Introduction

The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. As part of CSUN’s continued reporting for STARS, and with the support of Provost Mary Beth Walker and Dr. Natale Zappia, the Institute for Sustainability is assessing the extent to which faculty members’ courses, research, and scholarship address or incorporate sustainability.

Our goal is to develop an inventory of CSUN courses that are focused on or include sustainability or sustainability challenges as well as a faculty expert directory to facilitate cross-disciplinary research.
We value your time. The survey will only take 5 minutes or less to complete. 5 FACULTY respondents will be randomly selected to receive a $50 REI gift card. Please complete this form by August 15th, 2021 for your work to be included.

What is sustainability?
For purposes of STARS reporting, there are three ways to determine whether sustainability is present in a course or in research:

1) The concept of "sustainability" is explicitly mentioned,
2) The interdependence of ecological and social/economic systems is addressed, AND/OR
3) One or more sustainability challenges are directly addressed (e.g., an SDG target like ending poverty, equitable access, gender empowerment, conservation, etc., or Earth Charter principle).

Question Title

* 1. Name

Question Title

* 2. Department

A. Sustainability Focused Courses
Sustainability-focused courses include:

● Foundational courses with a primary and explicit focus on sustainability (e.g., Introduction to Sustainability).
● Courses with a primary and explicit focus on the application of sustainability within a field (e.g., Sustainable Agriculture).
● Courses with a primary and explicit focus on understanding or solving a major sustainability challenge (e.g., Climate Change Science).

Question Title

* 3. Do any of the courses you teach have a primary and explicit focus on sustainability, as defined above?

Question Title

* 4. If yes, for each sustainability-focused course taught, provide the information below and/or a link to the courses:
  • Title
  • Course number
  • Description
  • # of sections taught per year

B. Sustainability Inclusive Courses
Sustainability-inclusive courses are primarily focused on topics other than sustainability, but:

● Incorporate a unit or module on sustainability or a sustainability challenge,
● Include one or more sustainability-focused activities, OR
● Integrate sustainability issues and concepts throughout the course.

Question Title

* 5. Do any of the courses you teach that are not sustainability-focused include or address sustainability in a prominent way?

Question Title

* 6. If yes, for each course taught, provide the information below and/or a link to the courses:
  • Title
  • Course number
  • Brief explanation (1-2 sentence or 3-5 keywords) of how sustainability is integrated into each course
  • # of sections taught per year

C. Sustainability Research and Scholarship
Sustainability research and scholarship explicitly address the concept of sustainability, furthers our understanding of the interdependence of ecological and social/economic systems, or has a primary and explicit focus on a major sustainability challenge (e.g., an SDG target or Earth Charter principle).

Question Title

* 7. Have you engaged in sustainability-related research or scholarship (as defined above) in the last three years?

Question Title

* 8. Are you engaged in any research or scholarship at CSUN?

Question Title

* 9. If yes, provide a list, abstracts, or link to your sustainability-focused research interests, projects and/or publications:

Question Title

* 10. Would you be interested in potential partnerships with the Institute of Sustainability for related funding opportunities?

Question Title

* 11. Please upload any relevant documents (syllabi, course descriptions, research papers, grants, etc.)

PDF, DOC, DOCX, PNG, JPG, JPEG file types only.
Choose File

Question Title

* 12. Enter your email address below to be entered into the REI gift card drawing!

T