Mission of the ACS Programs in Sustainability and the Environment

At the Associated Colleges of the South, we believe global environmental issues must be addressed by all responsible citizens, and that colleges and universities should be the environment’s first line of defense. Since 1997, ACS has supported multi-faceted programs in sustainability and the environment, whose mission is to foster collaboration in environmental studies and other “green” activities among faculty, staff, and students at the sixteen member institutions.

ACS Programs in Sustainability and the Environment

Fall 2008 and beyond. In September 2008, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded ACS $3.5 million to create an Environmental Post-doctoral Fellowship Program (EFP). Thanks to this funding, 24 Post-doctoral Fellows in environmental studies will teach at ACS campuses between 2009 and 2013. The ACS Environmental Fellowship Program will help prepare new PhDs for successful careers as interdisciplinary teachers and scholars. Mentored by some of the best liberal arts professors in the country, Fellows will receive a rich, productive introduction to teaching and research in topnotch small college settings with high teacher-student ratios. For more information about the mentoring aspect of the program, please see the ACS Guide for Mentors of Environmental Fellows. The EFP promises to provide a strong boost to environmental initiatives on the campuses and in the consortium, furthering our goals by “ramping up” our environmental studies programs so that students may be better prepared for the myriad environmental challenges that lie ahead. For more information about the current Fellows, please see our homepage at www.colleges.org/enviro.