Binghamton University
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Faculty and Students from the Center for Integrated Watershed Studies (CIWS) continue work on the Ecoblitz held on campus in Spring 2022 and their installation of the Chronolog network. This includes contributions from the Biogeochemistry students as well. Ecoblitz information can be found at this link: https://ecoblitz.wixsite.com/ciws-ecoblitz

A faculty member in the geological sciences and environmental studies department curated campus green infrastructure initiatives at the the Alliance for the Chesapeake Forum held in Shepherdstown, West Virginia in Fall 2022.

The Center for Integrated Watershed Studies is engaged the Public (on campus) through their work with the Upper Susquehanna Coalition on the installation and monitoring of the vernal pools and runoff erosion mitigation at Nuthatch Hollow.

A professor of geology and environmental studies offered a class in Spring 2022 (GEOL/ENVI 465/565), which investigated impacts from the campus heating plant (combustion of wood chips) on the Fuller Hollow Creek Watershed.

A renewable energy integration class conducted a final project to let students design a microgrid that can support 50% of the BU campus electric load from renewable resources (Solar, wind). Student needs to provide a basic design, what energy resources they pick, and how much their system costs.

Independent Study completed by the environmental studies departmen in Fall 2022 (ENVI 397) investigated the use of Wood Fly Ash (from the campus heating plant) as a supplemental nutrient source when added to compost (generated from food waste on campus) and mulch (generated from leaf litter and other woody materials on campus).

Independent Study (GEOL 497) completed in Fall 2022 investigated the use of sensors to monitor runoff quality and quantity into the constructed wetlands on campus.

The Envi Hydrology course (GEOL/ENVI) 342 I offered in in Fall 2022 continued a long term class research project on the changes in the surface and groundwater quality on campus including the analysis of green infrastructure (constructed wetlands) to mitigate runoff from roads and parking lots.

We have a transportation ambassadors program. The Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS) Marketing Student Ambassador interns will promote TAPS programs to the campus community through strategic marketing, student engagement and promotional events. TAPS Marketing Student Ambassadors will promote TAPS to the campus community. This group of students will gain valuable marketing, networking and relationship building experience while receiving credit through the Career Development Centralized Internship Program. This internship is a 2 credit internship which will be 5 hours per week over the course of the semester.
TAPS has a multitude of services to offer the campus. From parking to busing, everyone that visits Binghamton University must utilize services provided by TAPS. Busing with OCCT and Broome County Transit, carpooling with 511 NY Rideshare and parking options are all services TAPS is looking to promote.
Promotions will include tabling in various locations throughout campus, handing out information/giveaways, attending University events on behalf of TAPS, generating digital marketing content, etc. This informal marketing approach will allow for students to interact with students in hopes to better inform the student body.

An Independent Study in Fall 2022 (ENVI 397) investigated the use of Wood Fly Ash as a supplemental nutrient source when added to compost generated from food waste on campus dining halls.

A hydrology course (GEOL/ENVI 342) offered in Fall 2022 continued a long term class research project on the changes in the surface and groundwater quality on campus including the analysis of constructed wetlands that mitigate runoff from roads and parking lots.

Pathways to Inclusive Leadership (Pathways) is a program designed to assist students in their leadership development, through a comprehensive and inclusive approach focused on diversity, career readiness and civic engagement. The expected learning outcomes include participants clearly defining career goals, gaining cultural competency, identifying best practices for civic engagement and fostering leadership skills. The project includes workshop activities centered on the following five categories: leadership in a diverse world, foundations of leadership, leadership in your career, leadership in civic engagement, foundations of success.

We have a festival centering multiculturality, multiethnicity, and diverse thinking. This ACNUR LOCO Festival is an educational project driven by the Spanish Committee of UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) to raise students’ awareness of refugees’ situations and the importance of getting actively involved in the defense of Human Rights. Given the diversity of Binghamton University and the region in which it is located, we are hosting the LOCO festival as a way to celebrate our multiculturality, multiethnicity, and diverse thinking. Through active participation in a week-long series of educational activities, we aim to expand our community's ability to recognize human rights violations wherever they may occur and to actively participate in the improvement of living conditions of vulnerable populations.

Interest in and improvements in wellness services contributes to overall human sustainability. Binghamton University developed a collaborative program between the Department of Residential Life and the Department of Social Work in the summer of 2019 to provide specialized peer support, mental health, and case management services to the residential student population. As the population we serve continues to experience a rise in mental health and interpersonal needs, Binghamton University has worked to expand our support services to meet those needs. The development of the MSW Internship Program has allowed Binghamton University to not only respond to the needs of our students, but also to provide early intervention initiatives to prevent the exacerbation of mental health and interpersonal concerns, conflicts, and crises. One of the goals of this program is to create a transformational learning environment that will support residents’ transition to young adulthood while ensuring a safe and respectful environment for all. This program has also allowed Binghamton to provide several local, high-level, and competitive field placement opportunities to the University’s Master of Social Work 1st and 2nd year graduate programs.

The MSW Interns support students struggling with interpersonal conflicts, mental health concerns, adjustment to college and student life, crisis prevention through early detection and interventions, connection to services and resources, and follow up services to students as they transition back to campus after emergency crisis intervention. This program also works to increase student knowledge and awareness of mental health concerns and reduce stigma and barriers in access to mental health care by providing case management services within the residence halls, and through educational programs about mental health on campus.

As the MSW interns are graduate level students and not yet licensed professionals, the interns work with students to provide resources and referrals to other professional services if the intern cannot meet a student’s needs. The interns are trained extensively on how to assess and help students in need access and connect to professional intervention services when needed, and are provided with consistent support, clinical supervision, and opportunities for professional development.

We currently have 7 MSW Interns for the Spring 2023 semester - one of the MSW interns and their offices are placed in each of the residential communities, and our 7th is placed in Hinman and provides support across all of the communities (acts as a floater to help keep case loads more comfortable across the interns).

https://www.binghamton.edu/residential-life/live-and-learn/mswintern.html