New Mexico State University
AC-5: Immersive Experience

1. "NMSU students travel to Hawaii to study climate change" The trip is part of the Sundt Honors Seminar course with NMSU Biology Regents Professor Michele Nishiguchi. The students were asked to break down what they thought were important topics in terms of climate change. They were given lectures on the basics of what was going on globally, and then in particular, in Hawaii. When they returned the sustainability manager met with them to talk about what they learned and how they could apply their knowledge to working on topics related to climate change either in their jobs or their schooling. 2. “NMSU’s partnership with La Semilla project earns national recognition from APLU” New Mexico State University is again being nationally recognized for its institutional commitment to community engagement. The award, established in partnership with the Engagement Scholarship Consortium and with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, recognizes programs that demonstrate how colleges and universities have redesigned their learning, discovery and engagement missions to become even more involved with their communities. La Semilla Food Center was established in 2010 with a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Over six years, La Semilla has taught hundreds of elementary and middle school students how to grow and cook fresh food while establishing a 14-acre education and demonstration farm in Anthony, New Mexico. “This is what we are about as a land-grant institution,” Kevin Boberg, NMSU VP for Economic Development, said. “This collaboration crosses from students to faculty and back again – likewise between community and campus. Together, they provide the ingredients for sustainability in our region.” http://www.grass-roots-press.com/2016/06/21/nmsu%C2%92s-partnership-with-la-semilla-project-earns-national-recognition-from-aplu/

A number of other project-based learning or service learning experiences that are sustainability focused or sustainability related are offered in Anthropology, English/Rhetoric, Geography, Sociology, Government, and Agricultural Economics. Our business courses in sustainability are immersive classes where the students do semester-long sustainability-related projects with an actual client.