Endicott College
EN-3: Student Life

Endicott Environmental Society (EES):
Students devoted to responsible environmental practices meet regularly to organize efforts on campus and in the local communities. EES has been instrumental in spearheading student-driven sustainability initiatives and events. The group brings together concerned students from all majors for field trips, fundraising efforts, informational sessions, research projects, and fun activities.

Beekeeping Club:
Students are given hands-on experience working with the College's beehives under the direction of experienced staff. During the warm months, the club primarily maintains the hives. During the colder months, the club performs outreach and facilitates educational programs and events related to the importance of pollinators, beekeeping, and advocacy.

Outdoor Adventure Club (OAC):
Students interested in hiking, climbing, camping, or otherwise enjoying natural resources for their recreational and intrinsic value come together to plan immersive trips in the regional ecosystem. Though many of these trips are just "for fun," several trips have included educational perspectives as they relate to ecology, sustainability, and climate change.

Students and staff manage two raised vegetable beds on campus, where they tend to the garden and harvest organic produce, including cherry tomatoes, kale, lettuce, cucumbers, garlic, carrots, beets, radishes, sage, basil, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, and thyme. Herbs and vegetables from the garden are used for cooking in the dining hall and La Chanterelle, Endicott's non-traditional classroom restaurant. Compost from La Chanterelle is used in the garden beds, creating a full circle of food production.

Our dining services provider, Sodexo, focuses on providing and highlighting locally sourced food.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs in Beverly are offered to students, staff, and faculty seasonally, with food able to be dropped off on-campus weekly.

There is a student Investment Club on campus which helps students to learn about managing stock portfolios and responsible investment, but they do not directly manage any funds.

Sustainability Week, Campus Race to Zero Waste, and Earth Week are all week-long or multi-week programming pushes that occur annually. Each of these programming pushes include several active and passive events to engage students, faculty, and staff on sustainability topics. In total, these flagship programs equate to 10 weeks of programming.

Below is a list of notable flagship events from these major programming pushes:

- Sustainability Career Fair: Regional companies that focus on sustainability gather at Endicott College each year to engage with job-seeking students. A diverse array of employers are present, as to represent that sustainability careers are inherently multidisciplinary. The Office of Sustainability makes sure that there are several employers hiring from different majors, not just Environmental Science.

- Careers in Sustainability Panel: As a complement to the Sustainability Career Fair, recent Endicott College alumni return to campus to speak on their experiences working in sustainability careers and how they ended up where they are today.

- Earth Day Rally to Fight Climate Change: Endicott students, faculty, and staff participated in a march across campus, culminating in a gathering where Endicott's President, sustainability staff, and the City of Beverly's Mayor spoke to the sustainability efforts taking place at Endicott and in the greater community. This event finished with a performance from the student winners of the Earth Day Song Contest

- Campus Freecycle Thrift Shop: Gently used clothing is collected via donation from faculty, staff, and students to be given away in the annual Campus Freecycle Thrift Shop. Students do not have to pay for anything they take, rather, are encouraged to donate $5. All monetary donations, as well as any remaining clothes, are given to Beverly Bootstraps, a local non-profit thrift store.

- "Show The Waste!": During lunch, wasteful plates are gathered in the dining hall and put on display for students, faculty, and staff to see. Students have the opportunity to guess how many pounds of food waste will be gathered at the end of the lunch period for a prize. At the end of the lunch period, the food waste is weighed before being composted back-of-house.

Endicott College Architecture & Design Club (ECAD) students ran a fashion show to engage with the campus community. Each student model in the fashion show represented a club on campus. Each model wore unconventional materials to represent their club. Sustainable Endicott's model featured a reduce, reuse, recycle theme, sporting recycled materials as an outfit.

Interior Design students display their work around campus which includes green building and sustainable design elements.

The Office of Sustainability has partnered with the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts to provide free tickets to students as prizes so they can see the museum's multiple climate change exhibits, as well as any other exhibits that may pique their interest.

At the Earth Day Rally to Fight Climate Change, student winners of a song-writing contest performed. This contest was a collaboration between the Office of Sustainability and the Department of Visual and Performing Arts, and required students to write and perform an original song with the themes of Earth Day and sustainability.

Outdoor Adventure Club (OAC):
Students interested in hiking, climbing, camping, or otherwise enjoying natural resources for their recreational and intrinsic value come together to plan immersive trips in the regional ecosystem. Though many of these trips are just "for fun," several trips have included educational perspectives as they relate to ecology, sustainability, and climate change. Faculty/staff club advisors ensure that the student club executive board members make sure the club is following Leave No Trace principles on outings.

We have LST 100 courses which are designed for first-year students to prepare them for four years of undergraduate study. Courses have included:

Principles of Biology II and Lab - Topics in this introductory biology course include phylogeny and taxonomy, evolution and genetics, biological diversity and ecology. Biological domains consisting of prokaryotic and eukaryotic life forms, and including comparisons of their morphologies and interactions with the environment are surveyed. Class, three hours per week, (3 cr. lecture, 1 cr. lab). Must be registered for lecture and lab sections.

Biosphere and Lab - An integrated approach to understanding the Earth, environment, and its processes. A presentation of basic principles and applications of earth science, chemistry, and biology as they relate to the Earth and the real world. Basic principles from the science disciplines are investigated through laboratory experience.

Principles and Ecology & Lab - Examines the interrelationships of organisms and their environments. The broad subject of ecology focuses upon the interactions of plants and animals, including humans, with each other and with their non-living world. Three levels of ecology are studied: (1) individuals, (2) populations, (3) communities and ecosystems. This class provides an overview of the science of ecology for the informed citizen, and also a foundation for further work in ecology, marine biology and environmental science.

General Chemistry - This course introduces inorganic, organic, and biochemistry, with emphasis on the life sciences, and includes the chemical basis for the most important body processes. No previous knowledge of chemistry is assumed. The laboratories cover the most basic and important techniques of chemical analysis, such as titration and pH determination, and introduce the student to chemical processes.

Environmental Biology and Field Studies - The study of the environment requires students to approach observations from a new perspective along with a fundamental understanding of how organisms interact with each other and their surroundings. Students are introduced to basic biological principles, ecosystem functioning, and community dynamics. Students also learn basic research techniques and proper data handling and processing, and gain first-hand experience with the varied ecosystems accessible from the campus.

Environmental Issues - Environmental changes and consequences that accompany anthropogenic development and industrialization are discussed. The students actively participate in a chronological and systematic investigation of the connections and relationships between ecological systems, energy, raw materials, western industrialization, environmental degradation, and third world population. The content of the course ultimately serves to establish a historical reference point that allows for analysis of the current environmental status and national policy.

Trash- In this course, we apply research and scientific methods to probe the issues of commercial and residential waste disposal, reduction, and recycling. We will examine our own trash and think hard about litter, behavior change, and the expectations of a disposable society.

The Ecology of Food - What do we eat, and why? What meanings do we give our food? What impact do food choices have on the environment, on our bodies, on our communities? An interdisciplinary approach to these questions will use investigative journalism, literary essays, films, and visits with some of the people who work getting food to our tables. We'll look at topics such as health, globalization, and agriculture from multiple perspectives.

The Sustainability Fellowship program educates students on areas within the College where sustainability initiatives can be improved. These students work as a liaison between our office and other departments on campus.

Healthy Living residence halls are provided as an option with a focus on positive, sustainable lifestyle choices. The Healthy Living residence halls educate students and provides sustainable life skills as they relate to behavior change and energy use, water use, and health and well-being including mindfulness and food. The engagement programs in these residence halls are utilized on the broader campus and as an example for other students to look towards to learn sustainable life skills beyond Endicott.

Endicott also offers five Living-Learning Communities which are open to all incoming first-year students. Endicott College Living-Learning Communities develop co-curricular learning environments within our residence halls, where students will have the opportunity to immerse in a specific topic through a Critical Reading and Writing course, activities, and excursions. Students in the LLC will be connected to their professor and Residence Life staff (including student Resident Assistants) to learn, engage, and connect around the specific topic. The community themes are as follows: Leadership, Sustainability, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB), Women’s Empowerment, and Wellness.

Description of Sustainability Living-Learning Community Program: The Nest is surrounded by an abundance of natural beauty. With three beaches along Hale Street and the trails bordering the other parts of campus, it’s nearly impossible to look around and not want to learn more about sustainability to preserve these sights. Students who live in the Go Green! LLC will learn more about how to protect and preserve our Earth through recycling efforts, energy conservation, learning about sustainable diets, and more.

The Office of Sustainability participates in the federal work-study program and hires student hourly employees to work on various sustainability initiatives across campus. Under the supervision of the Office of Sustainability, students assuming these year-long positions work campus-wide to target specific focus areas of sustainability. The positions are as follows:

The Zero Waste Sustainability Fellow works with the Office of Sustainability and other departments on campus (ex. Dining Services, Purchasing Department) to implement waste reduction strategies, provide training and education on proper recycling behaviors, assess and improve on campus specialty recycling and waste infrastructure, and assist in expanding composting efforts across campus. The Zero Waste Fellow may also be involved with maintenance of the campus garden beds, in collaboration with the Sustainability Coordinator. This student may also participate in other initiatives under the direction of the Associate Director of Sustainability or the Sustainability Coordinator.

The Data Sustainability Fellow works with the Office of Sustainability to complete data entry and analyses relating to building energy and water use, solar production, and other topics to identify opportunities to improve efficiency or target with education campaigns. The Data Fellow will also help to complete the Endicott STARS Sustainability Rating Assessment, and similar projects. This student may also participate in other initiatives under the direction of the Associate Director of Sustainability or the Sustainability Coordinator.

The Programming/Student Life Sustainability Fellow works with the Office of Sustainability to plan and promote events and larger programs, such as Sustainability Week, Campus Race to Zero Waste, Earth Week, and College Cleanse. The Programming/Student Life Fellow will also provide sustainability engagement/support in other areas of student life such as Athletics and Dining. This student may participate in other initiatives under the direction of the Associate Director of Sustainability or the Sustainability Coordinator.

The Communications Sustainability Fellow works with the Sustainability Coordinator to promote and market sustainability initiatives and events via social media (Instagram, Twitter, TikTok), flyers, and videos. The Communications Fellow will also be involved in creating content for the campus Sustainability Newsletter under the direction of the Sustainability Coordinator. This role will encourage the Fellow to find creative ways to share and develop information. This student may also participate in other initiatives under the direction of the Associate Director of Sustainability or the Sustainability Coordinator.

The Research/DEIB Sustainability Fellow works with the Office of Sustainability to conduct small research projects on sustainability topics to inform the campus Sustainability Newsletter, outreach campaigns, and other programmatic initiatives on campus, including sustainable purchasing of local/recycled products. The Research Fellow will also work to identify opportunities to incorporate environmental/social justice initiatives into Office of Sustainability work to help create an environment where diverse students feel comfortable/are engaged in sustainability initiatives and programming. This student may also participate in other initiatives under the direction of the Associate Director of Sustainability or the Sustainability Coordinator.

Each of these positions involve designing and running occupant engagement programs, supervising existing sustainability projects and educating our College-wide community while communicating and collaborating with stakeholders on campus and other institutions. Additionally, each of these student educators are Safe Zone Certified by the College.

The Office of Sustainability also makes sure to promote and offer sustainability opportunities (jobs, internships, etc) with local, state, federal, public, and private entities by publishing opportunities in the monthly Newsletter and Sustainability website.

The Campus Sustainability Committee, comprised of faculty, staff and student members, works to implement sustainability policies on campus and elevate key sustainability issues to higher administration. The purpose of the Committee is to help advance, prioritize, and evaluate Endicott's sustainability initiatives.