Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 65.20
Liaison Kimberly Reeves
Submission Date June 21, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Agnes Scott College
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Elizabeth Rowe
Sustainability Fellow
Center for Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Air & Climate 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Air & Climate?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Air & Climate:
Each year the Center for Sustainability hosts a for-credit intern to complete the college’s Greenhouse Gas inventory for the previous school year. This intern is responsible for: • Gathering data and calculating the college’s GHG inventory • Summarizing the results of the GHG report, both on the Climate Leadership Commitment website and in power point for staff and community education • Providing input about the relationship between the GHG inventory project and the ongoing update of the college’s Climate Action Plan.

Buildings  

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Buildings?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Buildings:
Agnes Scott has a policy that all major renovations and new construction projects must be certified LEED-Silver or higher. Students have the opportunity to engage in these certification projects through for-credit internships in the Center for Sustainability. Past responsibilities have included: • Providing research assistance with the LEED certification for Rebekah Scott Hall and entering LEED point data/documentation when needed, with specific arguments for highest level of sustainability in interiors from both an environmental and health/wellness perspective • Summarizing the LEED research, recommendations and other findings in a report • Participation in meetings with architects and engineers • Developing the application for LEED Campus Certification, or specific LEED campus points, for the college • Organizing programs for student involvement with USGBC • Collecting information needed to help initiate LEED Lab course with Kennesaw State University

Energy 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Energy?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Energy:
The Center for Sustainability has hosted two interns during the past two years to complete the following tasks related to energy: • Summarized historic data from real time tracking system for five solar arrays on campus • Collected and analyzed data for the five solar arrays • Calculated how the one solar array owned by the college is impacting the energy use for that building and offered recommendations to improve • Analyzed options for increased efficiency of the arrays

Food & Dining 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Food & Dining?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Food & Dining:
In order to advance the issue of compostable materials in our dining facility, a student intern completed the following tasks: • Contacted our compost hauler for a list of approved compostable cutlery materials • Contacted approved companies to receive samples of products • Organized a lunch with the Office of Alumnae Relations and the Office of Admissions to test the samples • Coordinated with the Office of Alumnae Relations to implement the use of all compostable materials during the college’s Alumnae Weekend As of the completion of this project, all large events on campus use compostables!

Grounds 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Grounds?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Grounds:
The college has an Arboretum Advisory Committee charged with maintaining the college’s tree canopy. This committee is comprised of students, staff, faculty, and senior leadership. The student whom served on the committee during the 2017-2018 academic year, completed the following tasks as part of her work-study responsibilities in the Center for Sustainability: • Led communication efforts to get students to reflect on their favorite trees on Arbor Day and beyond • Updated the tree canopy map and worked with our consulting arborist to understand the state of the canopy and its future vitality • Utilized this knowledge to further engagement with faculty, staff and students

Purchasing 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Purchasing?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Purchasing:
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Transportation 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Transportation?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Transportation:
Based on the interest of students, a Center for Sustainability intern worked in partnership with our office and the Office of Recreation and Intramural Sports to revitalize the college’s bike share program. Through student leadership, the college tripled the number of bikes in circulation. The student intern also raised visibility of the bike program and secured a record number of checkouts of the bikes. In partnership with the Office of Public Safety, the student also hosted bike rides and bike safety courses for the campus community.

Waste 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Waste?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Waste:
During the spring of 2017, the Center for Sustainability was the host location for the Department of Mathematics senior seminar. During this semester, one math student worked with the Sustainability Fellow to streamline waste diversion data, including: • Participated in training for data entry via EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio platform • Verified data on waste diversion report, and determined the college needed to host a series of waste audits to verify the accuracy of waste data • Completed an inventory of all outdoor waste receptacles, and made recommendations on locations for outdoor recycling bins

Water 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Water?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Water:
Agnes Scott participated in the EPA’s 2016 Rainworks Challenge. This student-led project was managed by the Center for Sustainability and the Department of Biology. The team analyzed the storm water runoff of a current renovation project on-campus. They worked with the architects and civil engineers of the project to make their proposal to maximize the control of runoff for the building. This led to the consideration of new ideas by the leadership team for the renovation. It also gave the college a better understanding of the connection between storm water runoff and our tree canopy.

Coordination & Planning 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Coordination & Planning?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Coordination & Planning:
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Diversity & Affordability 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Diversity & Affordability?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Diversity & Affordability:
In order to connect the work of the Center for Sustainability and the college’s Gay Johnson McDougall Center for Global Diversity and Inclusion, a intern is: • Researching and summarizing in an annotated bibliography the most up-to-date information on environmental justice, found in books, periodicals, and film • Interviewing local environmental justice leaders and document interviews in notes or on tape • Coordinating and planning for increasing environmental justice programming and communication for the Center for Sustainability • Analyzing successful EJ programming in other sustainability offices at colleges of the same size as Agnes Scott with active sustainability programs

Investment & Finance 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Investment & Finance?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Investment & Finance:
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Public Engagement 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Public Engagement?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Public Engagement:
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Wellbeing & Work 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Wellbeing & Work?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Wellbeing & Work:
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Other Impact Areas 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to other areas (e.g. arts & culture or technology)?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to other areas:
In order to increase the visibility of sustainability on campus, a student intern completed a video series on the renovation of Rebekah Scott Hall. This intern was tasked with: • Coordinating a plan for improving communication between the Center for Sustainability and the college community • Completing a video project documenting the LEED renovation of Rebekah Hall • Designing the best approach for a “what’s happening at Rebekah” video blog, disseminated on a bi-weekly basis • Working with the Sustainability Fellow to create additional Rebekah LEED materials for audiences including alumnae • Designing a long range plan for regular video coverage of campus-wide sustainability activities

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
https://www.agnesscott.edu/internship-and-career-development/students/internships.html

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
For the internships included above, the job description for each internship is included. This description was developed by the Center for Sustainability in partnership with the student's faculty adviser. Each intern is required to meet with their academic adviser and the Center for Sustainability weekly in order to receive academic credit. During these meetings, the intern discussed the curricular support they are completing for their internship, as well as the tangible project they are completing for the Center. This policy was developed by our Office of Internships and Career Development.

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.