| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 67.84 |
| Liaison | Noah Upchurch |
| Submission Date | March 1, 2024 |
Catawba College
PRE-2: Points of Distinction
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
N/A |
Noah
Upchurch Senior Sustainability Specialist Center for the Environment |
Name of the institution’s featured sustainability program, initiative, or accomplishment:
A brief description of the institution’s featured program, initiative, or accomplishment:
Catawba College is continuing to make progress in lowering Scope 1 emissions by adding geothermal water-based heating and cooling systems to campus.
The College has an extensive system of geothermal wells that are used for heating and cooling many campus buildings. In Fiscal Year 2023, the College has brought back online the Center for the Environment building, utilizing water-source heat pumps for heating and cooling, and is retrofitting the Corriher-Linn-Black Library with a 38-well geothermal field.
Which of the following impact areas does the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment most closely relate to?:
Buildings
Energy
Website URL where more information about the accomplishment may be found:
STARS credit in which the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
A photograph or document associated with the featured program, initiative, or accomplishment:
Name of a second highlighted sustainability program/initiative/accomplishment:
A brief description of the second program/initiative/accomplishment:
During the 2023-24 academic year, the college has furthered its dedication to its core values of Character, Culture, Scholarship, and Service through structured days to highlight and engage the college community on each value. These days are unique opportunities to bring together the College's faculty, staff, and students to focus on various aspects of personal, community, and institutional growth.
The College's days of Service and Character have had direct links to improving upon and highlighting the connection between members of our community, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and our core values.
The College's day of Service saw over 1000 hours of service completed from more than 480 members of the Catawba community, aiding 23 different community partners at 29 locations across Rowan County. The College utilized bussing to limit the carbon impacts of individual commuting to service locations in our community. Attached is a geographic representation of service locations.
On the institution's first Day of Character, members of the college were provided with UN SDG pins, representing the 17 goals. Sessions throughout the day were used to engage across various goals. For example, the morning sessions featured trips to local parks where groups were charged with completing a Birdability survey, challenging members to discuss intentional community design, sustainability, and accessibility. Some sessions centered around the intersection of sustainability, well-being, and activity, challenging community members to engage in acts of everyday bravery through our low-ropes course, learning a new sport or activity, and yoga in our Center for the Environment building.
Which impact areas does the second program/initiative/accomplishment most closely relate to?:
Public Engagement
Wellbeing & Work
Website URL where more information about the second program/initiative/accomplishment may be found:
STARS credit in which the second program/initiative/accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
A photograph or document associated with the second program/initiative/accomplishment:
Name of a third highlighted program/initiative/accomplishment:
A brief description of the third program/initiative/accomplishment:
Catawba College has received substantial financial support for its environmental work. 2021 and 2022, the College received $242 million in anonymous endowment gifts with a goal of the College becoming the leading small college for the environment in the southeastern United States. One-third of the earnings on these endowment gifts support the College's Department of Environment & Sustainability and its Center for the Environment.
Catawba College also has two features that we believe make us unique among small colleges: the Center for the Environment and the 189-acre Fred Stanback Jr. Ecological Preserve. The building for the Center for the Environment is set between the Preserve and the main campus grounds and provides a spectacular, tree-house-like setting for our Environment & Sustainability Program as well as for the Center's operations.
The Center for the Environment provides environmental and sustainability programming for the College and the surrounding community while also hosting regional and national conferences such as the National Environmental Youth Summit. The Center also acts as a coordinator for programs like the EnviroSmart Schools Program while hosting other environmental education groups in its space. The Center is a frequent convener of state and regional groups that work on policy issues.
The Preserve is a living-learning laboratory for our students and features:
- 189 acres of wetland environment inside the Salisbury, North Carolina city limits;
- Diverse bird populations of raptors, songbirds, waterfowl, herons, woodpeckers, and more;
- Aquatic mammals such as beavers, minks, and otters;
- Gray foxes, coyotes, raccoons, opossums, squirrels, and deer; and
- An impressive reptile and amphibian presence.
Overall, the Center for the Environment and the Stanback Preserve combine to make Catawba College a unique environmental and sustainability leader among small colleges.
The attached photos are current pictures of the Center of the Environment Building and images of the Preserve from 1994, before the restoration of the wetland environment was completed. For an aerial tour of the Preserve now, please visit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5uicBHvVy0&list=TLGGbAvRy6tD7bowMjAzMjAyMw
Which impact areas does the third program/initiative/accomplishment most closely relate to?:
Campus Engagement
Public Engagement
Website URL where more information about the third program/initiative/accomplishment may be found:
STARS credit in which the third program/initiative/accomplishment is reported (if applicable):
A photograph or document associated with the third program/initiative/accomplishment:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Additional information about the College's Stanback Ecological Preserve can be found at https://catawba.edu/preserve/.
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.