Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 56.33
Liaison Kimberly Post
Submission Date July 18, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Saint Joseph's College - ME
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Greg Teegarden
Professor
Natural Sciences
"---" 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:
Students in Ecology and the Environmental Challenge have worked on the Scope 3 of the campus greenhouse gas inventory. They are learning about the institutional carbon emissions associated with faculty/staff as well as student commuting. Additionally, they are examining emissions associated with athletic team travel. Finally, they are determining the offsets associated with our forest management practices. This activity has given students a connection to the overall greenhouse gas inventory

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:
Students investigate electricity use, HVAC energy use, building fuel consumption. Analysis of patterns includes research into behaviors of various campus constituencies, and results in recommendations for improvements.

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:
Each building on our campus is equipped with a meter that measures electricity use over time. Students in ES 300, Ecology and the Environmental Challenge, have been given access to this real data to better understand electricity use in specific buildings on campus. After analyzing data, students have developed energy reduction promotions for buildings. They have also promoted energy savings during a two week long energy conservation contest. The success of this contest has varied semester to semester, but has overall increase energy literacy in the students evaluating the data.

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:
Students investigate energy use of food preparation and serving, food waste generated, consumption patterns and associated sustainability profile of food consumed, and participate in farm operations to connect to a portion of the College's food supply stream.

Grounds 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Grounds?:
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 Grounds:
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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 Business Ethics have for several semesters been looking at Lifecycle Assessments of various products and have made purchasing recommendation based on their research.

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:
Students have assessed both campus fleet and commuter patterns, as well as athletics transportation.

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:
Student internships/research courses have investigated waste production, recycled vs. disposed waste, impediments to increased recycling, and recommendations for reducing disposed waste.

Water 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Water?:
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 Water:
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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?:
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 Diversity & Affordability:
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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?:
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 Public Engagement:
Courses (including Oral Communications) investigate best practices for public engagement on sustainability issues.

Wellbeing & Work 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Wellbeing & Work?:
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 Wellbeing & Work:
Students are intimately involved with our Campus Wellness Program. Students have developed and promoted different initiatives for the Wellness Program as part of their senior internships. Examples include meditation classes and fitness classes which are put on for the entire campus community by students. This gives students the opportunity to improve the Wellness program, as well as offering real work experience.

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:
Several Art courses engage in documentation of the campus environment, improving student's sense of place.

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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