Forty-seven ACS faculty and staff attended a conference in September at Furman University to share information about “green” activities. Fifteen campuses were represented. Of those present, ten were postdoctoral Fellows, five were official mentors and six were inter-institutional mentors.

Furman President David Shi gave the keynote address, entitled “Is Simpler Living a Sustainable Ideal?” Shi, who is retiring in 2010, has been very active in moving Furman towards sustainability, and his efforts have inspired many faculty and staff at other ACS institutions as well.

The overarching goals of the conference were to model and showcase collaboration, and to stimulate inter-institutional synergy, cooperation, healthy competition, and the sharing of new ideas and best practices among environmentally-focused folks who operate in similar campus environments. More specific goals included  providing an opportunity for the new Environmental Postdoc Fellows to meet each other, as well as to begin networking with established scholars in their fields; allowing participants to brainstorm with ACS staff about new funding searches; and stimulating intellectual and emotional connections to the environment by showcasing the work of three “green” faculty artists.

We provided a mechanism through which participants could offset the carbon footprint of the conference, by partnering with Duke Energy, which donated $200 through which we purchased credits for 5000 kWh of renewable energy.

Two panels of key environmental players at Furman discussed FU’s response to the Presidents Climate Commitment, as well as implementation of the Presidents Climate Commitment action plan. A special feature of the conference was presentations by three "green" faculty artists, who shared their work with attendees.

Two sessions were set aside for tours of Furman’s many green campus features: Furman Farm, Cliffs Cottage, Place of Peace, Lake Restoration Project, Thoreau Cabin, Townes Science Center, Solar aquatic and Solar concentrator. Seven Furman faculty and staff acted as guides.  Besides faculty, participants in the tours included three Facilities directors and one Sustainability Officer.  

• Agenda for the conference
• List of Participants
• Evaluations
• Photos

The workshop, ran concurrently with the quarterly ACS Deans Meeting at Davidson, and had three primary goals:

1. to provide an opportunity for faculty and deans to meet to discuss the future of ACSEI and its programs on each campus
2. to share information about the Presidents Climate Commitment.
3. to exchange information and discuss with University of Georgia professors Ron Carroll and Bob Shulstad ways in which ACSEI and UGA might collaborate.

Agenda
Compiled Evaluations

The ACS Environmental Initiative held a Fellows & Interns Conference at Rollins College, October 13-15, 2006.

Goals of the conference included introducing fellows and interns to ACS and to their roles within the consortium; sharing best environmental practices at campuses and all of  ACS; exchanging information on ways to build an Environmental Resident program on each campus; and brainstorming about ways to maximize environmental activities that will be sustained over time. Twenty seven students and faculty from 12 ACS colleges and universities attended. For a list of attendees, please see the ACS database under “Search Database for ACS Events” at http://www.colleges.org/database/index.php?action=event_search, then use the drop down menu to pull up 2006 Environmental Fellows and Interns Conference.

On Saturday, many requests were made for copies of the power point presentation given by professor Barry Allen (Rollins College) on Sustainable Development; therefore a copy of the presentation has been posted online. In addition, a copy of the presentation given by professor Wade Worthen of Furman University at last year’s conference, Why Save the Environment?, has been posted as well.

Besides learning ways to improve environmental conditions on their own campuses, attendees heard a presentation by Noemí Danao, Executive Director of the Monteverde Institute in Costa Rica (http://www.monteverdeinfo.com/monteverde-institute.html), which conducts “Education for a Sustainable Future,” and another presentation by professor Pedro Bernal of Rollins, about his campus-community partnership work on “Water Purification in the Dominican Republic” (http://www.colleges.org/enviro/workshops/2005/presentations/bernal.ppt).  They also viewed an exhibit of environmental art at the Cornell Fine Arts Museum; featured were “Mindscapes: Earth and Sky” (black and white photos by Jerry Uelsmann), “Tranquil Vistas: 19th Century Landscapes,” and “Revising Arcadia: the Landscape in Contemporary Art.” Some wonderful examples of these exhibitions can be seen at http://www.rollins.edu/cfam/exhibitions/.

• Agenda
• Photos
• Presentations
  • "Sustainable Development: What’s Up With That?" by Professor Barry Allen, Rollins College (pdf)
    
  • "Why Save the Environment?" by Professor Wade Worthen, Furman University (PowerPoint)
• Compiled Evaluations

The ACS Environmental Initiative (ACSEI) held a Student Leadership Workshop at Furman University, October 28-30, 2005.

Goals of the conference included familiarizing students with an overview of environmental issues and challenges as well as an understanding of the concept of sustainability; advertising the ACS inter-institutional “Sustainable Development in Costa Rica” summer course;  inspiring and motivating attendees by exposing them to the many environmentally-friendly practices and accomplishments at Furman University; familiarizing students with the Environmental Residents program (ER) created by Faculty Fellows at the University of the South-Sewanee. 

ERs at Sewanee are recruited in the spring; one ER is hired per dormitory.  Stipends are paid or students are given a reduced dorm rate in exchange for their work in this position in the following year.  During spring, students prepare for the coming year by attending a weekend retreat in which faculty immerse them in environmental theory and practice. At the retreat students  map out plans for the coming year. In fall, trained ERs are placed in a specific dorm, where each acts as  “environmental conscience,” motivator, and instigator.  They have three primary responsibilities: to educate students in their residential area about environmental issues; to act to encourage sustainable living; and to coordinate their building's recycling program.  ERs also sponsor campus-wide competitions for environmental activities, “green pledge” graduation dinners, earth week events, and community outreach with environmental goals.

ACSEI hopes attendees will replicate the ER program at their own campuses, a move that would go a long ways towards addressing the perennial challenge of creating a self-renewing environmental student community at all ACS institutions.

• Final agenda (pdf)
• Compiled Conference Evaluations (pdf)
• Link to Furman University
• Photos
  
  

The Associated Colleges of the South sponsored its first annual Environmental Summit, which brought together students, staff, and faculty from ACS institutions in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Wide varieties of sessions were held, highlighting undergraduate research (presentations and posters), faculty development, international course development, green campus innovations, and green careers and internships. In addition, student leadership and engagement sessions and an environmental activism workshop were presented. Non-ACS speakers included George Bandy, Vice President of Interface, Inc. (and Morehouse alum), and Greta Gaard (faculty, University of Minnesota ).

Guest Speakers of Note:

• George Bandy (Morehouse ’91)
  
• Student activist Billy Parish, founder of the Climate Campaign
  
• Eco-feminist author and professor of women's studies, Greta Gaard and executive director of Southface Energy Institute, Dennis Creech

Agenda (pdf)
Contact List (pdf)
Presentations
Photos (PowerPoint)
Other Photos

The Campus as Lab for Sustainability Alliance (CLS) hosted a Green Campus workshop May 13-14, 2004, at Birmingham-Southern College, in conjunction with the Southern Environmental Center’s 5th Annual Livable Cities Conference. Presentations by regional and national experts focused on transit issues, how to “green” the building industry, urban revitalization, and more. Speakers included Rick Barnhardt, Executive Director of the Metro Planning Department in Nashville; Daniel Slone, environmental lawyer and partner of McGuire Woods (www.mcguirewoods.com); and Rex Burkholder, City Councilman for Portland, OR.

Thursday afternoon’s workshops focused on green roofs, EarthCraft homes, EnergyStar, native landscaping, rain gardens, etc. On Friday, the SEC hosted a full-day workshop on LEED certification as well as a second track of presentations by ACS facilities staff, among others.

As a co-sponsor, ACS's Campus as a Lab for Sustainability covered the cost for a limited number of ACS faculty, staff, and physical plant managers to attend this exciting event. All travel, lodging, and food expenses were covered for up to 14 people.

Contact Roald Hazelhoff, rhazelho@bsc.edu , or Jeanne Jackson, jjackson@bsc.edu, for more information.

Workshop Photos

Spelman College hosted our first-ever ACS Undergraduate Environmental Research and Faculty Development Conference April 24-25, 2004. ACS Faculty interested in seeing our environmental studies students at work, as well as in learning how colleagues have created environmental courses and modules, contacted Barry Allen, ballen@rollins.edu.

Students who wished to present research, as papers or poster sessions, in any area of traditional or non-traditional environmental studies sent a proposal as Word attachment to Dr. Laura Hobgood-Oster, hoboster@southwestern.edu. Proposal deadline was February 20.

In addition to student presentations and faculty development opportunities, guest speaker was environmental justice guru Bob Bullard, and an EPA spokesperson spoke on the topic of writing EPA grants. A select number of faculty and one student from each ACS institution were fully funded to cover transportation, room and board. Approximate costs for additional attendees: $175 per faculty person; $85 per student (shared lodging).

For more information, please contact: Dr. Laura Hobgood-Oster hoboster@southwestern.edu.

Conference Photos

This workshop was sponsored by the Campus as Lab for Sustainability Alliance, and featured Dennis Creech, the Director of Atlanta’s Southface Institute as keynote speaker, with participation from Bob McNutt, of the Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise, and Gordon Keenan, who is involved with "cool communities" and programs reducing heat islands. ACS Facilities Fellows and others presented their grant projects. Tours of the Southern Environmental Center’s Ecoscape were also featured. Twenty six faculty and staff representing 14 ACS institutions and 3 non-ACS groups participated.

Agenda

Our biggest team training event to date, this workshop brought together 75 Faculty Fellows, Student Interns, and Alliance Directors representing all 16 ACS institutions to review concepts of sustainability, learn about the upcoming external evaluations of certain campuses, and to create goals and evaluation plans for the year.

Agenda

The purpose of this workshop was to raise awareness in ACS Career Planning personnel about career and internship options in the environmental field for ACS students. Keynote speaker was Kevin Doyle, education director of ECO.org, an environmental careers organization that has been operating for over 20 years. 23 faculty and staff representing 13 ACS institutions participated.

Agenda