New Jersey Institute of Technology
AC-5: Immersive Experience

From the vantage of environmental sustainability: 1. Program Name: Honors First-Year Seminar, Campus Biodiversity Survey, Design Competition and Planting Program Description: Each year for the past five years, 140-160 Dorman Scholars learn about the importance of biodiversity, conduct a biodiversity survey of campus, redesign a portion of campus to make it more sustainable and more diverse, and plant last year's winning design. The designs produced by the first-year scholars are assessed first by the ADHC team (who lead the seminar sections) and select semi- finalists whose proposals are assessed by a combination of faculty in the Urban Ecology Lab, and members of the University Sustainability and Facilities teams. Semifinalists present at a program in the Spring, and a winning design is chosen and announced. That winning design provides the planting program for next year's class. To date, we have initiated gardens behind Honors Hall, on the north side of Eberhardt Hall, and on the Campus Center Roof. We are presently designing a garden for the greenspace next to the Summit St. Parking deck. 2. Program Name: Maneet Kaur & Sarabjit Singh ’02H, ’04 Honors Faculty Fellow in Agriculture and Climate Change Program Description: This faculty fellowship, currently held by Dr. Maria Stanko, Biology, offers a course, Food for a Hot Planet, that examines food production in the face of a changing climate. This course is one of our service-learning courses. The fellowship provides funding for the planting and maintenance of NJIT's Urban Food Forest designed and implemented by students taking the course. The food forest was initiated last Spring in front of Laurel Hall and provides an ongoing laboratory for community food production in an urban environment. From the vantage of sustainable communities: 1. Program Name: Newark Mayor's Scholars Program Description: Founded in 2018, the program offers an additional opportunity for residents of Newark to join the Albert Dorman Honors College through a test optional path based on their academic excellence and commitment to community. All Newark Mayor's Scholars participate in the Dorman Honors College City Leadership and Civic Engagement Program. 2. Program Name: City Leadership and Civic Engagement Program Program Description: The program connects scholars 60 hours of annual service to an honors education focussed on global social, health, and environmental challenges, with a particular interest in their local expression. Scholars take honors service-learning courses and work with community partners to design their own service program. 3. Program Name: Joan and Albert Dorman Community Education Fund Program Description: The fund provides grants to scholars who are doing educational work in the community. It recognizes the scholars most engaged in strengthening our community through STEM+ education. It has awarded scholars working to develop robotics clubs in the Newark school system, to teach local middle-schoolers about STEM+ careers, and scholars working with Newark Kids Code.