University of Pennsylvania
AC-1: Academic Courses

Penn’s Sustainability Course Inventory is a listing of the sustainability focused and inclusive courses (per the definitions provided in the STARS 2.2 Manual) that the University of Pennsylvania offers. The Inventory is updated annually, and is available on-line through the Penn Sustainability website. See https://www.sustainability.upenn.edu/course-inventory.

While not an exhaustive list of all the sustainability courses at Penn, the "Inventory" was created in an attempt to capture the majority of courses across Departments and Schools that address environmental sustainability specifically, and to be used as a guide by students and advisors looking for courses and departments that include sustainability-themed instruction. In the 2020-2021 academic year, the "Inventory" expanded to include "sustainability inclusive" topics such as social justice, social equity, business ethics, or governance. The "Inventory" was compiled by searching for keywords in course titles and descriptions then by cross checking with professors and academic partners from the courses's host department. It is organized alphabetically by school and department.

The "Inventory" is shared with the Office of the Provost, College House advisors, undergraduate advisors from Penn's four undergraduate schools, and the Penn Admissions Office.

The University of Pennsylvania is a major research institution, with over 3,000 degrees granted annually from twelve professional and academic schools at the Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctorate levels. Penn is committed to reducing emissions and energy use, as stated in the 2019 "Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0." This submission documents Penn's efforts during the FY20 year and compares them to the FY09 baseline year which corresponds with the University's "Climate and Sustainability Action Plan 3.0." The submission relies on information related to the main, academic, West Philadelphia campus, but to more fully document efforts across the Penn system, information related to the Morris Arboretum and New Bolton Center has also been referenced and noted as outside the boundary in descriptions. The information is used to enrich examples of University efforts and is not intended to be the primary justification for credits. The responses for each of the questions and sub-questions are drawn from University materials, both internal and public documents. Each section notes the website where the information can be found.