By: Sarah Kane Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Thomas Husband, Natural Resources Science

Agenda  What is sustainability?  My interest and approach  URI current course offerings  Competitive environment  Student interest  Survey creation and analysis  Next steps and conclusion

What is Sustainability?  “Meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs” 1987 UN Conference

My Interest  HPR 411: Environmental Ethics Honors Program  Saw the relevance of sustainability  Want other students to get opportunities to learn about sustainability  Looking to improve the student experience at URI

Honors Project Decision Sustainability Business/Research Honors Project

Process  Researched URI’s and other universities’ sustainability programs and courses  Drafted survey questions  Distributed practice surveys to find mistakes, leading questions, etc.  Printed the revised survey and put it online  Distributed survey through , social media, and in person  Analyzed results  Conclusion

URI Course Offerings  Sustainability Minor Estimated 20 students in minor ○ EEC 345:Sustainable Development, Trade, and the Environment (not offered next semester) ○ COM 410:Communication and Environmental Sustainability (have to be a junior in a degree-granting college with having taken COM 100) ○ NRS/CPL 300: Introduction to Global Issues in Sustainable Development (27 students next semester, already full) Issue: ○ Poor marketing ○ Students unaware of minor ○ Lack of course availability in minor  Honors Courses  Solution: Requirement of a Sustainability Course(s)

Competitive Environment Other universities making strides Need to stay modern and relevant Need to prepare students to enter the workforce Competitive market for recruiting students IMPROVE STUDENT EXPERIENCE NEED TO CONTRIBUTE TO WORLDWIDE SUSTAINABILITY

Student Interest Yes? No? Will students be interested? Yes? No? Is it worth changing curriculums?

Created a Survey  Began with a qualifying question Have you ever taken a course on sustainability? (if not skip to question 5)  Dichotomous questions (yes/no)  Likert scale questions (1 to 5)  Finished with demographics

Survey Continued  Total student participants: 60  Online surveys: 41  Paper surveys: 19  Varying demographics

Have you ever taken a course on sustainability? 60 Responses Yes: 11 No: 49

What type of course was it? Mark all that apply. 11 Responses Gen Ed: 4 Major Requirement: 1 Elective: 7

What was the topic(s)?  Environmental Ethics (3)  Century of Limits - Globalization and Sustainability  Business Policies  Global Climate Change, Controversies in Environmental Science  Ethics and Economics of Sustainable Development  General Sustainability in Various Aspects of Culture  Honors Colloquium on Climate Change

Was it useful? 11 Responses Very Useful: 6 Useful: 3 Slightly Useful: 1 Not Very Useful: 1 Useless: 0

Would you like to take courses (or more courses) on sustainability and energy conservation? 59 Responses Yes: 30 No: 10 Maybe: 19

Do you feel it is important that you learn how you can do your part to help the environment? 60 Responses Very Important: 27 Important: 27 Slightly Important: 5 Not Very Important: 1 Not Important at All: 0

Do you feel that the University of Rhode Island offers enough courses on sustainability? 60 Responses Yes: 4 No: 21 I don’t know: 35

How interested you interested in learning more about how to conserve energy and help the environment? 11 Responses Very Interested: 14 Interested: 24 Slightly Interested: 13 Not Very Interested: 8 Not Interested at All: 1

What topic of classes would you consider taking, if given the option?  37 Responses  Most Popular: Alternative Energy Energy Conservation Household Energy Conservation Recycling Personal Impact on the Environment

Demographics of Participants  Female: 35  Male: 25  Freshman: 4  Sophomore: 7  Junior: 8  Senior: 29  Grad Student: 4  1 International Student from Korea

Demographics Continued  Participants from 8 states in the U.S. (CA, CT, NH, RI, NJ, NY, MA, FL) and Korea  Majors were extremely diverse: Communications Education Engineering Political Science Psychology Business French Anthropology Chinese Nursing Pharmacy Sociology Film Marine Biology Film Media School Psychology Speech Language Pathology Public Relations Human Development and Family Studies Kinesiology Computer Science Micro Biology Chemistry Textile Marketing Nutrition Economics History Biology

Focus Group  Discussed results of survey and their own personal perspectives on sustainability.  5 students: 3 males, 2 females  Conclusions: Important for URI to recognize and address the need for sustainability education Relate sustainability to each major and offer relevant courses Propose making it a requirement, allowing the substitution of one other general education requirement

Major Patterns  The majority of those who said “no” to the question whether or not they want to take sustainability courses were freshmen males  The majority of students who have taken sustainability courses thought they were at least somewhat helpful

Next Steps  Show URI Faculty the students’ interest Propose sustainability general education requirement to URI Faculty Senate Report results of survey to URI Administration Suggest the implementation of additional projects to further document the need for courses in sustainability  Spread the word about sustainability courses to URI students Incorporate sustainability module in URI 101 classes Create and distribute list of sustainability courses offered at URI Ask student organizations to voice their demand to the URI Administration for sustainability courses

Conclusion  Sustainability education is important.  URI students do not believe that our school offers enough sustainability courses.  Students would be interested in taking sustainability courses.  A place in the curriculum could be created for all majors by creating a sustainability course requirement within the general education program.

Thank You! Questions?

References  Mahaffy, Michael. "Defining Sustainability." School of Architecture, Washington State University. Washington State University. Web. 19 Apr  "Sarah Kane's Sustainability and Energy Conservation Survey URI Honors Project." SurveyMonkey: Free Online Survey Software & Questionnaire Tool. Survey Monkey, 15 Apr Web. 03 May  "Sustainability Minor." The University of Rhode Island. The University of Rhode Island. Web. 02 May  Swift, Judith. "Re: Question." Message to the author. 25 Apr