Overall Rating Platinum
Overall Score 85.50
Liaison Breeana Sylvas
Submission Date Feb. 28, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of California, Merced
AC-2: Learning Outcomes

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 8.00 / 8.00 Michael Dawson
Professor
Life & Environmental Sciences
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Institutional sustainability learning outcomes

Has the institution adopted one or more sustainability learning outcomes that apply to the entire student body or, at minimum, to the institution's predominant student body?:
Yes

Which of the following best describes the sustainability learning outcomes?:
Sustainability-focused

A list of the institution level sustainability learning outcomes:
UC Merced Baccalaureate Hallmarks serve to identify what graduates will know, understand, and be able to do as a result of the education they receive at UC Merced. One of the overarching hallmarks include "Community Engagement and Citizenship - Local and Global-Section," and defines this Hallmark with five distinct elements, one of which includes and is defined as the following, (1) students will act ethically, including in the realm of environmental stewardship and sustainability.

https://ge.ucmerced.edu/faculty-and-staff-resources/hallmarks

Part 2. Program-level sustainability learning outcomes

Total number of graduates from degree programs:
1,671

Number of graduates from degree programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability:
684

A brief description of how the figure above was determined:
The total number of graduates from degree programs reflect the total number of graduates in academic year 2019-2020. The number of graduates from degree programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability reflect programs that include a sustainability learning outcome.

A list of degree programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability:
Undergraduate Programs

Earth Systems Science Major
1. Knowledge of major concepts, theoretical principles, experimental findings, and areas of study related to Earth systems science, and comprehension of the interactions between natural Earth systems and human economic, political, and social systems.

Bioengineering Major
1.An ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability.
2.The broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context.

*NEW* Civil Engineering Major (2021)
1. An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specific needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factor.
2. An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in the global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.

Chemistry Major
Citizenship, ethics, role of chemistry in society: Students have an appreciation for the role of chemistry in the global society as well as the central role chemistry plays in other scientific disciplines such as biology, medicine, environmental science.

Environmental Engineering Major
1.An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.
2.An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.

Materials Science and Engineering Major
1.An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.
2.An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.

Mechanical Engineering Major
1.An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.
2.An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.

Graduate Programs

Environmental Systems Graduate Program MS PHd
1.Graduates will be knowledgeable, skillful and self-directed in the observation and analysis of environmental systems in terms of their capacity to independently identify important research questions, develop experimental plans, analyze data, and formulate conclusions in the context of a doctoral dissertation.

Master of Management
1. Innovation, Sustainability, and Technology: Synthesizing theory and practice to design innovative solutions to strategic, organizational and technical challenges.

Bioengineering
1. An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.

Requires a sustainability-focused course
Public Health Major
Lower Division Major Requirements
PH 001: Introduction to Public Health
Upper Division Major Requirements
PH 110: Environmental Health
https://publichealth.ucmerced.edu/major-degree-program

Biological Sciences Major
Bio: 001
https://catalog.ucmerced.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=11&poid=1241

Documentation supporting the figure reported above (upload):
---

Do the figures reported above cover one, two, or three academic years?:
One

Percentage of students who graduate from programs that require an understanding of the concept of sustainability:
40.93

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the sustainability learning outcomes is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Reporting is Academic Year 2019-2020

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.