Middlebury College
EN-3: Student Life
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Jack
Byrne Director of Sustainability Integration Environmental Affair |
Does the institution have an active student group focused on sustainability?:
Name and a brief description of the active student groups focused on sustainability:
Middlebury has many active student-governed groups focusing on various aspects of sustainability, from environmental activism to food issues. The groups are described below.
The Middlebury Mountain Club regularly organizes weekend outdoor trips for Middlebury students. Students, faculty, and staff can rent equipment from the MMC.
Weybridge House is the Sustainable Food Studies House. Weybridge residents preserve food from within a 100 miles of the house. Food is eaten by residents and served to the campus community at several open dinners and events each week.
The Middlebury Bike Shop provides free help fixing, taking apart, and building bicycles of all kinds. At the beginning of every year, the Bike Shop organizes a used bike sale for the campus community.
The SGA Environmental Affairs Committee works on environmental issues relevant to students, faculty, and staff on campus.
The Sunday Night Environmental Group is an open-space forum for students to express their ideas and find support for initiatives concerning political, social, and environmental activism.
The Middlebury Socially Responsible Investment Club promotes social and environmental justice through Middlebury’s endowment.
Wild Midd is an activist, educational or hands-on approach to bring students and student groups together to create meaningful experiences for people in the outdoors as well as encourage the protection of our natural lands.
JUNTOS is a Middlebury College student organization that works to build community alliances and support with migrant farmworkers and their families in Vermont.
http://www.middlebury.edu/sustainability/get-involved/student-groups
Does the institution have a garden, farm, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery program, or an urban agriculture project where students are able to gain experience in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems?:
A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:
The Knoll, our 1 acre organically managed garden part-time Farm Educator who works with students during the growing season to plan, plant, maintain, and harvest garden products during. During the off-season, she advises student groups related to food. She also manages the College FoodWorks program and serves as a focal point for the Vermont location of FoodWorks.
http://www.middlebury.edu/sustainability/operations-and-action/global-food-program
Does the institution have a student-run enterprise that includes sustainability as part of its mission statement or stated purpose?:
A brief description of the student-run enterprises:
There is a student-run bike shop for which students fix abandoned bikes and earn revenue by selling them at a bike sale every semester.
5 students each year live in 2 Solar Decathlon houses on campus and provide free programming to the campus community about sustainable living and solar energy.
Share to wear is a peer-to-peer clothing rental exchange service–we create one accessible and affordable closet for all students on a college campus to share.
Does the institution have a sustainable investment fund, green revolving fund, or sustainable microfinance initiative through which students can develop socially, environmentally and fiscally responsible investment and financial skills?:
A brief description of the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives:
In August of 2013, President Ron Liebowitz issued a statement on divestment and shared the following actions on which the college will focus:
First, the Investment Committee of the board, including its student members, will work to develop a set of stronger ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance) principles that we can apply to our investment portfolio, both to identify those companies and managers who invest with certain principles in mind and those who consistently do not. As part of this effort, we will intensify our ongoing review of the College’s investment portfolio.
Second, we will create ESG guidelines to help monitor investments and operations at our own campus in Vermont. We will issue periodic reports on our performance.
And third, we will increase significantly the amount of the endowment directed toward ESG investments, including those focused on clean energy, green building projects, and other efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and benefit the environment.
The student run, Socially Responsible Investment club announced in January 2014 that is has created a new sub-group, the Research and Investment in Social Equity (RISE) fund, that will focus on investing $150,000 of the College’s endowment in companies that demonstrate strength in sustainability and social responsibility in addition to considering traditional financial indicators.
Has the institution hosted a conference, speaker series, symposium, or similar event focused on sustainability during the previous three years that had students as the intended audience?:
A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia, or similar events focused on sustainability:
Environmental Studies hosts the Howard E. Woodin Colloquium Series every Thursday during the school year. Students, faculty, staff, and community members come together over lunch to hear from a broad range of speakers — faculty, alumni, environmental professionals, and students — as they cover a variety of conservation and environmental topics. Another sustainability event is the Scott A. Margolin Lecture in Environmental Affairs, an annual lecture with an interdisciplinary approach to the natural environment and human interaction with it. Environmental Affairs also hosts various sustainability-related speakers and film screenings throughout the year. Students who receive Sustainable Study Abroad Grants report on their projects at a symposium every semester.
Has the institution hosted a cultural arts event, installation, or performance focused on sustainability with the previous three years that had students as the intended audience?:
A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations, or performances focused on sustainability:
Recent example:
Imagine a perennial future by joining the 2nd annual Conversations in Ag and Culture Conference on regeneration, reciprocity, relationship, and recovery in the Champlain Valley and beyond. Down to Earth: Nourishing Change in the Champlain Valley will feature keynote speaker Dr. Aubrey Streit Krug, director of The Land Institute’s Ecosphere Studies Program, as well as a panel representing the five spheres of the New Perennials Project: Food & Agriculture, Creative Arts, Education, Faith, and Healing Arts.
The College frequently hosts films having to do with sustainability, for example Forgotten Farms.
Many of Middlebury's Art in Public Places artworks have a sustainability connection and are visible throughout campus. http://www.middlebury.edu/arts/campus
Does the institution have a wilderness or outdoors program that follow Leave No Trace principles?:
A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:
The Middlebury Outdoors Program and the Middlebury Mountain Club both offer numerous opportunities for students to appreciate nature, develop skills in a wide range of outdoor activities and how to practice Leave No Trace principles. The Outdoors program offers:
Outdoor Skills Courses - PE credit-bearing courses in a wide variety of outdoor activities. Canoeing and kayaking, rock and ice climbing, telemark skiing, backpacking, and winter camping are among the courses offered.
Wilderness First Aid Courses - essential knowledge for all outdoor leaders, as well as those interested in personal adventures. MOP sponsors both Wilderness First Aid (WFA) and Wilderness First Responder (WFR) courses taught by SOLO.
February Outdoor Orientation- introduces incoming February first-years to their new home here in Vermont. Small groups of first years and upper class leaders venture into the mountains surrounding campus on skis and snowshoe for overnight trips. FOO! provides a wonderful opportunity to get to know other first years and establish relationships that can help ease the transition to life at Middlebury.
Expeditions - periodic trips venturing beyond our typical programming areas in New England and New York. These trips typically occur during the various recesses in our academic calendar.
Commons-Based Outdoor Excursions - aimed at building community within the Commons, and providing healthy and invigorating recreational opportunities, these day-long adventures help small groups of commons residents explore our natural surroundings.
Faculty Support - for faculty interested in integrating outdoor experiences into their curriculum. MOP helps plan logistics, choose sites, and coordinate outdoor leaders.
The Middlebury Mountain Club (MMC) is Middlebury’s largest and oldest student organization. The club is entirely organized and operated by students. The MMC sponsors and encourages Middlebury students to experience and enjoy the out-of-doors responsibly (using Leave No Trace principles), offering year-round activities throughout Vermont, the Adirondacks, and beyond. The Mountain Club's commitment to expanding access to outdoor adventure includes trips for all abilities, free equipment rental, and skill-building workshops. Additionally, the club hosts annual community events, sponsors environmentally-themed presentations and symposia, and screens films.
Has the institution had a sustainability-focused theme chosen for a themed semester, year, or first-year experience during the previous three years?:
A brief description of the sustainability-focused themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:
Two first-years dorms are branded as "Energy2028" dorms and are being used as living laboratories for sustainability. Aside from weekly programming focused on sustainability, we also offer tours of our energy system to residents of these two dorms.
Does the institution have a program through which students can learn sustainable life skills?:
A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
The Weybridge Environmental House is home to students who seek to inform themselves and the College community about pressing environmental issues. House members form a community of supportive peers with a shared interest in examining our role as humans within greater natural systems. They also seek to minimize their negative impact on the environment. Through faculty discussion dinners, lectures, hikes, letter-writing campaigns, and networking with other college environmental houses, Weybridgers strive to live responsibly. Weybridge has a unique meal plan. Instead of going to the college dining halls, residents order food in bulk from the main dining hall and cook for themselves as a community. They also supplement their vegetarian diet with a harvest from the house's organic vegetable and herb garden. Weybridge houses approximately 10 students each year.
http://www.middlebury.edu/taxonomy/term/7531
Koru Mindfulness is an evidence-based curriculum found to have significant benefits on sleep, perceived stress, mindfulness, and self-compassion for students, faculty and staff. Regular workshops and orograms are offered throughout the year.
Does the institution offer sustainability-focused student employment opportunities?:
A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:
The Office of Sustainability Integration employs roughly 30 interns per year.
Every summer an intern completes the Greenhouse Gas Inventory. Other recent intern projects include developing a sustainability themed graphic novel, researching alternative transportation options around Middlebury and ways of promoting them, helping launch Middlebury's pilot energy literacy campaign, contributing to the collection of STARS data, and researching sustainability strategies and methods of accounting for transportation GHG emissions.
http://www.middlebury.edu/sustainability/get-involved/sustainable-solutions-lab
Does the institution have a graduation pledge through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions?:
A brief description of the graduation pledge(s):
A brief description of other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives that do not fall into one of the above categories:
Representatives from athletic teams choose to be sustainability liaisons as part of the Green Panther Challenge. They make sure that all waste is properly disposed of during trips.
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.