AASHE Update

2 Progressive Employees (both working with LMC!) attended the AASHE 2008 Conference (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education) this week. http://www.aashe.org/conf2008/.

We attended a few sessions that focused on some things that Community Colleges around the country are doing. The good news is that LMC is right where most Community Colleges are in terms of the President's Climate Commitment. We did, however, see many examples of institutions that have really accomplished quite a bit.

One of the issues Lee suggested to me is an issue at LMC is that a 2-year institution that primarily has underclass students has a hard time recruiting and developing student leaders to champion the cause with their peers. I asked a roomfull of CC Sustainability leaders, "What have you done to increase student involvement?" and got a number of interesting ideas.

One college has a "welcome to campus" reception and meal event. The only way to get a ticket to the free meal is to first fill out an on-line interest inventory survey: intramural sports, clubs, arts, and sustainability, etc., and only then can a student get a free ticket to the event. Professors and student organizations can then use that input to quickly recruit interested students.

Another college gave all incoming students their orientation materials electronically on a flash drive bracelet instead of as books, pamphlets, or binders. The bracelet included a description of the campus sustainability principles that led to using electronic data instead of print material, and a link to the student sustainability club. Students were then encouraged to continue to use the flash drive for submitting papers, assignments, etc., throughout their time at the college.

Several colleges had bike-sharing programs: a fleet of campus bikes that students can use to get from place to place and leave at the building they just arrived at for others to use. The bikes were marked with web links to campus sustainability initiatives and student clubs.

What else can be done?

More on AASHE will be forthcoming

Welcome and Purpose

Welcome to the Lake Michigan College Sustainability and Interdisciplinary Learning Blog!

Lake Michigan College has signed the President's Climate Accord and has established new goals regarding sustainability and environmental design for its buildings and operations. It is also planning for significant capital improvements to the Napier Building.

Meanwhile, on September 18, 2008, Governor Granholm signed the Michigan Renewable Energy Sources Act, or RESA, that will require 10% of Michigan's energy to be coming from renewable sources by 2015. Already, a 46-turbine wind farm is scheduled to be completed in the thumb area of Michigan in December 2008 and another is being considered for Ludington. These new types of energy infrastructure mean jobs and careers for our state and will require new educational experiences for our students.

At the same time as these historic events, Lake Michigan College is considering expanding its Career Education Program Plans in areas such as Energy Production, Construction, Alternative Energy, Water Quality, and Chemical Technology, amongst other program expansions.

It seems as though the timing is perfect for these initiatives to be made manifest in the building and site improvements being proposed at LMC's Napier campus.

The purpose of this blog is to collect and track ideas amongst staff, faculty, and the design team about how the building renovations and additions at the Napier Campus could possibly be integrated into the existing and emerging curriculum at Lake Michigan College. How can the building itself be a learning lab and a teaching tool across interdisciplinary learning, whether specifically for sustainable design or any other type of curriculum?

Please browse the posts and topics listed on this blog and check back often to review and weigh in as part of this important dialogue.