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/