San Diego State University
ER-5: Sustainability Course Identification

Resolution on Defining Sustainability in Curriculum Adopted by the Senate Sustainability Committee in 2010 On September 17, 2010 the Senate Sustainability Committee unanimously voted to adopt the following definitions of Sustainability in the curriculum and Sustainability in Research. The purpose of adopting these definitions was twofold: to define sustainability focused and related course for a campus-wide curriculum and research inventory, and to create a definition that could be used for designating courses that have a sustainability component. This definition was modified from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, AASHE, definition provided in the Sustainability Tracking and Rating System. Senate Sustainability Committee Definitions of Sustainability in Curriculum 1. Sustainability in the curriculum: a. Sustainability-focused courses concentrate on the concept of sustainability, including its social, economic, and environmental dimensions, or examine an issue or topic using sustainability as a lens. b. Sustainability-related courses incorporate sustainability as a distinct course component or module, or concentrate on a single sustainability principle or issue. Sustainability course outcomes for this definition: • Understand and be able to effectively communicate the concept of sustainability. • Develop and use an ethical perspective in which students view themselves as embedded in the fabric of an interconnected world. • Become aware of and explore the connections between their chosen course of study and sustainability. • Develop technical skills or expertise necessary to implement sustainable solutions. • Understand the way in which sustainable thinking and decision-making contributes to the process of creating solutions for current and emerging social, environmental, and economic crises. • Contribute practical solutions to real-world sustainability challenges. • Synthesize understanding of social, economic, and environmental systems and reason holistically.

In fall 2010 SDSU completed a course inventory by sending a campus Curriculum and Research inventory survey to all faculty. Course count numbers are based on this self-reporting survey and therefore likely underestimate the number of sustainability related courses on campus and compared to all courses taught in 2009-10. Faculty were asked to report only on for-credit courses taught within the past three years. Non-credit courses for programs through the College of Extended Studies, which has five sustainability focused certificate and professional programs were excluded from this inventory. The results of the survey were reviewed by the Senate Sustainability Committee. Additionally, courses offered by the Environmental Studies and Sustainability, Sustainable Tourism Management, and proposed Sustainability Major and are included. Courses required for the major are included in the inventory as sustainability focused. Courses listed as electives and prerequisites for these majors are included in the inventory as sustainability related, unless also they have also been identified in the faculty survey as focused. The total number of courses used for ER-6 and ER-7 is based on the total number of courses offered in academic years 2009-10 and 2011-10. the and excludes readings course, independent study courses, and courses that are cross-listed in another department.

As Sustainability major website notes: "There are many more courses offered across campus or on international programs that are acceptable for the major but are not yet listed in the catalog." Outside of the Sustainability major course listings our inventory relied on faculty to responded to self-designate courses they teach as sustainability focused or sustainability related in a survey, which had a 20% response rate. As a result it is likely that there are a significant number of courses that incorporate some aspect of sustainability taught by faculty throughout the university that have not been captured in this inventory. Additionally, faculty continue to integrate sustainability into existing courses. Through the CRS Faculty Institute in 2011 and 2012 faculty participants report have integrated sustainability into more than of 50 courses across the curriculum.