Johnson County Community College
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Two honors students have identified and evaluated plant species in the green walls in Galileo's Pavilion as their honors contracts. The students produced papers detailing their findings that were submitted to a regional conference for honors students.

Interior design students regularly evaluate campus lighting solutions in the context of their coursework, developing their understanding of occupant comfort and energy efficiency.

Students in electrical technology classes work with numerous alternative energy concepts and contribute to campus-wide conversations about energy through tours.

Students enrolled in the Sustainable Agriculture Practicum (part of our Sustainable Agriculture Certificate Program) maintain the campus's 2+ acre farm fields using sustainable methods such as crop rotation, cover cropping, integrated pest management and more. This produce is served by dining services, used in the prep kitchens of our culinary program and featured in special campus events to engage other students in local foods. Students are learning sustainable farming skills while producing food that is prepared and consumed right here on campus, lessening the need for items transported in from outside vendors.

A team of students, including student interns from the Center for Sustainability, began an evaluation of wildlife that use campus grounds as habitat. The campus bioblitz has continued with a narrower focus on insect and pollinator counts. Interns' experiences collecting and applying the data gathered are assessed in evaluations and exit interviews at the end of their employment term.

The following language is included in RFPs and RFBs: Training and Educational Opportunities: Additional weighting and consideration may be given to vendors providing information on how their company or firm will work with the JCCC facilities and academic departments to develop opportunities for academic faculty to use information and activities contained in the proposal within the classroom environment. Training and educational opportunities for JCCC students, in the firm’s areas of expertise, are encouraged. The College plans to intentionally utilize the campus environment as an educational tool, using campus facilities, grounds, renovation projects, and related maintenance and operations, as a means to teach both existing course outcomes and sustainability concepts across all academic departments. Please indicate any educational opportunities your firm would provide to assist the college in these endeavors.

Students in a section of the honors forum evaluated and made suggestions regarding education for composting and e-waste disposal in our campus community. Students in all sections of environmental science laboratory undertake a waste audit on campus. Students in Sculpture II classes explore the campus waste stream as a source for raw materials to use in creating a sculpture. In some sections, students are afforded the opportunity to develop a large, public installation that serve as centerpieces to begin conversations about waste on campus.

Students in Physical Geography Lab - GEOS 141 - test standing and running water in the ATB Creek, Stoll Pond, and the forebay of the main vegetated submerged bed of the campus stormwater management project each semester - 3 areas of campus where stormwater runoff collects. All students participate and this usually takes 1-2 lab sessions. Each lab session is 2 hours in length. When water levels and conditions are advantageous, students also test the bioretention cell and the drain of the main vegetated submerged bed, which are mid- and post- points in the stormwater management system. Variables measured include: gps location, elevation, temperature, pH, total dissolved solids (conductance), total alkalinity, total hardness, nitrite, nitrate, and phosphates. The goal is to record a history of water quality and to contrast the stormwater submerged bed areas with the non-mitigated ATB creek to compare and contrast variables and measure efficacy of the stormwater system. (Soon to add northern forested creek as a 3rd site of comparison). Students in Environmental Science test solubility of soils in the campus stormwater management installation in two labs - generally about 2 hours each. Their project augments understanding of ecosystems services provided by that project. Student interns in the Center for Sustainability monitor and record usage of water bottle refilling stations. Interns' experiences collecting and applying the data gathered are assessed in evaluations and exit interviews at the end of their employment term.

In 2015, JCCC worked with employees from the KU School of Medicine, University of Kansas, and the University of Missouri, Kansas City to offer four Saturday learning opportunities on JCCC's campus. The program, a TRIO supported experiential education workshop, served nearly 200 students ranging in age from middle to high school. Students learned from JCCC faculty, staff, and students about four aspects of the college: stormwater handling, compost and food waste, solar and renewable energy, and campus biodiversity.

Students developed community based participatory research protocols to evaluate attitudes about campus sustainability. The EcoReps produced campus brochures and maps that are used on tours with classes and with the community, and ultimately traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, to present their research to peers from the US and four different Russian schools.

Students in human performance classes join staff from the Center for Sustainability and the Open Petal Farm to discuss the built environment, health, and nutrition.

A student in an honors contract for Botany designed a campus Food Forest, and funding support from the Student Sustainability Committee purchased the plants. The Sustainable Agriculture program installed and has maintained the forest since 2015.