University of North Carolina, Greensboro
ER-14: Incentives for Developing Sustainability Courses

In 2009, UNCG conducted a "Sustainability Research Fair." Of 35 faculty invited to participate, 29 came with table top displays, articles, books, computer demonstrations and applications, and furniture designs to discuss their work with other interested faculty, staff, and students. Local, seasonal, and organic refreshments were available with compostable dishware as interested parties talked with one another, networked, and brainstormed future collaborations during a 2-hour open format. Faculty workshops to support sustainability in the curriculum have been conducted since 2007. Workshops to encourage faculty to incorporate concepts and issues related to sustainability into their courses include: * Guests Zahia Drici, Professor of Mathematics at Illinois Wesleyan University, and John Fitch, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at Florida Gulf Coast University, who spoke to a large (n=50) and diverse group of faculty at UNCG regarding sustainability in courses such as math and music or in graduate student research and teaching. * Guest David Orr, international figure regarding sustainability and academia, met with the leadership of the university including deans (business, arts and sciences, nanoscience and nanoengineering, and human and environmental sciences), and the offices of the Provost and Business Affairs, influential members of the local business community, and faculty to discuss integration of economic development, the arts, and sustainability. Professor Orr also met with invited groups of faculty throughout the day to talk with those who were beginning to incorporate sustainability into their courses as well as those who were already doing so. He later made a public lecture and signed copies of his most recent book at a reception. * Another workshop engaged large numbers of faculty (n=45) over a lunch of seasonal, organic soup and salad with two guest speakers, professors Ann Marie Scott and Susan Andreatta, who discussed community-based farming and making nutritious meals and snacks from whole foods. * An exercise at another workshop (n=25) that also included a meal teamed faculty by tables and asked them to describe a concept critical to their discipline and then combine it with a given concept or theory related to sustainability. Faculty teams then presented their ideas as well as an assignment that would engage students in the newly found connection. Finally, regular book fairs sponsored by faculty display various books for others that have relevance to sustainability and teaching in higher education.

The incentives are primarily edification via workshops and other trainings offered by UNCG, which often include locally-sourced meals. A few faculty have participated in off-campus trainings as well.

Information for this credit was provided by Dr. Anna Marshall-Baker.