2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Work-in-Progress: Investigating the Broader Impact of Faculty Development Practices for Integrating Sustainability into Higher Education Engineering Curriculum

Presented at Fostering the Faculty in EnvE and Sustainability- ENVIRON Division

Advancing higher education for sustainability is integral to prepare future engineers for the complex, global challenges they will face in practice. As many engineering faculty do not have specialized degrees in sustainability, sustainable engineering design, or sustainable development, it is essential to provide professional development. Several institutions of higher learning have developed faculty workshops, networks, and communities of practice to provide participating faculty support to advance the design and delivery of sustainability content in curricula across engineering disciplines. These faculty development opportunities align with resources and learning outcomes established through the Engineering for One Planet framework and UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Through this work-in-progress, mixed-methods study, we are investigating professional practices of faculty several months to two years after completion of faculty development workshops and networks administered at four different institutions of higher learning across the US. As these institutions represent a range of size and demographics, we aspire to attain a broader perspective of best practices, benefits to faculty by providing these professional development opportunities, and impacts beyond curriculum integration of sustainability. By collecting survey data from faculty participants, we will assess short-term and long-term workshop impacts. We will compare and contrast practices across institutions and determine what features of our workshops and networks are most influential to faculty.

Further, by conducting interviews among faculty workshop alumni, we explore how adopting sustainability into curricular aspects of their work leads to sustainability influences in other activities of faculty professional and personal development. We’ll investigate if participation in curricular workshops has led to sustainability-focused research or other professional activities, as well as if participation has enhanced a systems approach in existing research program. By establishing communities of educators, we are creating supportive environments for sharing and growth to increase the diversity of perspectives and backgrounds around sustainability, to broaden touchpoints of sustainability throughout engineering curriculum, and to create a mindset shift that branches out to other professional activities.

Authors

Dr. Jennifer Mueller PE Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology [biography]

Dr. Jennifer Mueller is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. She graduated with her BS in Environmental Engineering from Northwestern University and with her MS and PhD in Civil Engineering with an emphasis on Environmental River Mechanics from Colorado State University. Her graduate work focused on exchange of surface water and groundwater, as well as nitrate uptake, in streams with varying degrees of rehabilitation. Dr. Mueller’s areas of interest include water quality, sustainable design, watershed hydrology, and river hydraulics. Current projects involve pedagogical studies for incorporating sustainability and ethical decision making in undergraduate engineering education, with an emphasis on touchpoints throughout the four-year curriculum.
Dr. Medha Dalal http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5705-1800 Arizona State University [biography]

Medha Dalal, Ph.D., is an Associate Director of Scholarly Initiatives and Assistant Research Professor of Engineering Education Systems & Design within the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. Her career as an engineering educator and researcher focuses on addressing complex engineering education challenges by building capacity for stakeholders at the grassroots, while also informing policy. Her research seeks to transform and democratize engineering education by exploring ways of thinking, identifying effective professional development approaches, and uncovering pedagogical techniques that enhance students’ engineering curiosity, engagement, and learning.
Dr. Bridget M Wadzuk http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7777-1263 Villanova University
Dr. Roneisha Wynette Worthy http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8093-8570 Kennesaw State University [biography]

Dr. Roneisha Worthy, Ph.D. is currently the Assistant Dean of Student Success within the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology at Kennesaw State University. In addition to her administrative role, she remains actively engaged in teaching and conducts research with a focus on increasing the representation of minorities in Engineering. Before joining the university, Dr. Worthy served as a Research Assistant at Vanderbilt University, contributing to a group funded by the Department of Energy. Her primary research focused on the long-term evaluation of near-surface waste disposal under climate change impacts at nuclear waste sites. With a background as an environmental engineer/planner at Gresham, Smith, and Partners, as well as General Motors Corporation, Dr. Worthy brings a wealth of industry experience to her academic roles. She has a proven track record of addressing critical environmental challenges. In her recent endeavors, Dr. Worthy is actively collaborating with the Lemelson Foundation to institutionalize the Engineering for One Planet framework at Kennesaw State University. This initiative reflects her commitment to sustainability and innovative engineering practices.
Victoria Minerva Villanova University [biography]

Victoria Minerva is the Director of the Sustainable Enterprise Executive Education & Development (SEED) program at Villanova University’s College of Engineering. She leads professional development initiatives such as empowering engineering faculty to integrate sustainability into curricula, drawing on the Engineering for One Planet (EOP) framework. Victoria co-facilitates EOP Faculty Development workshops through sponsored research work with the Lemelson Foundation and she collaborates with academic and industry partners through the RISE Forum to advance sustainability education. Her work focuses on cultivating systems thinking and interdisciplinary approaches to sustainable engineering practice and pedagogy.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

« View session

For those interested in:

engineering
Faculty