Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
First-Year Students As Agents of Campus Change
Brian Hagenbuch and Dan MorsePine Lake Institute for Environmental
and Sustainability StudiesHartwick College, Oneonta, New York
About Hartwick College
Hartwick College is a private liberal arts college of 1,500 students, located in Oneonta, NY, in the northern foothills of the Catskill Mountains.(20 miles from Cooperstown)
Pine Lake Environmental Campus• 125-acre off site living
and learning laboratory• Up to 38 students
reside in Lodge, Farmhouse, cabins
• Open to any FT Hartwick student
• Strawbale House and Cob House
• Model sustainable living and learning
Liberal Arts Campus as Laboratory for Sustainability
Idea and Practice of Sustainability
• First-year seminar• Students have option of
living at Pine Lake• College skills• How things work• Introduce research• Engage in service• Prepare them for
academic study• Build community
Why First-Year Students?Personality
• Energy and enthusiasm• Young, naïve,
impressionable• Ready for challenges • Open to experiential
learning opportunities• Explorative majors• Want to make a
difference
Why First-Year Students?Academic Perspective
• No thesis work yet• Improve process skills (or at least good habits)• Connect to their potential majors
Why First-Year StudentsInstitutional Interest
• Create community of peers, improve sense of belonging
• Agenda and practice of decreasing waste, reducing cost, improving ecological footprint
• Peer leaders• Increase student success
Retention
Why First-Year Students?
PLI Interest• Experiential Learning• Challenge student
assumptions and worldviews
• Campus leadership• Agents of Change• Four more years• Alumni donors
Learning Outcomes• Apply the basic principles and methods of sustainability to
assess a variety of ecological, economic, and social perspectives
• Relate systems theory to a number of issues including food stability, climate change, consumption and waste, and product design
• Through problem-based learning undertake acceptable and recognized methods of research, data analysis, and communication to study the key issues
• Critically read and evaluate primary and popular literature• Write clear and succinct reports • Present scholarly work through oral presentations and posters• Participate and contribute to the overall dynamics of small
groups and the class
Three Challenges (3 F’s)
Food Fuel
Fiber
What Shall We Eat?
• Background: readings, films, reflections
• Challenge: How can Hartwick dining produce 2,500 meals
per day in a sustainable manner?
Where is the Next Energy Source?Background: Readings, Tours, films
Challenge: How will we get around and heat our homes?
How Will We Live?Background: Cradle to Cradle. 2002.
Challenge: How can we maintain a quality of life that creates more just, equitable, and sustainable communities?
Campus Sustainability Project• Identify a sustainability
project--water, waste, energy, renovations, etc.
• Dining and Facilities• Midterm Needs
Assessment– Identify problem and need
• Final Project: – Grant proposal describing
the need and your solution
Project Examples
• Composting program with the Commons* • Campus Organic Garden*• Water-saving showerheads in resident halls*• Biodiesel initiative• Bike share program• Green commercial kitchen for Robertson Lodge at
Pine Lake• Solar hot water system designed Farmhouse cabin
at Pine Lake
*completed or near completed
Changing Campus Behaviors
• Reading: Fostering Sustainable Behavior• Random Acts of Sustainability• Observe, document, and select behavior• Needs Assessment Mid-term
– What’s the problem?– Is it a problem?– Research method—surveys, interviews, data
collection and analysis, IRB– Results—tables and graphs– What can be done about problem?
Behaviors—Final Project
• Final Paper– Identify benefits and barriers– Community-Based Social Marketing Technique– Prompts, incentives, model behavior, etc.– Implement CBSMT– Comparative analysis of behavior changes– Write up as research paper and present
Your Cell Phone Charger is Cheating
on You
Awareness and Sustainable Behavior in Regard to Vampire
Powerby: Nicole Smaranda
Changing Campus Culture
• Five-point sustainability agenda presented to Hartwick President
• Campus Dining Services and Facilities Staff• Collaborate with faculty and staff• STARS Honors Mini-Seminar• Internships—Recycling projects• Recyclemania Reps• Campus Sustainability Day/Beautification Day• Random Acts of Sustainability become Social Norms• Take pride and ownership in promoting
sustainability
Student Perspectives
• Being a student, I too can make a difference. I became part of a bigger organization This class gave this group independence and unity all in one.
A lot of us made personal changes in our lives based of what we learned. Change does not just happen, but it definitely impacted the life styles of those involved in the research.
Faculty and staff are not as scary as I thought. Working together with them on a project gave us a sense of equality. They are willing to help and they too share the same interest in sustainability.
