Overall Rating	Silver - expired
Overall Score	56.93
Liaison	Christina Erickson
Submission Date	May 9, 2019
Executive Letter	Download

STARS v2.1

Champlain College
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	4.00 / 4.00	Christina Erickson Sustainability Director Campus Planning

"---" 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:

ENP 300: Place-based Environmental Study, taught by Valerie Esposito (Spring 2018) - A semester long project included conducting a campaign to have President Laackman sign on the Higher Education Carbon Pricing Endorsement Initiative, which occurred in April 2018. Students worked together with Energy Independent Vermont and a national organization, Our Climate. This was an excellent example of students drafting, revising, and lobbying for an endorsement, which allowed them to see and feel the steps and process needed in policy creation. This served the greater good for climate awareness as well as mission support for the College. BUS 210: Corporate Social Responsibility (Spring 2018) - student group project researched the positive carbon impacts of replacing Physical Plant vehicles with more efficient models.

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:

BUS 210: Corporate Social Responsibility (Fall 2017) - Student group project researched the viability of expanding green roofs to more campus buildings.

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:

Computer Networking Capstone by Computer Networking student - Ari Mileikowsky (Spring 2017): Computer Lab Energy Reduction with Burlington Electric Department & Sustain Champlain. Included an analysis of energy usage in campus computer labs via submeter to come up with recommendations for energy savings. BUS 210: Corporate Social Responsibility (Fall 2017) - Student group project researched the viability of a solar canopy for Wick Hall. BUS 210: Corporate Social Responsibility (Spring 2018) - Student group project researched the possibility of hosting a solar art competition on campus, for both the renewable energy gain and tapping into the creative energies of students on campus. BUS 210: Corporate Social Responsibility (Spring 2018) - Student group project researched the feasibility of solar roof tiles for campus buildings. BUS 210: Corporate Social Responsibility (Fall 2018) - Student group project researched the feasibility of selling personal solar chargers in our Campus store.

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:

BUS 210: Corporate Social Responsibility (Fall 2017) - Student group project researched the viability of not offering straws in our retail dining area. Another group studied the potential for compostable straws. Our dining provider, Sodexo, implemented using compostable straws in Fall 2018. BUS 210: Corporate Social Responsibility (Fall 2017) - Student group project researched the viability of a demonstration hydroponic greenhouse/indoor growing area. BUS 210: Corporate Social Responsibility (Fall 2017) - Student group project researched the viability of an eco-friendly snack shop on campus. BUS 210: Corporate Social Responsibility (Fall 2018) - Student group project researched the feasibility of starting an on-campus mushroom growing operation. ENP Capstone project (Spring 2019): Gabe Ingman - working on bringing more local food to campus.

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:

ENP Capstone project (Spring 2017): David Wardrop: BLUE certification for Perry Hall. SCI 150: Environmental Earth Science class taught by Corinne Novetti (Fall 2017) Created a Pollinator Friendly Garden behind Perry Hall, with successful funding submission to the Champlain Green Revolving Fund. SCI 310: Advanced Environmental Earth Science, taught by Robin Collins (Spring 2018) - In partnership with Vermont Urban & Community Forestry, students surveyed campus trees and entered them in a model to determine ecosystem services, such as energy savings for buildings and carbon sequestrations using the iTree Program. This survey will also aid our Grounds team of Physical Plant, as the students’ final report has an inventory of tree species, health and age of the trees. In the future, this information can be used if we want to explore being part of Tree Campus USA.

Purchasing

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

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 Purchasing:

Students in Environmental Studies & Policy classes have studied about conflict-free campuses and working with our Information Services department regarding ethical electronics purchasing for the college. A drafted resolution still awaits signature by the President (Spring 2018). ENP Capstone project (Spring 2018): Becca Estabrook worked on a proposal for the Green Mountain Consortium to become conflict-free.

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:

BUS 210: Corporate Social Responsibility (Fall 2017) - Student group project researched the viability of alternative fuels for campus shuttle buses.

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:

BUS 210: Corporate Social Responsibility (Fall 2017) - Student group project researched the viability of using reusable towels in res hall bathrooms vs. standard disposable paper towels. BUS 210: Corporate Social Responsibility (Fall 2018) - Student group project researched the feasibility of a dry-erase recycling program, as most classrooms on campus use these markers. ENP Capstone project (Spring 2019): Erika LaTeer - improving campus ewaste systems.

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:

BUS 210: Corporate Social Responsibility (Spring 2018) - Student group project researched the impact of microplastics into our local water systems and investigated the possibility of laundry mechanisms to capture the microplastics. ENP Capstone project (Spring 2017): Anna Rendell-Baker: Applying placed-based learning to understand Burlington's water quality issues in the classroom

Coordination & Planning

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

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

ENP Capstone project (Spring 2018): Griffin Cummings designed curriculum/a a syllabus for an EHS 200 Hot Topics course: Available Paths: Justice and the Environment. BUS 210: Corporate Social Responsibility (Spring 2018) - Student group project researched the potential project of having students take a genetic test (such as 23&Me) as a basis for a conversation about how similar we are as humans and to appreciate the cultural diversity we also represent. BUS 210: Corporate Social Responsibility (Fall 2018) - Student group project researched the current state of in-accessibility on campus and provided recommendations for improvements. Recommendations were shared with both the Transportation office and Accessibility office.

Investment & Finance

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research 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?:

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?:

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:

ENP Capstone project (Spring 2019): 3 students (Kirsten Cotter, Christian Bruno & Elijah Santos) are working on designing a Wellness/Environmentally-themed res hall, with a greenhouse space and programming

Optional Fields

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:

http://www.champlain.edu/faculty-and-staff/campus-information/sustain-champlain-fac-staff/resources/sustainability-in-the-classroom/faculty-resources

Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Each semester the Director for Service & Sustainability sends a list of possible campus projects to faculty to use for class or individual projects, internships, etc. See link for the list of possible projects: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nKEp6uc92P5ieS2Vhzeetqo_pOpHYE8RusYD54IQ2Do

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.