Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 54.84
Liaison Lisa Lonie
Submission Date June 29, 2020

STARS v2.2

Haverford College
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Jesse Lytle
VP and Chief of Staff
Office of the President
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Campus Engagement

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Campus Engagement?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Campus Engagement:
The Committee for Environmental Responsibility runs outreach events all through the Do It In the Dark competition, ranging from vegan cookie baking to Sustainable Iron Chef to a clothing swap. The two weeks are packed with sustainable programming, so that sustainability dominates the buzz on campus.

Public Engagement 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Public Engagement?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Public Engagement:
An environmental studies course works with partner organizations around Philadelphia, including an urban agriculture organization in Strawberry Mansion

Air & Climate 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Air & Climate?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Air & Climate:
Students passed two resolutions demanding the college carbon neutrality date be pushed forward to 2035. The preamble discussed the importance of carbon neutrality in fighting climate change. This was a substantial contribution to the institution's understanding of its own role in mitigating climate change.

Buildings  

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Buildings?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Buildings:
The Committee for Environmental Responsibility runs a "Do It In The Dark" competition pitting buildings against each other and collecting data from the buildings on energy usage to report out to the community. This furthers student understanding of the building-by-building energy impact of the school.

Energy 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Energy?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Energy:
A computer science, environmental studies department collaboration yielded a paper quantifying the carbon footprint of algorithms. This was a student-professor collaboration.

Food & Dining 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Food & Dining?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Food & Dining:
Introductory environmental studies courses tour the Haverfarm to gain an understanding of local food systems.

Grounds 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Grounds?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Grounds:
One Physics student is writing her thesis on light pollution with the goal of sending a set of recommendations to be implemented by the Grounds Department.

Purchasing 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Purchasing?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Purchasing:
The College through its Council on Sustainability & Social Responsibility, which includes students, developed a new sustainable purchasing policy.

Transportation 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Transportation?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Transportation:
The student-run bike share records patterns of use to determine best practices.

Waste 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Waste?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Waste:
An environmental studies course conducted a waste audit to estimate how well waste was being sorted between trash and recycling receptacles.

Water 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Water?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Water:
The Committee for Environmental Responsibility polled students for input into the best places to place water bottle filling stations. This resulted in an increased knowledge of demand for drinking water around campus

Coordination & Planning 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Coordination & Planning?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Coordination & Planning:
The Committee for Environmental Responsibility did a line-by-line audit of the Students Council budget. This taught then about the workings of the budgeting process, and they began to develop a praxis for cutting down the waste in the coordination and planning process.

Diversity & Affordability 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Diversity & Affordability?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Diversity & Affordability:
A linguistics course engages with linguistic diversity on campus.

Investment & Finance 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Investment & Finance?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Investment & Finance:
An economics course allowed students an opportunity to develop local "impact investing" proposals as a different mode in which to deploy college resources.

Wellbeing & Work 

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Wellbeing & Work?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Wellbeing & Work:
Students updated the Honor Code so that the Code reflects respect of staff and public spaces.

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s living laboratory program 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.