Marylhurst University Offers M.S. in Food Systems and Society
The university has announced plans to offer a new Masters of Science in Food Systems and Society beginning fall 2013. The graduate degree program will focus on ideas and practices for improving health, equity and sustainability in the food system.
Mesa College San Diego Buildings Receive LEED Certification
The 85,000-square-foot Student Services Center has achieved LEED Gold certification and uses 40 percent less water inside and 50 percent less outside. The Continuing Education Campus has earned LEED Silver and is expected to reduce total building energy use by 43 percent.
Montana State U Laboratory Earns LEED Gold
The Cooley Laboratory’s sustainable features include water-efficient systems, the reuse of the existing building, passive solar design, recycled and sustainable construction materials, and the diversion of more than 1 million pounds of construction waste from the landfill.
North Central College Debuts First Electric Car Charging Station
The college has installed its first electric vehicle charging station. The station can simultaneously charge two electric vehicles and is free to use for students, faculty or staff. The sustainability coordinator will evaluate the project by collecting data about how often the station is being used and how much greenhouse gases have been reduced.
Oakland U Receives Grant for Organic Urban Farm
The university’s Student Organic Farming Program has received a $20,400 grant from the Americana Foundation. The funding will be matched by the university and will be used to support the hiring of a farm manager to oversee farm production, coordinate student volunteers and assist with community outreach programs designed to improve access to fresh, local produce.
Raritan Valley CC Joins EPA’s Green Power Partnership
The college has joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership with its purchase of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs). The RECs purchased equal 800,000 kilowatt-hours of green power annually, which is enough energy to meet 10 percent of the college’s electricity use.
Triton College Installs Electric Car Charging Stations
The college has installed several new electric car charging stations. Charging rates for electric vehicles are one dollar an hour for students, faculty, and staff and two dollars an hour for the public. The stations were funded by a grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
U California San Diego Awarded $1.9 M for Microgrid Projects
The California Energy Commission has approved a $1.6 million award to increase its previously awarded funding of $1.3 million for the university's electric microgrid. The Commission also approved funding of $220,554 to expand the campus' charging network for plug-in electric vehicles, through the Commission's Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program.
U Connecticut Laurel Hall Achieves LEED Gold
The classroom building achieved the highest LEED certification so far at the university. Laurel Hall was designed to include features such as energy-saving window glazing, low-flow valves and faucets, high-performance insulation, and use of rapidly renewable materials such as bamboo and recycled copper. Additional sustainable features include drought-resistant and adaptable plantings, water-efficient bathroom fixtures, and a green roof.
U Dayton Commits to Regional Green Business Certification Program
The university has committed to become part of the Dayton Regional Green 3’s Green Business Certification program The program emphasizes solid waste reduction and recycling, environmentally conscious purchasing, energy conservation, water conservation and pollution prevention. Organizations receive points for each benchmark they reach.
U Georgia Awards Sustainability Grants to Student Projects
The Campus Sustainability Grants Program has awarded $26,000 to seven student projects, including a composting program, a project to reduce stormwater runoff, an automated system for bike sharing, and an after-school gardening and nutrition education program.
U Mass Amherst Debuts Interactive Campus Sustainability Map
The university has unveiled the Campus Sustainability Explorer, an online mapping tool that geographically represents all areas of sustainability on the campus. The Green Building Committee in collaboration with Campus Planning and the Sustainability Initiative developed the tool. The Explorer also acts as a decision support tool for various groups and stakeholder around campus, providing information on existing conditions for a number of academic, facility, and operational aspects.
UMass Amherst Partnership to Reduce Campus Energy Costs
In partnership with Western Massachusetts Electric Company, the university has completed an energy efficiency project expected to save the campus more than $220,000 in energy costs per year and reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by 1,000 metric tons in 2013. The project uses a technique called “continuous commissioning” to identify low-cost operational and maintenance improvements in buildings where the original operating parameters may have changed over the years.
U Michigan Starts Online Sustainability Ambassador Certification
The Planet Blue Ambassadors online certification program allows faculty, staff, and students to receive certificationas sustainability leaders on campus by completing five training modules directly connected to the university's sustainability goals in energy, food, waste, water and community. Each module includes an interactive game with suggestions to get involved, as well as information about the university’s goals and progress to date.
Utah State U Awards Sustainability Grants for Student Projects
The Sustainability Office has awarded $20,946 in Blue Goes Green Student Grant funds for student projects. Project winners include an organic farm program, a master plan for recreation and open space, a new bicycle rack, and a Greek organization recycling program.
Aquinas College Announces Zero Waste Goal
The Center for Sustainability and Students Striving for Sustainability have partnered to work toward campus-wide zero municipal solid waste by 2014. A Zero Waste Team has been created to assist in educational programs concerning the college’s waste streams. With collaboration of faculty, staff, and students, the college will incrementally reduce its waste by 25 percent each semester for the next two years, by expanding campus composting and recycling efforts.
Cedarville U Announces Solar Power Installation
The university has announced plans to construct a 2,154-kilowatt solar array. A new, underground utility corridor for the solar array will allow the zero emission solar source to feed electricity to the university's distribution system. The system will include monitoring and display features that support the university's curriculum.
Colorado State U Receives Grant to Help Low-Income Students
The university’s Academic Advancement Center has received a $377,282 grant to help students who are low-income, first-generation or disabled transition into academic life and succeed. The funding was one of 1,021 continuation awards given by the Department of Education to universities across the nation as part of a total $2.5 million commitment that supports 202,750 students overall.
Colorado State U to Install New Solar Array
The university has reached an agreement with Namaste Solar to install a solar array on campus. Electricity generated from the array will be sold to the City of Fort Collins as part of a new solar energy purchasing program.
Columbia College Chicago Receives Grant to Expand Compost Program
The college has received a grant by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to implement a more comprehensive composting program across campus. This $5,000 grant will allow the college to reach more of the campus with the goal of diverting 13 tons of food scrap waste from landfills in 2012-2013, almost double the 2011-2012 academic year’s achievement of seven tons.
Grand Valley State U Field Earns Sustainable Site Certification
The Student Recreation Fields has received certification by the Sustainable Sites Initiative, a pilot program that is creating national guidelines for sustainable land design. The project was judged based on efforts in categories such as site selection, pre-design assessment and planning, water, soil and vegetation, material selection, human health and well-being, operations and maintenance, and monitoring and innovation.
Humboldt State U Introduces 2 Green Certification Programs
The Sustainability Office has launched the Green Room Certification and the Green Events Certification programs. In partnership with Residence Life, the Green Room Certification program awards a certificate to students who minimize their environmental impact through green living practices. The Green Event Certification program awards a certificate to campus groups and departments that implement zero waste measures at events.
Kennebec Valley CC Awarded Grant to Create Sustainable Ag Program
The college has received a $100,000 grant from Jane’s Trust to help launch a two-year sustainable agriculture degree program. The funding will be used to hire a farm manager and equipment. The program’s curriculum will include classes in soil, plant and animal science, crop production, integrated pest management, farm infrastructure and sustainable livestock management.
Long Beach City College to Improve Graduation Rates for Latinos
The college, in partnership with Cal State Long Beach and the Long Beach Unified School, has launched a new program designed to improve success for Latinos in higher education. The Latino Student Success Institute will host nine learning sessions for community organizations that are interested in participating. Participants will receive a certificate in Latino cultural competency from the college's Center for Training and Professional Development.
Middlebury College to Consider Fossil Fuel Divestment
The college has announced that it will initiate steps to address the feasibility of divesting its endowment from the fossil fuel industry. College President Ronald Liebowitz explained that the college would host a series of panels on divestment with representatives from the college’s endowment management firm, along with Scholar-in-Residence Bill McKibben, and veteran investors. President Liebowitz also disclosed the percentage of the institution’s $900 million endowment currently invested in fossil fuel companies: roughly 3.6 percent or $32 million.
Niagara College Center Earns CarbonZero Status
The college’s Wine Visitor + Education Center has earned CarbonZero Certified status. This achievement means the carbon emissions resulting from the operations of the educational facility have been quantified, audited and offset. The carbonZero program was established in 2001 by Landcare Research New Zealand Limited, to provide robust tools for individuals, organizations and events to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions or carbon footprint with the highest level of credibility and integrity.
Northern Arizona U Builds Bike-Powered Charging Station
After nearly a year of planning and construction, a group of students have unveiled a bicycle-powered charging station that will be used to charge small electronic devices and raise student awareness about their energy consumption. The university’s Green Fund provided $2,900 for building materials, and the Yellow Bike program donated the bike for the project.
Northwestern U Helps Reduce Off-Campus Students Energy, Water Use
The Associated Student Government’s Sustainability Committee has created an initiative to provide free compact fluorescent light bulbs and water-efficient showerheads to all students living off campus. The committee currently has 700 light bulbs and 200 showerheads, and 300 students have signed up to receive the packages.
Princeton U to Examine College Access for Lower-Income Students
A new university committee will examine strategies to help low-income students overcome barriers to college readiness and access. The Trustee Ad Hoc Committee on College Access will consider a range of factors, beyond just financial means, that may impede low-income students from pursuing an education at selective universities and colleges.
Private College Presidents Urge a Commitment to Need-Based Aid
A group of private-college presidents have unveiled a pledge publicly opposing the rising use of merit-based financial aid and the decline in need-based aid at the Council of Independent Colleges’ annual Presidents Institute. The statement emerges amid concerns among some administrators that the increased competition among colleges for enrollment has led to more resources going into "merit based" aid for top students, many of whom don't require financial aid to afford college, and to a decline in "need-based" aid for promising lower-income students.
U Calgary Implements New Recycling Program
The university’s Students’ Union has introduced biodegradable cutlery and “compost educators” to the Student Center in an effort to reduce waste on campus. The compost educators program will place staff hired by the Students’ Union near garbage cans in the food court to demonstrate proper waste disposal.
U Connecticut's Laurel Hall Receives LEED Gold
The university’s social science and humanities classroom building features a green roof, energy-saving window glazing, low-flow valves and faucets, high-performance insulation, and use of rapidly renewable materials such as bamboo, recycled copper, and other sustainable materials.
U Dayton Creates Exhibit to Teach Students About Water Resources
Developed by students in the university’s Rivers Institute, the RiverMobile is a traveling exhibit converted from a semi-trailer that highlights the history, benefits and preservation of the Great Miami River watershed. Its threefold mission is to develop pride for the region, provide knowledge about Dayton's river system and water resources, and foster personal responsibility for the protection of local water resources and the environment. The learning studio will travel throughout the region to guide groups of schoolchildren through five learning classrooms.
U Guelph Releases Sustainability Progress Report
The Sustainability Office has published a 2011-2012-progress report summarizing current sustainability initiatives on campus and gains made since the Presidential Task Force on Sustainability released its recommendations in 2010.
U Nebraska, Nebraska State Colleges Agree to Tuition Freeze
The University of Nebraska and the Nebraska State College systems have agreed to implement a two-year tuition freeze for students. As a result, Governor Dave Heineman will propose to the legislature that state funding for the University of Nebraska system increase from $498 million to $541 million and that the state appropriation for the Nebraska State College System increase from $45.5 million to $49.6 million.
Appalachian State U Students to Fund Renewable Energy Research
The student-run Renewable Energy Initiative has partnered with the University Research Council to support faculty research. Each entity will provide $5,000 per semester for faculty awards. The initiative launches this spring with four faculty awards: two at $5,000 and four at $2,500. The faculty recipients must pursue research that is related to renewable energy and is applicable to the Appalachian campus or its carbon footprint.
Cornell U Students Create Meditation Room
Students in the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis have designed and built a meditation and reflection space. Students applied lessons from practitioners of Zen, Hindu, Christian and Buddhist meditation and prayer about their faith’s mindfulness rituals to construct a room open to people of all religions and cultures. Applying universal design principles, the students also ensured that the area accommodates people with disabilities.
Cuyahoga CC Health and Science Building Earns LEED Gold
The Westshore Campus Health Careers and Sciences building features daylight harvesting, native landscaping that eliminates the need for irrigation, 40 percent reduction in energy use and 47 percent reduction in water usage over current required standards.
Harvard U Releases Sustainability Impact Report
The university has released its first sustainability impact report that provides a campus-wide snapshot of the progress that has been made to reduce the campus’ environmental footprint and increase its operational efficiency. Available online, the report includes data on greenhouse gas emissions, waste, and transportation, as well as infographics, multi-media stories, and progress timelines.
Montana State U Promotes Sustainable Transportation
The university’s Campus Sustainability Advisory Council and Western Transportation Institute, along with the City of Bozeman, have announced a challenge to promote more sustainable transportation choices in the greater Bozeman area. The Drive Less-Save More Challenge is a friendly competition between businesses, institutions and government agencies that is intended to help reduce times when employees drive alone. The challenge runs from Jan. 10 through Feb. 10.
Oberlin College Plants Trees in Carbon Offsetting Initiative
Students have planted 26 new trees as part of a larger Carbon Offsetting Initiative designed to create ways to offset the college’s carbon output. Students and administrators had already planted the first tree of the project in September. With the addition of 30 trees planted in collaboration with the Oberlin Rotary Club and the city of Oberlin, the project now totals 57 new trees in the Oberlin area.
Oberlin College to Invest Student Fee Surplus in Local Community
The Board of Trustees has approved the College and Community Investment Plan, a resolution to invest a residual portion of the Student Activity Fund in certificates of deposit (CDs) with the Ohio Educational Credit Union (OHECU). Since OHECU is a local credit union, money invested in these CDs will be lent out to local businesses and individuals in the community. The Student Finance Committee and the Responsible Investing Organization, a student group that advocates for the college to bank and invest more responsibly, proposed this resolution.
Olivet Nazarene U Sustainable Building Earns Incentives
The university’s new Student Life and Recreation Center has received $276,476 in financial incentives through Commonwealth Edison Company’s “Smart Ideas for Your Business” New Construction Service. The facility features a high performance building design and green features including an advanced geothermal system for efficient heating and cooling.
Purdue U Partners with U West Indies for Clean Energy Effort
Purdue University and the University of the West Indies have formed a partnership designed to boost clean energy efforts in the Caribbean and Central America. The project will develop a solar energy demonstration site at UWI's St. Augustine campus in Trinidad and Tobago. The 18-month project will include solar power research and a regional conference for education, government and corporate leaders.
