Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 81.96
Liaison Lindsey Lyons
Submission Date March 1, 2024

STARS v2.2

Dickinson College
IN-49: Innovation C

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 0.50 Kenneth Shultes
AVP for Sustainability
Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name or title of the innovative policy, practice, program, or outcome:
Climate Resilience Commitment

A brief description of the innovative policy, practice, program, or outcome that outlines how credit criteria are met and any positive measurable outcomes associated with the innovation:
Acting on a resolution passed by the Dickinson faculty, President John E. Jones signed the Resilience Commitment of Second Nature in December 2022. Second Nature is a non-profit benefit corporation that initiated and coordinates the Resilience Commitment, a program that engages over 100 colleges and universities in working to make their campuses and communities resilient to climate change.

Dickinson’s responsibilities as a signatory, which are to be completed within three-years of signing, are to establish structures and a joint campus-community working group to guide and coordinate the climate resilience initiative, assess climate risks and resilience at Dickinson and the wider community, evaluate strategies for building climate resilience, develop and adopt a climate resilience plan for the college that includes indicators and metrics for monitoring progress, and integrate climate resilience in Dickinson’s curriculum and other learning experiences. It is intended that the work be done in partnership with community stakeholders from Carlisle and Cumberland County.

The Climate Resilience Working Group was established as a subcommittee of the President’s Commission on Environmental Sustainability (PCES) in spring 2023. The Working Group includes Dickinson students, faculty, and staff, a representative of the Carlisle Borough Manager’s Office, and a representative of the Planning Department of Cumberland County. The Working Group is co-chaired by Neil Leary, Director of Dickinson’s Center for Sustainability Education (CSE), and Ken Shultes, Dickinson’s Associate Vice President for Sustainability and Facilities Planning. Other members include Marisa Arreola ’24 (student), Allyssa Decker (ENST faculty), Elizabeth Grant (Cumberland County Planning Department), John Henson (BIOL faculty), Caroline Krauth ’26 (student), Lauren Lasater (Compliance & Risk Management), Lindsey Lyons (CSE staff), Jillian Mann ’26 (student), Lindsay Mintz (Student Life staff), Sara Markowitz (Clarke Forum staff), Olivia Ngai ’26 (student), Sumaiya Quayum (CSE staff), Hanna Roman (FREN faculty), Kristin Strock (ENST faculty), Jill Swartz (Public Safety), and Jared Woolston (Carlisle Borough Manager’s Office).

Optional Fields

A letter of affirmation from an individual with relevant expertise or a press release or publication featuring the innovation :
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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
https://secondnature.org/climate-action-guidance/completing-a-resilience-assessment/

https://www.dickinson.edu/download/downloads/id/14784/changing_climate_hazards.pdf

https://www.dickinson.edu/download/downloads/id/14997/social_vulnerability_resilience_and_equity.pdf

https://www.dickinson.edu/info/20052/sustainability/4371/climate_resilien

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