| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 68.45 |
| Liaison | Keisha Payson |
| Submission Date | May 8, 2024 |
Bowdoin College
EN-11: Inter-Campus Collaboration
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.50 / 3.00 |
Keisha
Payson Sustainability Director Sustainable Bowdoin |
Is the institution currently a member of a national or international higher education sustainability network?:
The name of the national or international sustainability network(s):
Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)
American College and Universities President's Climate Commitment (ACUPCC)
Does the institution actively participate in a regional, state/provincial, or local higher education sustainability network?:
The name of the regional, state/provincial or local sustainability network(s):
Green Campus Consortium of Maine
Northeast Campus Sustainability Consortium
Northeast Sustainable Energy Association
Maine Climate Change Adaptation Provider's Network.
Has the institution presented at a higher education sustainability conference during the previous year?:
A list or brief description of the conference(s) and presentation(s):
In both 2022 and 2023 Bowdoin hosted a Pro Tour for the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, which includes many higher education institutions. Each event was a four hour session that included an overview of the project and provided building tours of the academic buildings. In 2022 we hosted a Pro Tour of the Schiller Coastal Studies Center (https://nesea.org/08-05-22), a Passive House certified academic building, and in 2023 we hosted a Pro Tour of the John and Lile Gibbons Center for Arctic Studies and Mills Hall, both of which are fossil-fuel-free and showcase mass timber construction, reducing embodied carbon and emissions (https://nesea.org/08-04-23). During the tours, the interdisciplinary speaker team discussed the project goals, design process, construction and materials, and mechanical systems.
Faculty and students regularly contribute to the Maine Sustainability Conference held each March, by organizing panels on coastal resilience, presenting on research findings, and presenting posters.
Has the institution submitted a case study during the previous year to an external higher education sustainability resource center or awards program?:
A list or brief description of the sustainability resource center or awards program and submission(s):
Has the institution had employees or students serving on a board or committee of a sustainability network or conference during the previous three years?:
A list or brief description of the board or committee appointment(s):
Keisha Payson, sustainability director, served on the State of Maine's Climate Council sub-committee for Buildings, Housing and Infrastructure from 2019 to 2022. Payson has also been on the Northeast Campus Sustainability Consortium's annual conference planning committee, including in 2023 when it was hosted at UMass Dartmouth.
Does the institution have an ongoing mentoring relationship with another institution through which it assists the institution with its sustainability reporting and/or the development of its sustainability program?:
A brief description of the mentoring relationship and activities:
The Bowdoin Office of Sustainability has many informal collaborative relationships with colleges around the state of Maine through the Green Campus Consortium of Maine. Bowdoin has routinely hosted meetings with this group on campus, including within the past year. We typically meet for two hours in the morning where each campus is encouraged to take time to share out news - both positive project experiences, as well as something we have been struggling with and want to ask for advice on. We then typically break for lunch in the hosting dining hall, and then either take a tour of a building, invite a guest speaker or organize some other more formal program after lunch. As someone who has been in this position for twenty years, Bowdoin's sustainability director, Keisha Payson, has lots of knowledge and experience to draw on and is eager to support newer sustainability professionals in Maine.
Bowdoin's sustainability director co-chairs (along with Mike Evans of Williams College) an informal campus decarbonization group that has been meeting virtually every other month since May 2021. The group conisists of northeast schools that have informally come together to learn from each other - Smith, Williams, Amherst, Mt. Holyoke, Brandeis, Wesleyan, Bowdoin, UMass Amherst, UMass Dartmouth, UMass Medical, Boston Univesity and our list continues to grow as others hear about our conversations. We are all on a similar campus decarb journey of transitioning from steam to LTHW and many with plans for electrifying the LTHW supply through geo-exchange. The group includes both capital projects and sustainability folks. While sometimes we just go around our “Hollywood Squares” to update each other on where we are in our campus decarb journeys with a question or two to prompt us, sometimes we bring in others who are farther ahead to share their expertise/lived experience with us through a more formal presentation. Campuses that have given presentations to the group include Miami University of Ohio, Dartmouth, Wesleyan, Swarthmore, Smith College, Princeton University, Carleton College, and Cornell University.
Has the institution had employees or students serving as peer reviewers of another institution’s sustainability data and/or STARS submission during the previous three years?:
A brief description of the peer review activities:
A brief description of other inter-campus collaborative efforts around sustainability during the previous year :
Website URL where information about the institution’s inter-campus collaborations is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.