Community College Journal on Sustainability

"Post" script to the item below: Community College Journal's Oct-Nov 2010 issue is devoted entirely to the theme of sustainability on community and technical college campuses.

What's up with Sustainability?

A colleague in the POD Network (the faculty development association) asked this week for updates on what our institutions are doing around sustainability. I posted the following response. What other activity do you know about?

Within the Minnesota State Colleges & Universities, 12 of our 32 institutions have become signatories to the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org).

The ACUPCC institutions agree to complete an emissions inventory, then take immediate steps to reduce emissions and become climate neutral. They make their action plans, inventory and progress reports publicly available. They also agree to integrate sustainability into the curriculum, making it a part of the educational experience.

• Bemidji State University
• Century College
• Dakota County Technical College
• Hibbing Community College
• Inver Hills Community College
• Lake Superior College
• Metropolitan State University
• Minneapolis Community & Technical College
• Minnesota State Community & Technical College
• St. Cloud State University
• Vermilion Community College
• Winona State University

There's been a particular focus on sustainability among our construction programs, and several colleges now offer Green Construction certificates or degrees. http://www.positivelyminnesota.com/JobSeekers/Discover_Green_Jobs/Green_Your_Education/Green_Construction_Training.aspx

Our office, the system-level Center for Teaching & Learning, sponsored a March 2010 workshop for faculty statewide on "Sharing Approaches to Sustainability." Thirty-five faculty from a variety of disciplines attended and continued to talk afterward in an online discussion group. They've moved from Ning as a platform to Socialgo.com http://sharingsustainability.socialgo.com/, but the move seems to have slowed momentum (and left a lot of members behind). Do you know of any other websites where faculty are doing this? Sharing ways that they integrate sustainability into their courses and curricula?

Diversity Webinar Series

The Office of the Chancellor's Diversity and Multiculturalism Division is offering a series of four one-hour webinars this semester for FREE. Put them on your calendar, then go to http://mnscu.webex.com about 15 minutes before a webinar to sign in.

• Access and Success for Men of Color (November 8, 2010)
• Efforts on Access and Success for American Indian Students (February 14, 2011)
• Stereotype Threat (March 17, 2011)
• Creating an Inclusive Campus Using Affirmative Action, Equal Employment Opportunities and Diversity (June 14, 2011)

Can't make it? Missed the first one already? Recordings of the webinars are available afterward at http://www.diversity.mnscu.edu/news/

Realizing Student Potential/ITeach 2010

RSP/ITeach 2010 might be the biggest and best EVER! Don’t miss this chance to gather and learn with more than 1300 of your Minnesota colleagues. And—as always—student learning is our goal.

Realizing Student Potential /ITeach 2010 will be held on February 26-27, 2010 at Minneapolis Community and Technical College. We are very pleased to have 241 college, university, staff, and students presenting on a broad range of topics from accreditation to welding in virtual reality! Speaking to this year’s conference themes of quality, effectiveness, and engaged practice, Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs Linda Baer will be delivering the plenary address on Friday, February 26. A full conference program, including featured speakers and sessions, is online at www.tinyurl.com/rspiteach2010

Please alert your colleagues that conference registration is open at www.tinyurl.com/rspiteach2010. In order to register, faculty will need their TechID and PIN (the same login they use for entering grades) and staff will need to either create a new account or use login information for an account that they have already established through other CTL programs or event registration.

See you in February!

CTL's New Tutorial: Building Community Online

Building Community Online is the latest CTL tutorial launched on the CTL Web site. Having taught online courses for the past 5 years, I shared some of the effective strategies that I use with students in both online and hybrid courses.

This self-paced tutorial walks you through the preparation as an instructor and discusses how your students help to build community. Sections of the tutorial describe both asynchronous and synchronous communication and will help you decide which tools are best to convey or collect information. This tutorial will engage you in exercises to reflect upon the kind of feedback you offer students, the rubrics you develop to communicate your expectations, the videos of Web 2.0 tool usage, and the evaluation of the best D2L or Web tool to use to to meet your needs.

Creating an online environment that is welcoming and engaging can be easier using the ideas and tools you find in this tutorial. To view the tutorial go to:
http://vfc22.project.mnscu.edu/