U Kansas, Utah Research Reveals that Nature Boosts Creativity
New research conducted by faculty from the University of Kansas and the University of Utah concludes that people from all walks of life show "startling" cognitive improvement — for instance, a 50 percent boost in creativity — after living for a few days steeped in nature. Without distractions of 21st century life including social media, electronics and cell phones, people have resources left over to be creative, imaginative and to problem solve.
U Michigan Students Establish Campus Farm Pilot
Four School of Natural Resources and Environment graduate students have established a 250-square-foot pilot farm for testing crops that will then be donated. Future plans include a larger farm and a centralized sustainable food program at the university. The students are currently seeking additional funding to hire a farm manager.
U Pennsylvania Announces Green Fund Award Recipients
Ranging from a comprehensive recycling center within the School of Engineering and Applied Science to a behavior change project focusing on water conservation, the university's Green Campus Partnership has named five sustainability projects that will receive spring funding.
U South Florida Named Tree Campus USA
The Arbor Day Foundation has designated the university as a National Tree Campus USA. Over 1,000 trees donated by a local tree nursery and by the foundation were planted around campus in honor of its designation and Earth Day.
Virginia Commonwealth U Debuts 2 Campus Gardens
A new vegetated rooftop garden serves as a living classroom to educate the campus community about the stormwater reduction capacity of roofs, as well as the cooling effects for mitigating urban heat islands. A new community garden on campus includes plots owned by students, faculty, staff and community members, an open teaching area, and two plots run and managed by volunteers who will donate the harvest to local food banks.
Austin CC Programming Targets Women for Green Energy Jobs
In an effort to double the percentage of women preparing for green energy careers, the community college recently held an information session about ways to increase diversity in clean energy as part of its Environmental Awareness Month. The college offers continuing education certificates in solar thermal and electric systems, solar photovoltaic installation, weatherization technology and wind power delivery systems.
Coastal Carolina U Hosts Farmers Market
The one-day market, featuring local producers, was held to promote the quality and value in local, fresh produce and products to the campus community and public.
Delta College Unveils Interpretive Stormwater Management Signage
With a grant from Bay Area Community Foundation, the signs provide an introduction to the campus' redesigned watercourse, natural filtration system and habitat restoration efforts. Students and visitors can now learn about the project materials and methods selected to reduce environmental impact and support the local economy.
DePaul U to Launch Urban Agriculture Minor
Starting in the fall, the university's new urban agriculture minor will allow students to study issues of social and environmental justice, food security, sustainability and ecology through hands-on engagement. The university's new Urban Farming Organization has also begun constructing a campus urban farm that will complement the curriculum and educate the public about how to establish and enjoy sustainable food production systems.
Duke U Adds Diesel-Electric Buses to Campus Fleet
The university has added five new hybrid diesel-electric buses to its free Bull City Connector fleet. The $3 million addition, funded by the Federal Transit Administration and North Carolina Department of Transportation, is expected to save the university about 27 percent on daily fuel usage compared to traditional diesel buses.
EPA Announces Green Power Challenge Winners
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized a Champion Green Power Conference as well as the largest single green power users in its sixth College and University Green Power Challenge for 2011-2012. At more than 228 million kilowatt-hours, the Pac-12 conference topped the list with the largest total purchase among all conferences.
Fordham U Students Launch Campus Garden
Student group Fordham Urban Sustainability and Ecosystems and the United Student Government have created an agricultural garden and living classroom on campus. The purpose of the project is to raise awareness of healthy eating habits and to educate the campus community about the production of sustainable food. In alliance with a local farm, the two groups have also initiated a Community Supported Agriculture program.
Gustavus Adolphus College Installs Solar Panels
Purchased through an anonymous donation, the college has installed solar panels on four buildings to heat the water system in various parts of campus. In addition to conserving energy on campus, the panels will help provide research opportunities for students. Student researchers can receive access to a power grid to observe installations or get virtual access for projects in the teaching lab.
Harvard U Pilots New 'Upcycling' Program at Law School
Through a partnership with TerraCycle, members of the law school community can now drop off hard-to-recycle or previously non-recyclable items like plastic packaging or writing instruments in bins located across campus, where they will be turned into new products ranging from recycled park benches to upcycled backpacks. The university aims to take the initiative university-wide.
Harvard U Students Launch Climate Awareness Blog
Titled "There's a Hole in my Ozone and Other Awkward Problems," the blog is a source of "factual but unintimidating environmental information" designed to show students that little things can make a difference toward a greener life. The blog was created by two Harvard Resource Efficiency Program Representatives.
League of American Bicyclists Names New Bike Friendly Campuses
Nine new institutions have been recognized for their efforts to help bicycling thrive on campus including president-led bicycling classes and rides at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a new Cycle Learning Center at Boise State University (Idaho). To date, the program has grown to 35 campuses in 21 states.
Medical U South Carolina Reports Significant Energy Savings
Through an Energy Savings Performance Contract with Ameresco, the university has announced savings of almost $2.5 million in annual energy costs. Energy-efficient retrofits completed under the contract include lighting system upgrades and the installation of more efficient water fixtures, fume hoods and mechanical upgrades and controls.
Metropolitan CC Unveils New Solar Training Facility
Funded by a Nebraska Energy Office grant, the new facility will provide a real-world work area for solar, sustainability and horticulture students to learn and practice new technologies; lab area for practicums and funded studies; and an area to demonstrate conservation building practices and solar technology. Students at the college assisted with the assembly of the eight-panel solar system, water tank and radiant tubing as part of the college's hands-on classes on solar energy and technology.
Michigan State U to Convert Waste into Power for Campus Buildings
University trustees have approved plans to build a $5 million alternative energy device that will convert waste from its farm and dining halls into energy for powering campus buildings. The anaerobic digester is a sealed oxygen-free tank where organic waste will be degraded at an elevated temperature, producing methane for fuel.
National Graduation Goals Threaten CC Open Door Policy
"As budgets dwindle and the pressure to graduate more students grows, community college educators from instructors to presidents...foresee a day when access to all is no longer the norm but the exception," reports a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article. With the "clarion call" for community colleges to increase graduation rates, priorities are shifting away from remedial students and programs that don't lead directly to certificates or associate degrees.
Negotiations Collapse Between Striking Students, Quebec Gov't
Eleven weeks into an increasingly violent series of student-led strikes over a planned 75 percent hike in tuition at Quebec's public universities, student leaders and government officials began negotiations in hopes of finding a way out of the impasse, reported an April 24 Chronicle of Higher Education article. On April 25, the higher education news source reported that the talks broke down after the minister of education barred student association Classé, saying that it had violated its agreement to suspend protests for 48 hours.
New York U Leads Urban Sustainability Research Effort
A consortium of international universities and companies led by New York University will open a new applied-research institute focused on the sustainability challenges facing cities, reports a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article. Known as the Center for Urban Science and Progress, the institute is part of New York City's "push to inject more graduate-level scientific research into the city's economy." Steven E. Koonin, a theoretical physicist who has served as an under secretary of energy for science in the Obama administration, has been named as the director of the institute.
Occupy Student Debt Organizes Protests Across U.S.
Occupy Student Debt, an offshoot of the Occupy movement, organized demonstrations and "creative actions" on campuses nationwide last week to commemorate the total amount of student debt passing the $1 trillion mark and to call for an extension of low-interest rates on federally subsidized Stafford loans. Known as "1T Day," the coalition also visited the headquarters and regional offices of the student loan lender Sallie Mae. In related news, President Obama visited "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" to show his support for keeping student loan interest rates low by "slow jamming the news" with the Roots.
Saint Michael’s College Students Lead Bottled Water Elimination
A resolution to ban the sale and distribution of bottled water on campus has been approved by the Student Association, Faculty Assembly and President's Cabinet and the college is taking steps to remove bottled water from campus vending machines. Student leaders are working to add additional reusable water bottle refill stations to the current seven stations on campus.
Tiffin U Students Initiate Expanded Recycling Efforts
Students have assembled corrugated plastic recycling bins to be placed around campus that will enable the campus community to deposit bottles, cans and cell phones. Funding for the bins, along with a student worker that will work on the recycling program with the maintenance department, was provided by the Sandusky Seneca Solid Waste Management District.
U Buffalo Debuts 750 kW 'Solar Strand'
The university's 3,200-panel solar photovoltaic array is expected to meet the electricity needs of hundreds of student apartments and reduce campus greenhouse gas emissions by 400 tons per year.
U Memphis Opens Campus Park with Recycling Focus
Designed, planned and built with the help of students, the new campus park features drought-tolerant indigenous plants, reused sun shading panels, a rubble wall, LED lighting, recycling bins, benches and a permeable gravel walkway. The park received $35,482 from the Green Fee Committee.
U Michigan Planet Blue Announces Student Project Grants
Out of 22 concept proposals submitted for consideration, four student-led sustainability projects have received financial support from the university’s Planet Blue Student Innovation Fund. Selected projects include a reusable containers program, bicycle repair station, sustainable food kiosk and a student-run campus farm.
U Tennessee Martin Expands Recycling Efforts
The university has installed 1,500 recycling bins around campus and in residence halls. The bins were made possible by a grant from the Alcoa Foundation, in partnership with Keep America Beautiful.
Vassar College Installs Solar Powered Compactors
The college aims to reduce litter and increase recycling with five new solar powered trash and recycling compactors on campus. The $28,000 initiative was funded with money from the college's Asset Preservation Fund, which is designated for campus renewal and non-recurring capital.
Vatterott College Adds Wind Training Program
Through lecture and hands-on training, the college's new wind technician diploma program is designed to prepare students with the electricity and mechanics skills needed to become service technicians.
West Michigan U Students Win National Green Vehicle Competition
A group of West Michigan University engineering technology students recently won the Human Assisted Green Energy Vehicle design competition. The competition calls on teams of up to five undergraduate and graduate students to design a vehicle that transfers the rider's manual power to the driving wheel through the use of a hydraulic fluid rather than a chain or other direct-drive mechanism. The four-member team's BroncoBike entry captured five first places in reliability and safety; workmanship; cost analysis; design report; and endurance race on its way to winning the overall event.
William Paterson U Wins Planet Forward Video Competition
The university's video, featuring climate innovations like a 12,000 solar panel-array, was selected by the public as the favorite of the 2012 Second Nature Climate Leadership Award finalists. The video is being featured in continued publicity with Planet Forward, which spotlighted the effort at its national Moving the Planet Forward conference in April. Twenty finalists are under consideration for this year's Climate Leadership Awards, which will be presented at the Climate Leadership Summit in June.
York U to Phase Out Sale of Plastic Water Bottles
The university's president, vice-chancellor and York Federation of Students president recently signed a pledge to phase out the sale of bottled water on both of its Keele and Glendon campuses by September 2015. In the meantime, York Sustainability Engagement Coordinator Pavel Graymason tells AASHE Bulletin that the university will work to double the number of hydration stations on campus to at least 50 stations.
American U Cairo Reduces Energy Use by 20%
(Egypt): With its Energy and Resource Conservation and Efficiency Project, American University in Cairo has used 20.4 percent less energy in kilowatt hours campus-wide in the past six months compared to the same six-month period a year earlier. With the goal of reducing overall campus energy use by one third in three years, the initiative includes retro-commissioning all major building systems on campus; ending the use of cooling and heating after hours and on weekends, breaks and holidays; and eventually consolidating classroom operations during winter and summer sessions to stop heating and cooling empty classrooms.
Cornell U Helps 'Green' Low-Income Housing
(U.S.): Funded by a $3 million U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant and led by nonprofit Community Environmental Center of Long Island City, Cornell University (New York) will help test new, energy-saving approaches in older multifamily housing developments in the New York City region. The initiative will implement building retrofits, provide education and training and conduct a study as part of an effort to demonstrate cost savings and environmental benefits of energy retrofits and an education intervention. The university will coordinate intervention and control groups to examine changes in tenant and superintendents' knowledge and motivation.
Franklin College Approves Garden-to-Dining Project
(Switzerland): The Franklin Campus Garden Project will provide a local and organic food source for campus dining services and a tangible classroom for environmental science and food-related courses. The multiphase organic garden project aims to expand on a yearly basis.
Harvard U Lab Renovation Earns LEED Platinum
(U.S.): A two-year demolition and reconstruction project to accommodate the Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology Department has earned the Sherman Fairchild Building a LEED Commercial Interiors Platinum certification. New energy efficiency measures include an internal heat shift chiller that captures heat from high-load zones and redistributes it to other parts of the building; occupancy sensors that close fume hoods automatically when not in use; and windows to provide natural ventilation in non-lab spaces.
Harvard U Law School Weatherizes Dorm Windows
(U.S.): After dorm residents in Harvard Law School's North Hall noticed cold spots near their windows on cold days, the university weatherproofed all 117 windows. Calculated using the Harvard Green Building Resource Life Cycle Costing Tool, an open resource that helps project managers analyze life cycle costs for energy conservation measures, the law school expects to save $1,006 annually.
HKUST Students Host Green Events Month
(China): Members of the university's Green Ambassador Program organized a reusable mug campaign, an item swap, and a donation drive for a local kindergarten in need of computers and projectors in March. The month was designated for events to raise awareness in support of a "green" lifestyle.
IIT Bombay Implements Energy Conservation Measures
(India): As part of its Green Campus Initiative, the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay has installed occupancy sensors in bathrooms and toilet blocks in its 14 hostels and academic departments, a measure that is expected to reduce energy consumption by 70 percent per day. The institute has also installed six solar water heaters and is planning to make use of heat generated from air-conditioning systems for cooking and heating water.
Jacksonville U Approves Sustainability Degree
(U.S.): Beginning this fall, students will have the opportunity to obtain a B.S., B.A. and Bachelor of Business Administration in sustainability. Interdisciplinary courses will include sustainability concepts within sociology, math, statistics, business, philosophy, economics, management, law and ethics. The program will also have a community component focused on experiential learning.
James Madison U Installs Wind Turbine for Teaching
(U.S.): A 7.5-kilowatt wind turbine will provide energy to the campus and educational opportunities for students, outside entrepreneurs and local K-12 schools. Faculty will develop hands-on curriculum for students interested in wind power.
Kansas U Invests in Campus Trees
(U.S.): A new fund through the university's Endowment Association will allow a tree advisory board made up of faculty, staff and students to work toward replacing trees, providing maintenance, applying for the Arbor Day Foundation's Tree Campus USA designation, and eventually hiring a full-time staff person to maintain an ongoing tree maintenance program. Students in the environmental studies program will create an inventory of the current trees on campus.
Macquarie U Hosts Swap Party
(Australia): The university's Sustainability group recently invited the campus community to swap items they no longer needed for new items. The event was designed to prevent items from going to the landfill and to raise awareness about the environmental impact of throwing away unwanted items.
Ohio State U Increases Financial Aid by $50 Million
(U.S.): The Ohio State University has announced a $50 million increase in financial aid over the next four years. The initiatives include new scholarships and grants that will help additional students attend the university each year. Funding will be provided through cost savings and new funding streams that allow the university to invest in student scholarships.
Portland State U Names New Sustainable Solutions Director
(U.S.): Jennifer H. Allen has been named as the new director of the Institute for Sustainable Solutions. Allen, who has served as the institute's interim director since October 2011, will lead sustainability research, education and community engagement efforts.
