 :
A listing of courses offered during the AY 2018-2019 (Summer 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019) was obtained from the registrar. Duplicate sections, cross-listed courses, internships, practicums, special topics, and graduate courses were eliminated. Any courses identified by Penn State University Park (main campus) as 'Sustainability Related" or "Sustainability Focused" were similarly identified as such on our campus. Remaining courses were reviewed and evaluated using the material found in the course descriptions available through the online Course Bulletin. Although it is possible that we have misidentified some courses using this approach, we believe this to be a conservative estimate of sustainability courses offered at Penn State Behrend.

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 No
Thesis / dissertation No
Clinical No
Physical education No
Performance arts No

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The course counts provided above include only courses actually offered during academic year 2018-2019 (Summer 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019). Following guidance in the STARS Technical Bulletin, we removed from the course counts, courses in the following categories: independent study, practicums/ internships, thesis/ research, physical education (KINES classes numbered below 100), other individual research (294/ 494 courses), ROTC (ARMY courses), instruction in the performance arts (Music, Dance, Theater), cross-listed courses and graduate level courses. Count of academic departments includes departments, and colleges and schools that lack departments (e.g., Nursing); these were each counted as one department.

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.