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Advanced Sustainability Techniques Institute-II: Current Trends and Assessment

Advanced Sustainability Techniques Institute-II: Current Trends and Assessment Members of the ACPA Sustainability Taskforce: Kathleen Gardner Susan Mendoza-Jones Dr. Jeanne S. Steffes Program 5 of 5- Sustainability Institute Tuesday, March 31, 2009. Program Overview.

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Advanced Sustainability Techniques Institute-II: Current Trends and Assessment

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  1. Advanced Sustainability Techniques Institute-II: Current Trends and Assessment Members of the ACPA Sustainability Taskforce: Kathleen Gardner Susan Mendoza-Jones Dr. Jeanne S. Steffes Program 5 of 5- Sustainability Institute Tuesday, March 31, 2009

  2. Program Overview This session will provide an advanced discussion of sustainability; offer and invite participants to look at and discover student learning outcomes and assessment tools, share resources and network on promising practices and current issues.

  3. Session Learning Outcomes: • Be able to define sustainability and discuss the emerging trends. • Be able to expand how sustainability can become visible across the university as a viable goal and benchmark for the campus and not just student affairs. • Be able to assess programs and projects that lead to accountable outcomes • Discuss and be able to talk about and problem solve front edge issues and strategies to overcome barriers. ● Share resources and websites for additional connections

  4. Agenda I. Introduction and Welcome • Brief Sustainability Overview • Student Learning Outcomes • Assessment Tools • Resources • Challenges and Success Stories • Q&A and Wrap-Up

  5. Sustainable Development Defined: “Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” World Commission on Env. and Development. (1987). Our Common Future. England: Oxford University Press.

  6. Strong Social Systems Strong Environments Strong Economy Sustainable Society Triple Bottom Line of Sustainability

  7. Education for a Sustainable Society:“Enables people to develop the knowledge, values and skills to participate in decisions … that will improve the quality of life now without damaging the planet for the future.”

  8. Economic Aspects of Sustainability • Local first • Co-ops • Living wage • Local currency • Examining consumption – The Lorax • Sustainable development/ sustainable distribution • Green jobs

  9. Intentional ConversationsSustainability and Social Justice

  10. Social Justice Aspects of Sustainable Development Environmental Racism Fair Trade Living Wage Domestic Partnerships Corporate Responsibility Rights of Indigenous Peoples Gender Equity Water Rights • Human Rights • Child Labor Issues • Affirmative Action • Multicultural Competence • Pollution & Farming Practices • Worker’s Rights • Sweatshop Labor • Slavery

  11. From Fossil powered Take, make, waste Living off nature’s capital Market as master Loss of cultural & biological diversity Independence Materialism as goal Global Transition:It is all connected! To • Solar powered • Cyclical production • Living off nature’s income • Market as servant • Increased cultural & biological diversity • Interdependence • Human satisfaction goal

  12. Challenges Already busy Don’t know this stuff Issues are complex and systematic Answers Use national resources Learn from other institutions Use students (like YOU) and staff nationally to help you learn, grow, and implement Challenges and Answers to Sustainability

  13. Integrating Education for Sustainable Development: First year Book Orientation Curricula Research Mission and Planning Operations Purchasing Professional Development Community Outreach and Partnerships Student Life

  14. Key Places: • Student Life • Residential Living • Infused throughout curricula • First Year Experience • Gen Ed Core • Curricula Review • Community Partnerships • Workforce Development • Mission • Strategic Plan • Budget • Orientation • Campus Map and Signage • Building Policies • Operations and Purchasing Policies

  15. Sustainability Learning Outcomes(ACPA’s Sustainability Taskforce, 2006) 1.Each student will be able to define sustainability.(cognitive complexity, knowledge acquisition) 2. Each student will be able to explain how sustainability relates to their lives and their values, and how their actions impact issues of sustainability.(cognitive complexity; knowledge acquisition, integration and application; intra and interpersonal competence; practical competence)

  16. Sustainability Learning Outcomes (ACPA’s Sustainability Taskforce, 2006) 3. Each student will be able to utilize their knowledge of sustainability to change their daily habits and consumer mentality.(knowledge integration and application, humanitarianism, civic engagement, practice competence) 4. Each student will be able to explain how environmental, social and economic systems are interrelated.(knowledge acquisition, integration, intra and inter personal competence, practical competence, persistence and academic achievement)

  17. Sustainability Learning Outcomes(ACPA’s Sustainability Taskforce, 2006) 5. Each student will learn change agent skills. (cognitive complexity; knowledge acquisition; integration and application; intra and inter personal competence; humanitarianism; civic engagement; practical competence; persistence and academic achievement) 6. Each student will learn how to apply concepts of sustainability to their campus and community. (knowledge acquisition, integration, intra and inter personal competence, humanitarianism, civic engagement, practical competence, persistence and academic achievement)

  18. Sustainability Learning Outcomes (ACPA’s Sustainability Taskforce, 2006) 7. Each student will demonstrate a commitment to sustainability by actively applying their knowledge of sustainability to their lives, professions, and societies. (cognitive complexity; knowledge acquisition, integration and application; intra and inter personal competence; humanitarianism; civic engagement; practical competence; persistence and academic achievement)

  19. Sustainability Assessment/Rating...The conversation is just beginning.

  20. AASHE - Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) Designed to: 1 Provide a guide for advancing sustainability in all sectors of higher education. • Enable meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions by establishing a common standard of measurement for sustainability in higher education. • Create incentives for continual improvement toward sustainability. • Facilitate information sharing about higher education sustainability practices and performance. • Build a stronger, more diverse campus sustainability community.

  21. Assessment Tools STARS Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System from AASHE (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education )

  22. STARS Rating Program Overview Categories Education & Research Operations Administration & Finance

  23. Why is STARS Needed? • Indicators are clear • Consistency • Transparent criteria • Comprehensive • Response to demand by higher education associations

  24. Elements of STARS • Checklist of indicators (similar to LEED) • Thresholds of achievement • Guidance and resources • Comprehensive – all campus sectors • Transparency (public reporting and access) • Rating good for 3 years • Pilot phase begins in 2008; version 1.0 in December 2009

  25. ACPA Sustainability Taskforce and Student Voice Instrument - Higher education tool (collaborative effort Sustainability Taskforce/Assessment Commission and Student Voice) • Built off the student learning outcomes • Will look a benchmarks and comparative data • Pilot will begin in the fall

  26. College Sustainability Report Card by the Sustainable Endowments Institute • climate change and energy, green building, food and recycling, administration, endowment transparency, investment priorities, and shareholder engagement. (limitations- 100 top endowments) www.greenreportcard.org/ *pdf free online

  27. Challenges and Successes • Negotiating political climate • Resources- cost and time • Complexity and interconnectedness of the topic • Buy in for assessment of the triple bottom line • At a crucial tipping point- US News and World Report and Princeton Review

  28. General Resources • ACPA Sustainability Website (myacpa.org) - Primer - Campus Tool Kit - Change Agent Skills - Learning Outcomes • ACPA Monograph (free down load-ACPA Members) • 2009 ACPA Metro DC Convention - Sustainability Institutes (Beginner and Advanced sessions – PowerPoints on ACPA website soon • ACPA Sustainability Institute at Harvard, June 2009

  29. Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education AASHE (AY-shee) www.aashe.org

  30. AASHE Resources • Case Studies of curricula, planning, operations… • Tools (e.g. sustainability assessments/indicators, • greenhouse gas calculators) • Conferences and professional development • Web resources – over 800 syllabi, institutional profiles • Listservs (for faculty, business officers, purchasing agents, facilities managers, students) • Inform local, state & national policy • Encourage & facilitate collaboration • Awards and recognition

  31. Other National Organizations to Assist Our Work • Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future – www.ulsf.org • Second Nature – www.secondnature.org • U.S. Partnership for Sustainable Development - www.uspartnership.org

  32. Purchasing and Operations • LEED – Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Building Rating system. Building owners get points for recycling construction waste, improving energy efficiency with more insulation and better controls, and using local, recycled and less-toxic building materials, among other things. www.usgbc.org • Conservation first, renewables next (higher ed is #1 purchaser of wind power) – www.energystar.gov • Campus Climate Challenge and the mainstream Higher Education Climate Action Partnership – measure and reduce greenhouse gases – www.hecap.org • Environmentally and socially responsible purchasing – www.coopamerica.org, www.newdream.org • Carbon Offsets; goal – carbon neutrality- Native ENERGY Connection

  33. Question & Answers and Wrap-Up

  34. Acknowledgements Dr. Debra Rowe dgrowe@oaklandcc.edu President U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development; Co-chair Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium; Dr. Anthony Cortese, President Second Nature; ACPA Presidential Taskforce on Sustainability; Keith Edwards and Kathleen Kerr USA Today Collegiate Readership Program

  35. Questions, Comments and Thoughts? Kathleen Gardner kagardn@suie.edu Susan Mendoza-Jones mendozsu@gvsu.edu Dr. Jeanne S. Steffes jssteffes@gmail.com http://www.myacpa.org/task-force/sustainability/

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