“Interest in sustainability education is growing among faculty and certainly among students, so we are hoping to add more choices, and we also are hoping to have students involved in projects so they can get experience while they are here,” said Lisa Glidden, assistant professor of political science and an adviser to students in the minor.

Technology education major Tim Governale ’12, left, holds a photovoltaic cell used to convert light energy to electricity while Steve Badaracco ’13 measures energy output in Professor Tom Kubicki’s class in energy technology. The course is one of 14 that students may apply toward the electives requirement for a new 21-credit-hour minor in sustainability studies.

Two years ago, then-political science major Rachel Rossi ’11 asked Glidden why Oswego did not have a certificate or a minor in environmental studies. Thanks to the efforts of enthusiastic professors and administrators, the minor recently gained final approval through campus governance and five students so far have completed paperwork to enroll.

The minor provides academic support for the vision behind the Presidents’ Climate Commitment, which President Deborah F. Stanley signed in June 2007, and for sustainability efforts that gained new momentum on campus this summer with submission
of the college’s first STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System) report.

Requirements include core courses in geology and in economics/political science; a choice among biology, anthropology and physics classes; and electives in several subjects.

“With that, this completes over 22.7 miles of drilling and [nearly] 46 miles of piping that went into the wells,” said Allen Bradberry, pictured far right, the college’s liaison with construction companies working on the sciences project.

The geothermal field located between Sheldon and Snygg halls will use energy created by temperature differentials and delivered by heat pumps to help reduce fossil-fuel energy use in the new sciences complex.

Meanwhile, contractors have delivered more than 7,000 of the anticipated 13,000 cubic yards of concrete for the new structure, which has risen to the third of four floors, according to Bradberry, who is pictured here with, from left, Ryan Baye of American Auger & Ditching Co. of Constantia and Mark Kentile, regional director of SUNY Construction Fund.

For more than 20 years, the Newman Center has been the location for the sale. One function of People Against Poverty, a committee of the Newman Center, is to have “students donate their items to us, instead of the dumpster,” longtime volunteer Kathy Brooks Nyman ’74 explained. Fellow alumna Laura Bush Angelina ’70 is also a member of the committee.

“It’s a win-win for everyone,” Director of Campus Life Richard Hughes says. “For students, it gives them somewhere to bring things they no longer have use for, and provides for someone else. It’s good for the college, because it keeps items out of the waste stream.”

The Leave Green program helps the local community and contributes to the college’s participation in climate initiatives, like the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System, or STARS; and the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, of which President Deborah F. Stanley is a signatory.

Last year, on-campus students donated items directly to the Newman Center, while off-campus students brought 900 pounds of items to the Swetman Gym.

This year, all items will be brought to the gym, sorted, weighed and sold. Items that do not sell will be donated to Catholic Charities’ St. Vincent de Paul store in Oswego. To get involved, contact richard.hughes@oswego.edu.

— Emily Longeretta ’12

At the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in August in Denver, the ACS Syracuse section received two awards — the first-ever Chemluminary Award for Outstanding Sustainability Activities and a Chemluminary Award for Best Program for Stimulating Membership Involvement — in recognition of the success of the Sustainability Fairs, above, held on campus.

This summer Oswego joined 114 colleges and universities, including only two other SUNYs in SUNY-ESF and Fredonia, that have completed the extensive inventory set out by the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System, or STARS. Another 150 institutions have registered to complete a STARS rating assessment in the next year.

John Moore, the college’s director of facilities engineering and sustainability, relied on student power and the cooperation and assistance of departments college-wide to complete the detailed sustainability status report that resulted in a self-assigned score of 55.73, at the silver rating level. This leaves plenty of room for improvements to reach the gold (22 institutions so far) and, ultimately, platinum level of sustainable practices.

“The next step is to celebrate where we are, because I think we have done a really good job as an institution moving forward on the Presidents’ Climate Commitment,” Moore said.

Maria Johnson, second from right, owner of C’s Farm Market of Oswego, talks with Pathfinder Dining Hall kitchen workers as they prepare locally grown produce. From left are salad specialist Eva Hernandez and student workers Marlon Vassell ’13 and Bethany “Annie” Palmer ’13. “Living off the land” and consuming less energy on shipping food and other purchased items are just two of the standards laid out in the STARS sustainability rating system.

President Deborah F. Stanley signed the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment in 2007, joining a nationwide network of more than 1,500 institutions to develop plans for and move toward carbon neutrality by 2050.

The college will need to update the STARS report every three years under the auspices of the American Association for Sustainability in Higher Education. Review the full report here.