Institutions of higher education (IHEs) may seem to be doing just fine in these uncertain times: enrollments continue to increase; students are graduating in record numbers; and funding appears to be relatively stable. Unfortunately there is a flip side to this assessment: tuition is increasing well beyond inflation and income growth; preparedness for the workplace continues to slip making the value of the degree drop; and state and federal funding (direct and indirect) are dropping and will likely drop even more in the future. As I look at the future of higher education I see three things institutions must do better to survive (not just succeed but survive). In thinking about this my list began with RELEVANCE and RESPONSIBILITY so I thought if I added another “R” word I could slip a “3R’s” into the framework. I admit I struggled with the third “R” and after rejecting “resilient, rigorous, realistic, and re-envisioned,” I chose RELATIONSHIPS. Below I argue that these elements are essential to the future of higher education – and three elements most likely for failure.

Higher education will only succeed if it is RELEVANT in its programs and in its research to the needs of society and the needs of students. IHE’s must provide their graduates with the skills and knowledge to solve the vexing problems we face as a society. These problems include addressing climate change, not only through mitigation but also through adaptation. These programs will include those that specifically address technological solutions (i.e. green jobs) as well as those that ensure that all students have a citizen’s knowledge and skills to create a sustainable society. IHEs must ensure that their graduates can solve problems through systems thinking, understanding consequences, and multi-generational considerations. Programs must also meet the needs of the individual for a personally fulfilling life that include entrepreneurial opportunities for economic success and personal needs for intellectual fulfillment that fit into a sustainable society. In addition, IHEs should direct the research they support towards the production of knowledge that solves those vexing problems and helps us understand how to live sustainably.

A relevant IHE is in part a RESPONSIBLE IHE but responsibility requires more. IHEs need to be responsible in their practices, their purchases, and their investments. IHEs play a special role in modeling professional behavior to the professionals-in-training (students) that they prepare. From the facilities they provide to the chemicals they use, IHEs provide examples of how to behave (or not behave) to create a sustainable future. Likewise, the purchasing choices of IHEs model decision-making as well as create (or fail to create) opportunities for sustainable supply chains. The choices made by IHEs in how they invest their billions of dollars of endowments can support (or fail to support) technologies and services that will create the sustainable future. As important the practices, purchases, and investments are in demonstrating responsibility, the key responsibility of institutions is to wisely use the funds they collect to educate their students. If IHEs are to meet their social (and fiscal) responsibilities, they must develop strategies that provide affordable, relevant, rigorous education to their students.

Finally, (although I would invite you to add additional “R’s”) it is important that IHEs recognize, cultivate and support RELATIONSHIPS with the outside world. Public relations and alumni relations are typically the relationships most valued by IHEs, but many IHEs have found that community relationships (be it the local community or the international community) are the most difficult (and often the most important) to establish and maintain. The hardest part about community relationships is that (unlike public relations) they require as much listening as they do speaking and IHEs are not typically the best listeners. Nonetheless, without community relationships, IHEs will lose the support and the context they need to succeed over the long run.

In most of the world, higher education is held in high regard and supported in a variety of ways. As both a public good (society benefits) and a private good (individuals benefit), higher education is scrutinized from both perspectives. Failure to provide social and individual benefits (i.e. to be relevant) will lead to institutional failure. Failure to meet social and individual responsibilities will also lead to institutional failure. Failure to develop the necessary relationships that ensure relevance will lead to failure. Attention to sustainability throughout an institution can resolve the failures of relevance, responsibility and relationships. Time is of the essence.

The Catholic Coalition on Climate Change has published a much-anticipated toolkit for catholic universities and colleges that are pursuing sustainability initiatives. The toolkit Sustainability and Catholic Higher Education: A Toolkit for Mission Integration is organized around the five main principles of the Catholic Climate Covenant: pray, learn, assess, act, and advocate. AASHE contributed to this publication, alongside several other organizations and individuals. To delve deeper into the ideas and goals behind this project, we interviewed Dan DiLeo, Project Manager at the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change as well as Lindsey Cromwell Kalkbrenner, Director of Santa Clara University’s Office of Sustainability, and Rachel Novick, Education and Outreach Program Manager at the University of Notre Dame’s Office of Sustainability, who were integral to the tookit's development.

How did you get involved with the Toolkit project? Why did you see a need to create this Toolkit?

DiLeo: While many Catholic colleges and universities are making tremendous efforts in the area of sustainability, fewer schools are explicitly grounding this work in Catholic mission. The Catholic Church, and indeed all faith traditions, has unique contributions to make to the conversation about sustainability (e.g. linking it to the commitments of Catholic social teaching such as respect for human life and dignity). However, if sustainability work is not animated and inspired by Catholic mission–and clearly communicated as such–then these unique contributions can be lost. So, we saw the Toolkit as a way to advance what we are calling “mission-based sustainability.”

What makes "mission-based" sustainability different from the sustainability work at secular schools?

Cromwell Kalkbrenner: One of the biggest challenges for sustainability officers at any institution is helping the campus community fully understand the meaning of sustainability—taking the campus beyond “going green” by exploring the social and economic implications of everything we do. I believe “mission-based” sustainability offers an opportunity to do this, because the campus community inherently grasps and values the social elements of sustainability.

DiLeo: Additionally, mission-based sustainability and care for creation has the potential to link to other ethical concerns. For example, because we see how environmental degradation threatens human life and compromises human dignity, especially for the impoverished, at home and abroad, mission-based sustainability takes us beyond saving polar bears, and puts a primary focus on human beings. We care about all of creation, but too few organizations focus on climate impacts on human beings and even less so on the most vulnerable.

What is the relevance of faith-based mission integration for the future of sustainability?

Novick: Religion takes a long-term view of human history, a welcome contrast to short-term thinking driven by quarterly returns and election cycles. From a very practical perspective, we need communities to work together in order to achieve meaningful change, and the communities with which Americans are typically most affiliated are religious ones.

DiLeo: I have my doubts that the environmental movement alone can alter the course of climate change without the imagination and dedication of people of faith. For many in the faith community, caring for the gifts of creation is an ancient teaching and practice. We hope this toolkit will demonstrate that Catholic colleges can become green not just for the sake of it but because being green is part of who we are at our core.

How is the Toolkit organized?

DiLeo: This Toolkit is organized around the five components of the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor (the central project of the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change:

• PRAY and reflect on the duty to care for God’s Creation and protect the poor and vulnerable.
• LEARN about and educate others on the causes and moral dimensions of environmental degradation and climate change.
• ASSESS how we — as individuals and in our families, parishes and other affiliations —contribute to environmental degradation and climate change by our own energy use,consumption, waste, etc.
• ACT to change our choices and behaviors to reduce the ways we contribute to environmental degradation and climate change.
• ADVOCATE for Catholic principles and priorities in environmental and climate change discussions and decisions, especially as they impact those who are poor and vulnerable.

What are the metrics being used to determine the reach and effectiveness of the Toolkit?

DiLeo: The most effective metric will be how many school representatives contact the Coalition about becoming a Catholic Climate Covenant Partnership.

What does it entail to become a Catholic Climate Covenant Partner?

DiLeo: Becoming a Catholic Climate Covenant Partner is a way to publicly affirm an institution’s commitment to mission-based sustainability. Covenant Partners, they can join the growing list of Catholic organizations that are supporting sustainability and the Catholic approach to climate change, while raising awareness around activities of the Catholic community in this area. Each partner commits itself to incorporating the [as an integrated part of the organization’s ongoing work. Since the Pledge is designed for individuals, families, and institutions, the Partnership provides a framework that can be applied to their personal lives as well.

How do you envision the Toolkit being adopted and adapted by other universities and colleges? Is the Toolkit applicable outside of Catholic colleges and universities?

Novick: This Toolkit is about embodying the environmental values implicit in the Catholic faith. Because all faith traditions have something important to contribute to the sustainability movement, the concept of the Toolkit can be adapted for any faith-based institution. However, I don’t think it should just be used as a template. In order to be maximally meaningful and effective, the development of something like the Toolkit needs to be an authentic process that draws on people’s deeply-held beliefs. I do hope that other faith-based institutions, in higher education and beyond, will find inspiration in what we are doing and follow their own path toward sustainability.

What aspects of the Toolkit are you most excited about?

Novick: I am most excited about the section titled “Beyond the Campus” at the end of each component of the St. Francis Pledge. The purpose of this section is to offer concrete examples of how to channel the enthusiasm around sustainability on our campuses into the surrounding communities. The best thing about taking on a community leadership role is that it will encourage universities to strive for greater sustainability goals themselves because they are conscious of their positions as role models.

DiLeo: I am especially excited about the section titled “Defining Sustainability for a Catholic Audience.” In this section, we point out that while the traditional three pillars of sustainability (economy, society and environment) are a helpful way to understand sustainability, this model may be of limited use to Catholic individuals and institutions. This is because, for them, the three pillars of sustainability exist within the Catholic identity which ultimately guides and shapes their mission, practices and policies. We therefore offer a revised model in which Catholic identity imbues every aspect of sustainability and, conversely, the principles of sustainability are embedded within Catholic tradition.

What are some of the other sustainability projects and partnerships that have emerged or been strengthened since the launch of the Toolkit?

DiLeo: Based on the model of the Toolkit, the Coalition recently published the St. Francis Pledge Planning Guide for Parishes and Schools. As the name suggests, this resource is designed to help parishes, grade schools and high schools to effectively implement mission-based sustainability through the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor. We have also worked with the Center for Ministry Development to create six lesson plans for high school-aged students and youth titled “Friending Planet Earth: Helping Youth Understand Solidarity & Sustainability in Light of Climate Change.” These programs are being launched simultaneously this fall as schools and parishes begin programs for the year.

The Catholic Coalition on Climate Change has published a much-anticipated toolkit for catholic universities and colleges that are pursuing sustainability initiatives. The toolkit Sustainability and Catholic Higher Education: A Toolkit for Mission Integration is organized around the five main principles of the Catholic Climate Covenant: pray, learn, assess, act, and advocate. AASHE contributed to this publication, alongside several other organizations and individuals. To delve deeper into the ideas and goals behind this project, we interviewed Dan DiLeo, Project Manager at the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change as well as Lindsey Cromwell Kalkbrenner, Director of Santa Clara University’s Office of Sustainability, and Rachel Novick, Education and Outreach Program Manager at the University of Notre Dame’s Office of Sustainability, who were integral to the tookit's development.

How did you get involved with the Toolkit project? Why did you see a need to create this Toolkit?

DiLeo: While many Catholic colleges and universities are making tremendous efforts in the area of sustainability, fewer schools are explicitly grounding this work in Catholic mission. The Catholic Church, and indeed all faith traditions, has unique contributions to make to the conversation about sustainability (e.g. linking it to the commitments of Catholic social teaching such as respect for human life and dignity). However, if sustainability work is not animated and inspired by Catholic mission–and clearly communicated as such–then these unique contributions can be lost. So, we saw the Toolkit as a way to advance what we are calling “mission-based sustainability.”

What makes "mission-based" sustainability different from the sustainability work at secular schools?

Cromwell Kalkbrenner: One of the biggest challenges for sustainability officers at any institution is helping the campus community fully understand the meaning of sustainability—taking the campus beyond “going green” by exploring the social and economic implications of everything we do. I believe “mission-based” sustainability offers an opportunity to do this, because the campus community inherently grasps and values the social elements of sustainability.

DiLeo: Additionally, mission-based sustainability and care for creation has the potential to link to other ethical concerns. For example, because we see how environmental degradation threatens human life and compromises human dignity, especially for the impoverished, at home and abroad, mission-based sustainability takes us beyond saving polar bears, and puts a primary focus on human beings. We care about all of creation, but too few organizations focus on climate impacts on human beings and even less so on the most vulnerable.

What is the relevance of faith-based mission integration for the future of sustainability?

Novick: Religion takes a long-term view of human history, a welcome contrast to short-term thinking driven by quarterly returns and election cycles. From a very practical perspective, we need communities to work together in order to achieve meaningful change, and the communities with which Americans are typically most affiliated are religious ones.

DiLeo: I have my doubts that the environmental movement alone can alter the course of climate change without the imagination and dedication of people of faith. For many in the faith community, caring for the gifts of creation is an ancient teaching and practice. We hope this toolkit will demonstrate that Catholic colleges can become green not just for the sake of it but because being green is part of who we are at our core.

How is the Toolkit organized?

DiLeo: This Toolkit is organized around the five components of the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor (the central project of the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change:

• PRAY and reflect on the duty to care for God’s Creation and protect the poor and vulnerable.
• LEARN about and educate others on the causes and moral dimensions of environmental degradation and climate change.
• ASSESS how we — as individuals and in our families, parishes and other affiliations —contribute to environmental degradation and climate change by our own energy use,consumption, waste, etc.
• ACT to change our choices and behaviors to reduce the ways we contribute to environmental degradation and climate change.
• ADVOCATE for Catholic principles and priorities in environmental and climate change discussions and decisions, especially as they impact those who are poor and vulnerable.

What are the metrics being used to determine the reach and effectiveness of the Toolkit?

DiLeo: The most effective metric will be how many school representatives contact the Coalition about becoming a Catholic Climate Covenant Partnership.

What does it entail to become a Catholic Climate Covenant Partner?

DiLeo: Becoming a Catholic Climate Covenant Partner is a way to publicly affirm an institution’s commitment to mission-based sustainability. Covenant Partners, they can join the growing list of Catholic organizations that are supporting sustainability and the Catholic approach to climate change, while raising awareness around activities of the Catholic community in this area. Each partner commits itself to incorporating the [as an integrated part of the organization’s ongoing work. Since the Pledge is designed for individuals, families, and institutions, the Partnership provides a framework that can be applied to their personal lives as well.

How do you envision the Toolkit being adopted and adapted by other universities and colleges? Is the Toolkit applicable outside of Catholic colleges and universities?

Novick: This Toolkit is about embodying the environmental values implicit in the Catholic faith. Because all faith traditions have something important to contribute to the sustainability movement, the concept of the Toolkit can be adapted for any faith-based institution. However, I don’t think it should just be used as a template. In order to be maximally meaningful and effective, the development of something like the Toolkit needs to be an authentic process that draws on people’s deeply-held beliefs. I do hope that other faith-based institutions, in higher education and beyond, will find inspiration in what we are doing and follow their own path toward sustainability.

What aspects of the Toolkit are you most excited about?

Novick: I am most excited about the section titled “Beyond the Campus” at the end of each component of the St. Francis Pledge. The purpose of this section is to offer concrete examples of how to channel the enthusiasm around sustainability on our campuses into the surrounding communities. The best thing about taking on a community leadership role is that it will encourage universities to strive for greater sustainability goals themselves because they are conscious of their positions as role models.

DiLeo: I am especially excited about the section titled “Defining Sustainability for a Catholic Audience.” In this section, we point out that while the traditional three pillars of sustainability (economy, society and environment) are a helpful way to understand sustainability, this model may be of limited use to Catholic individuals and institutions. This is because, for them, the three pillars of sustainability exist within the Catholic identity which ultimately guides and shapes their mission, practices and policies. We therefore offer a revised model in which Catholic identity imbues every aspect of sustainability and, conversely, the principles of sustainability are embedded within Catholic tradition.

What are some of the other sustainability projects and partnerships that have emerged or been strengthened since the launch of the Toolkit?

DiLeo: Based on the model of the Toolkit, the Coalition recently published the St. Francis Pledge Planning Guide for Parishes and Schools. As the name suggests, this resource is designed to help parishes, grade schools and high schools to effectively implement mission-based sustainability through the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor. We have also worked with the Center for Ministry Development to create six lesson plans for high school-aged students and youth titled “Friending Planet Earth: Helping Youth Understand Solidarity & Sustainability in Light of Climate Change.” These programs are being launched simultaneously this fall as schools and parishes begin programs for the year.

Today we celebrate the 9th annual Campus Sustainability Day (CSD). Since 2003, CSD has been a time to acknowledge the success of the sustainability movement in higher education. It is also an opportunity to bring different groups on campus together for a united purpose. CSD events and celebrations can be a catalyst for collaborations on campus and help create the combined energy needed to advance sustainability in higher education.

Campus Sustainability Day is a project of the Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (HEASC), a consortium of about a dozen higher education associations, listed below. Previously, CSD was hosted by the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), a HEASC member. With HEASC as host, CSD can achieve a broad reach into all sectors of higher education.

Campus Sustainability Day is a great opportunity to highlight the accomplishments that staff, faculty and students have achieved on campus and with their communities. It is also a time to announce or start new initiatives and create cross campus partnerships.

This year a working group led by HEASC created a place online where everyone could go to announce the events their campus has planned as well as see which events other campuses have planned that celebrate CSD. See http://www.aashe.org/campus-sustainability-day. The working group included participation from Second Nature, U.S. Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools, and NWF’s Campus Ecology Program.

Currently, the CSD list of events shows over 70 events that celebrate Campus Sustainability Day! This is a great accomplishment for all the working group participants and all the campuses and organizations that have shared their planned events.

In addition, today many campuses are participating in Campus Conversations: A Useful Education: Sustainability in Admissions, Retention, and Educational Value, a webcast that will engage the audience in conversation, and inquiry into the concept of sustainability as a core facet of a useful education. Participants will have an opportunity to share opinions and insights, and see feedback from across the country through an interactive dialogue with video responses from students, faculty and staff, and admissions staff.

HEASC Members are:
• American Association of Community Colleges (AACC)
• American Association of State Colleges & Universities (AASCU)
• Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)
• ACPA-College Student Educators International (ACPA)
• Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers (APPA)
• Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU)
• National Association of College & University Business Officers (NACUBO)
• National Association of Educational Procurement (NAEP)
• National Association of Independent Colleges & Universities (NAICU)
• National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA)
• Society for College & University Planning (SCUP)

Vanessa Arcara, a recent master’s graduate from Bard College’s Center on Environmental Protection, gave a well-received session on Tuesday titled “Moving Millennials: Engaging youth with food & agriculture policy.”

Arcara made it clear that her talk is intended for a gamut of sustainability change-makers on campuses, from students, to operational administrators, to faculty, and more: “We’re here to reach students and not just be another sound bite, and this information can be transferable to other environmental sectors as well.”

The presentation seamlessly segued from Plenary Speaker Leith Sharp’s talk on strategically communicating and effecting change on campuses, but looking specifically at one, influential audience: millennials. The essence of her presentation was concerned with analyzing how we communicate to college students or young Americans about food policy from a values perspective, and what types of projects encourage students to engage in civic action.

Holding a series of focus groups and interviews of various undergraduate students, Arcara found that millennials tend to hold core values that are in line with what sustainability professionals desire from change agents and change-makers. These values include community, equity, global consciousness, and personal growth. Thus, successful sustainability campaigns should be built around core values.

After discussing the findings from her research around values to which students associate, Arcara posed several recommendations to serve as tangible take-aways for the audience. One of these recommendations included the creation of a visual aid to depict engagement pathways, or opportunities that students can get involved in in varying degrees. However, the visual representation of these pathways help to increase the chance that students will want to commit for a few reasons.

For one, the options are laid out clearly and if put into a diagram or visual aid of sorts, could be distributed as an electronic or print hand-out that will also make the project more memorable and the chances of engaging more students higher. Another reason is that a visual aid helps take out the “scare” factor of signing up for another club, another project, another research project, which is often what sustainability professionals are up against when trying to engage students.

Arcara pointed out that there’s a remarkable opportunity to do a better job, mainly because the student demography has not yet reached a huge involvement.

To contact Vanessa Arcara and hear more about her research or above-mentioned recommendations to effect more meaningful change in sustainable food policy, you can email her at vanessa.arcara@gmail.com.

Vanessa Arcara, a recent master’s graduate from Bard College’s Center on Environmental Protection, gave a well-received session on Tuesday titled “Moving Millennials: Engaging youth with food & agriculture policy.”

Arcara made it clear that her talk is intended for a gamut of sustainability change-makers on campuses, from students, to operational administrators, to faculty, and more: “We’re here to reach students and not just be another sound bite, and this information can be transferable to other environmental sectors as well.”

The presentation seamlessly segued from Plenary Speaker Leith Sharp’s talk on strategically communicating and effecting change on campuses, but looking specifically at one, influential audience: millennials. The essence of her presentation was concerned with analyzing how we communicate to college students or young Americans about food policy from a values perspective, and what types of projects encourage students to engage in civic action.

Holding a series of focus groups and interviews of various undergraduate students, Arcara found that millennials tend to hold core values that are in line with what sustainability professionals desire from change agents and change-makers. These values include community, equity, global consciousness, and personal growth. Thus, successful sustainability campaigns should be built around core values.

After discussing the findings from her research around values to which students associate, Arcara posed several recommendations to serve as tangible take-aways for the audience. One of these recommendations included the creation of a visual aid to depict engagement pathways, or opportunities that students can get involved in in varying degrees. However, the visual representation of these pathways help to increase the chance that students will want to commit for a few reasons.

For one, the options are laid out clearly and if put into a diagram or visual aid of sorts, could be distributed as an electronic or print hand-out that will also make the project more memorable and the chances of engaging more students higher. Another reason is that a visual aid helps take out the “scare” factor of signing up for another club, another project, another research project, which is often what sustainability professionals are up against when trying to engage students.

Arcara pointed out that there’s a remarkable opportunity to do a better job, mainly because the student demography has not yet reached a huge involvement.

To contact Vanessa Arcara and hear more about her research or above-mentioned recommendations to effect more meaningful change in sustainable food policy, you can email her at vanessa.arcara@gmail.com.

Vanessa Arcara, a recent master’s graduate from Bard College’s Center on Environmental Protection, gave a well-received session on Tuesday titled “Moving Millennials: Engaging youth with food & agriculture policy.”

Arcara made it clear that her talk is intended for a gamut of sustainability change-makers on campuses, from students, to operational administrators, to faculty, and more: “We’re here to reach students and not just be another sound bite, and this information can be transferable to other environmental sectors as well.”

The presentation seamlessly segued from Plenary Speaker Leith Sharp’s talk on strategically communicating and effecting change on campuses, but looking specifically at one, influential audience: millennials. The essence of her presentation was concerned with analyzing how we communicate to college students or young Americans about food policy from a values perspective, and what types of projects encourage students to engage in civic action.

Holding a series of focus groups and interviews of various undergraduate students, Arcara found that millennials tend to hold core values that are in line with what sustainability professionals desire from change agents and change-makers. These values include community, equity, global consciousness, and personal growth. Thus, successful sustainability campaigns should be built around core values.

After discussing the findings from her research around values to which students associate, Arcara posed several recommendations to serve as tangible take-aways for the audience. One of these recommendations included the creation of a visual aid to depict engagement pathways, or opportunities that students can get involved in in varying degrees. However, the visual representation of these pathways help to increase the chance that students will want to commit for a few reasons.

For one, the options are laid out clearly and if put into a diagram or visual aid of sorts, could be distributed as an electronic or print hand-out that will also make the project more memorable and the chances of engaging more students higher. Another reason is that a visual aid helps take out the “scare” factor of signing up for another club, another project, another research project, which is often what sustainability professionals are up against when trying to engage students.

Arcara pointed out that there’s a remarkable opportunity to do a better job, mainly because the student demography has not yet reached a huge involvement.

To contact Vanessa Arcara and hear more about her research or above-mentioned recommendations to effect more meaningful change in sustainable food policy, you can email her at vanessa.arcara@gmail.com.

This is a rough transcript taken live during the presentation. Learn more about the AASHE 2011 Transcription Project!

Session began with introductions of around the room and then intro by the session organizer:

Todd Cohen
SEED Program Director
American Association of Community Colleges (AACC)

What we want to do is highlight the good work that colleges are doing in this space. The reason I consider them great is that they are doing this kind of work in a systemic way. It's not about an individual recycling program or a cool sustainability class. They are embedding sustainability through basically everything they do. Operations, community, academic, etc.

Key Topics We'll Cover:
- Infusion across curriculum
- The link to green jobs placement
- Particular challenges faced by two year institutions

Linda Petee
Sustainability and Risk Management Coordinator
Delta College
University Center, MI
16k students; Employ about 900 dedicated faculty and staff

SEED has been a wonderful resource for us. Our president sits on their task force. She's been a great leader in pulling us all together. Look at the SEED website: www.theseedcenter.org

Delta sustainability highlights:
- ACUPCC charter signatory
- STARS silver rating
- 1st Community college recognized nationally for green cleaning (2008)
- 2010 Second Nature Climate Leadership Award winner

Institutional Integration Tools
- Triple Bottom Line - we put everything we plan to do up against the triple bottom line
- President's Climate Commitment - it's been wonderful for us
- STARS - if you are not a member, I would highly recommend it

2007/2008 Task Force created by president led to...
- Green Summit event
- Recommendation to create a Sustainability Office
- Academic Sustainability Team
- In 2009, Board of trustees adopted sustainability as a Guiding Principle.
- Integrated Sustainability into our AQIP accreditation process as Action Plans and a Distinguishing Objective.
- Incorporated into our Institutional Planning Process

Details on AQIP Integration:
- We are using two voluntary reporting structures (ACUPCC and STARS), so they assigned them to AQIP processes as Action Projects and Distinguished Objective. Those projects and objectives are being rolled into our 2013 Accreditation Process.
- Institutional Planning then wraps around the AQIP initiative with sustainability wrapped into our strategic planning, curriculum development, building operations, and community partnerships

Here's an example:
An institutional planning topic one year was using resources efficiently, so we set 3 goals in each area (curriculum development, building operations, and community partnerships). People in each area got to choose their own goal. Buildings and operations staff chose to focus on greening our cleaning. That instigated a review of the products we use and our processes.

Academic Programs
- Created three levels of academic sustainability coding in our course catalog: Sustainability Related, Sustainability Focused and a Sustainability Certificate Program (still in the works). Examples of Sustainability-related courses are Accounting/Carbon Counting, Journal of Creative Sustainability.
- Have specialty degree programs:
1. Alternative Energy / Wind Turbine Technology - started with a $200k donation to buy a wind turbine
2. Chemical Processing - have a state-of-the-art processing plant on campus. Green chemistry, designing out hazardous waste are incorporated.
3. Global Peace Studies - social justice, international business, international relations, global environment

Partnerships: Industry
- working with a lot of local industries to meet needs of local industry
- fast start training programs in Solar Manufacturing, Chemical Processing and Advanced Battery Manufacturing.

Life Long Learning - offering courses like "Green Team: Establishing a Green Workplace".

Partners:
STARS - All this ties into benchmarking with STARS.
GreenForce Initiative of World Wildlife Federation - works on preparing graduates for the green economy
SEED Center

Challenges:
- finding quick funding
- there is no one size fits all - moving quickly in industry and tech was easier and different than moving it forward in humanities

Valarie Avalone
Director of Planning
Monroe Communtiy Community College
Rochester, NY
37k students (18k are credit and rest are non-credit)

As director of planning, I'm not a sustainability staffer, but I have the ability to see into and influence all of the campus. We haven't created an office of sustainability, but we are at the tipping point.

Our economy used to be driven by the big three - Kodak, Bausch + Lomb and Xerox
We are now small and medium manufacturing. The largest employer in our area is the University of Rochester and the Medical Center. As a result, we've been more stable than other areas. We have a suburban campus and an urban campus and two training centers.

First officially addressed sustainability in our 2007-2011 Strategic Plan which was put together in 2006. Only got it into the facilities section, but it was a starting point. We participated in the STARS pilot program with AASHE and signed on to the ACUPCC. Since I'm the institutional planner, they turned to me and said "how are we going to do it?" I composed a team of people for operationalizing sustainability. Came up with 2 year plan with low hanging fruit to get early successes in order to build momentum and get the word out.

We used the champions we had on campus already:
- One faculty member pushed hard to establish a Sustainability Certificate. Launched in 2009. 15 credit embedded certificate. Students must be co-enrolled in another program. Requires science and humanities and service learning. Benefits from integration between the courses - for example, have a topical focus across all the courses. One year the topical focus was the gulf oil spill and each course tried to incorporate it into some element of their semester. This year the topic is alternative energy - because of local hydrofracking and wind farm controversies in the area. Certificate gives our students a background that employers are looking for. It's giving them an edge.
- The faculty member then pushed for an AS Degree in Sustainability. Should roll out next year. Students will be able to transfer to a 4 year school with an Envirionmental Sceince/Studies program (have articulation agreements already in place).
- Did a lot with workforce non-credit courses. First they were stand-alone but have become stackable. We're seeing students that take 1 course getting $5 over minimum wage. (course examples, Building Analyst, Basic Air Sealing, Envelope Professional) Currently developing a certificate in solar thermal technology.
- Using their facilities as learning laboratories. They have a co-generation plant - student tours and courses related to it. They've installed greenhouses and green walls as part of biology courses. Built a LEED Gold field house for athletics.

Challenges:
- Competing priorities
- Funding challenges - decisions we make are very pragmatic. only address things we know are needs in our area.

Partnerships:
- Center for Energy Efficiency and Building Science - help with BPI training
- Pathstone - Green for Gold - private non-profit in their area working on training people with significant barriers to employment (convictions, poverty). preparing construction, deconstruction and renewable energy job training

Remmele Young
Executive Director of Government Relations and Sustainability
Houston Community College

75k students - currently growing quite a bit, even with budget cuts (-$30 million) Located in the city of Houston. Service area includes 600 square miles. There are 6 campuses each with a President. In Houston, energy is king. We have lots of energy companies. Also have Technical Medical Center that employs 100k people.

HCC is a member of both SEED Center and ACUPCC. Committed to reducing carbon and preparing students for life long learning opportunities.

HCC infuses sustainability in curriculum:
- Solar Energy courses
- Wind energy course
- Thermal Infrared Camera Technology

Jobs training for:
- solar energy installers
- troubleshooting and maintenance
- horticulture - water harvesting, xeriscaping, aquaponics
- solar heating design and planning
- cost benefit analysis (ROI)
- thermal energy technicians

As CC's, we think a lot about big industry like the energy companies, but we don't think a lot about creating things for ourselves. I thought the horticulture and aquaponics was a great example of that.

Leverage existing relationships
partnering with industry - hosted an Energy Symposium with Chevron, Shell, ExxonMobil and Executive Citizens for Affordable Energy
partner with local HVAC union
partner with City of Houston on an apprenticeship program
partner with government: US Department of Energy, State Energy Conservation Office

Challenges:
- Budget constraints
- Added / perceived added cost
- Inadequate human resources
- Policy considerations - federal and state legislature helping/hindering
- People - some people are gung-ho, some people are not
- Existing culture - in a large organization can be difficult; but sometimes scale also helps you do things a lot better

Overcoming those challenges:
- Demonstrating cost/benefit value
- Educating others about the benefits
- Identifying champions of the cause
- Working to shape policy considerations
- Getting Board-level buy-in and approval to advance the initiative (this can make funding available in some cases)

Operations initiatives:
- Commissioned a comprehensive energy analysis that positions us to implement conservation measures
- Developed a Climate Action Plan
- Performed an inventory of all GHG
- Implemented LEED Silver or equivalent building policy
- Incorporated system wide recycling
- Provide periodic reports on our sustainability progress

Questions & Answers

Question: Do you have an overarching sustainability plan for the Houston Community College System and then each campus has one underneath that?

Remmele: That's something we need to do. Take our over-all system plan and take that to the Presidents of each college to see if they are tailoring it for their campus - because they are different. The presidents are very well aware of what is going on and we talk about it with them.

Comment from Elizabeth Cole-Fay in the Maricopa Community College District: We've found having a district can be an impediment. We've had some schools pushing our district more than our district driving it forward. We're just now pushing forward district-wide policies. We had colleges in the system that waited until the district forced their hand.

Question: I have faculty-member disdain for administrative processes but I think I need to look more at embedding into the system. I'm looking for more advice about AQIP and the evaluation process. Anything?

Remmele: Do you have any faculty representatives in meetings with administrators?

Valarie: First, build some relationships across the aisles. But, I've been in a position to build them in every area over time. Once you have someone involved, you have to motivate and let them have control. As we produce more and more links to training programs and curriculum, the deans of curriculum and faculty senate chair have joined the sustainability committee.

Audience comment: You have to speak the language of the system. You have to make the business case. Sometimes is using the semantics of business first, not semantics of sustainability.

Audience question: I too am a faculty member at a small liberal arts college. We too have similar needs. So far we've come out with a sustainability studies minor and set up an ecological council. If I want to establish more credibility, what is the marketability value of being recognized by those systems like STARS and AQIP?

Valarie: If you are looking at accreditation, you have to look at your accreditation agency (there are 6 across the nation). We don't have AQIP and can't incorporate it the same as Delta CC. That said, it does bring credibility to belong to some of these organizations. SEED has been a great connection because there was no additional cost.

Linda: I'm not a number-cruncher business case maker, but I can find specific things that we can do and go to the people involved and say "let's do this." Find the ones that respond with passion and enthusiasm and wiggle your way in their. The personal relationships helped me a lot in bridging to the faculty side. Also, go to the accreditation people at your institution and ask them about it. As for STARS, for us, STARS was huge. We did the pilot and now are in 1.0. It is so comprehensive. It gave me a reason to knock on doors all over the institution from HR, diversity, operations and so on. And after I knock on their door and ask them to tell me what they are doing, I now can bring them ways to go further.

Remmele: Return on investment doesn't always mean dollars and cents. It's incumbent on us as educators to educate people about sustainability. There are champions already in your institution that are passionate and willing to volunteer to work with you in your institution - the same way they already go around pulling recycling out of trash cans and taking it to the recycling. Get those people together.

Todd: One thing we are doing under SEED in partnership with Second Nature, we are providing leadership training for Presidents. Presidents talking to other presidents. Will be a session at AACC conference. Encourage you to get your presidents to attend that.

Georges Dyer (Second Nature): We are just launching a new initiative with recently retired presidents. One is from Butte College in CA.

Audience comment: I would like to see more break-out sessions for community colleges at the AASHE conference. This is my third AASHE conference and the sessions aren't long enough and detailed enough about community colleges. The STARS meetings were so much about 4 year institutions.

Audience comment: There should be more community colleges on the AASHE board.

Audience Comment: 90% of sessions are not related to what we deal with. I spent more time this year talking to community college people out in the hall way than in sessions.

Thanks to Russ Pierson for transcribing this session! Join the AASHE 2011 Transcription Project and help spread the great ideas presented at the conference!

The Power of Community Colleges to Create the Green Economy: Leadership: A Key to Success

AASHE 2011, Monday, October 10, 2011 / Room 406 / 11:00 AM

Moderator: Julie Elzanati, Illinois Green Economy Network
Presenter: Jerry Weber, College of Lake County;
Session Organizer: Allessandra Cairo, Illinois Green Economy Network;
Presenter: Robert Hilgenbrink, Southwestern Illinois College/IGEN

Summary:
This panel presentation addresses building successful partnerships across broad sectors including higher education, government, business, non-profits and communities. The Illinois Green Economy Network (IGEN) is an innovative partnership between the state's 48 community colleges, businesses and local communities serving as a national model for sustainability and green workforce development in the United States. IGEN was formed in 2008 as a leadership initiative of the college presidents and the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB). IGEN began implementing substantial collaborative programs throughout the state. These programs focus on greening college campuses, greening curriculum, greening communities and green workforce development. Today, the Network provides funding for 22 sustainability professionals who are employed at various community colleges across the state. The outreach, scope and magnitude for substantial change is tremendous. The Network, through these collaborations and partnerships is able to focus on the critical problems we can solve together, but cannot solve alone. If you are interested in a conversation that places the higher education sector within this broader context of successful partnerships in the emerging green economy, this panel presentation is for you.

Introduction

Julie Elzanati:
The power of community colleges to create the green economy with a focus on leadership.

Almost half of all undergrad students in US are at community colleges. Community colleges are nimble and empowered.

What is IGEN?

Illinois Green Economy Network
Presidents were gathered speaking about sustainability initiatives, AASHE, etc. Community colleges already collaborating across the State, but a sustainability network had not yet been formed.
• president-led consortium of 48 community colleges
• platform for collaboration
• financial support from state agencies, US Departments of Education, Energy and Labor

Started in 2008 with four college sustainability centers and a $490,000 Illinois DCEO start-up grant. Significant growth in funding history. Now over 20 centers. Just received $19,366,375 from US Department of Labor (TAACCCT)

==========

Jerry Weber
History and success of IGEN

Vision: to position the Illinois Community College system as a global leader
* Green careers
* Curriculum
* Communities
* Campuses

Accomplishments:
* Hired admin team
* Funding for college professionals
* Funded personnel
* Awarded seed funding
* Created financial officers committee

Walking the talk: a working network
* campus demonstrations
* curriculum development
* etc

Sustainability coordinators focus work on their campus
Admin agent to IGEN, etc.

STARS, ACUPCC, AASHE, state initiatives

Green jobs programs- included in curricula

Community partners: over 200 community partners with multiple peer-to-peer exchanges addressing many audiences:
* Students
* Community
* Sustainability
* Master plan

Robert Hilgenbrink
Talked about IGEN Leaders

Focus on Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC)
Located near St. Louis

More leadership from the top, got board involved, developed leadership team now owned by students and faculty. Master planning was a board initiative, insured LEED certification for all projects.

Allessandra Cairo
Talked about Future of IGEN

FY 12 initiatives
Include expansion of sustainability centers, green economy centers, best practice packages, Green Career Pathway consortium, purchasing, task force and work groups, energy efficiency training and education, website.

Online communications:
• IGEN Members Only section. Private area for discussions.
• IGEN's Network News. Highlights initiatives and events, organization building section.
• IGEN communication Preferences. Helps streamline communications to the right personnel.

Report Database System
Place to report on activities and programs taking place on each campus as a result of IGEN program dollars. Can be submitted a bite at a time, compare with peers, do custom reporting. All grants, documentation can be tracked in this system.

==========

Robert Hilgenbrink
Talked about Green Career Pathways Consortium

$19.37 million awarded
Dvelop comprehensive program in
Architecture and construction science
STEM
Etc.

Major feature: use of Department of Energy NTER System
* serves instructors
* serves Learners
* Open source platform
* Supports traditional, advanced training models
* Includes authoring tools, performance-based testing

Delivery via online and hybrid, public domain
Adult transition service centers
Embed general education components to enable accelerated completion
Entrepreneurial resources

SEED: Sustainability Education and Economic Development
• 400 community colleges

Check out IGEN website.
Check out SEED website

==========

Q & A

• Funding distribution: Base funding provides for centers state-wide. Other funding varies.
• Use of lobbyist: went to Senate and key House offices, all congressional aides--who tend to be younger college grads. They immediately understood the value. Every congressman signed on to support the initiative. This was based on earmarks, a source now dried up.
• Funding approach: propose something that helps your funding partner.
• Structure of Community College system in Illinois: no State Chancellor, more autonomy to each district. Made it challenging to get every president to sign on initially.
• Founders: the was a team of presidents who initiated IGEN, the were also early grants that focused on collaboration which helped.
• Difference between Sustainability Center, Green Economy Center: sustainability centers are housed on each campus, green economy centers focus on partnerships and driving the development of the green economy within the state
• Food Hubs: focusing on legislation that is preventing the growth of local food sales. Also adds element of training, gardening, etc.
• Interstate cooperation: IGEN would be happy to coordinate interstate cooperation in developing web tools, etc.

I just finished a conference call where more than a dozen NGO leaders were holding a discussion with representatives from the US Departments of State, Education, and Labor. The meeting was entitled, “Rio+20 Social Pillar Stakeholder Consultations.” (You may have noticed in the recent AASHE Announcements that we have established a website for collecting input from the higher education sustainability community for the Compilation Document for the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development known as Rio+20.) Toward the end of the call one of the participants asked whether RIO+20 would make any difference. I believe the answer is “YES” to much of world and “POSSIBLY” to those areas where Agenda 21 (the outcomes document of the original Rio conference 20 years ago) was ignored.

The two main themes of Rio+20 are Green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication and Institutional framework for sustainable development. In the conversation this morning we were reacting to statements/priorities drawn up by Education and Labor that focused on the green economy theme. Education’s priorities were for K-12, a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education as it relates to human activities, health, ecosystems and sustainability. Labor’s priorities focused on worker skills, worker rights, and social safety nets for displaced workers.

First, let me commend the interagency group (which includes 15 departments/agencies) for inviting the NGOs to provide their input to the US position. The discussion was robust and indicated a need to expand the understanding of a green economy to to look at not just the STEM disciplines but all of education. There were also comments about protecting not only individual workers but also the health of the communities that might be impacted by a green economy.

All of these are important ideas when thinking about a green economy but they work from the assumption that such an economy is either in existence or inevitable. What seemed to be missing was a discussion about how we CREATE the green economy. And this is where we all come into the discussion. The green economy (defined by the UNEP as: an economy that results in “improved human well-being and social equity while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcity”) is what we all need to be envisioning as we think about how we create a sustainable world. And it’s not just about us – we need to do this as a global community, i.e. a global green economy.

Rio+20 has the potential to develop (part of) the blueprint for the creation of a global green economy. What will happen to that blueprint? Twenty years ago, the creation of Agenda 21 led to many nations accepting the document as a guide for national practices. I was impressed when I was in South Korea earlier this year about the extent to which they use Agenda 21 as a framework and benchmark for their progress. The US is one of the more conspicuous “ignorers” of Agenda 21. We ought not let that happened again. Rio+20 can matter to all of us if a) we engage in providing input to shape it and b) we ask our governments, educational institutions, NGOs, and the business and labor communities to pay attention to a blueprint in which we all have a stake. The green economy will not “just happen.” The green economy needs all of us working to shape it, define it, and make it whole. Join with us by providing your thoughts today!

Paul Rowland, AASHE Executive Director