| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 49.37 |
| Liaison | Beth Klein |
| Submission Date | Feb. 5, 2025 |
State University of New York at Cortland
EN-7: Continuing Education
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.00 / 3.00 |
Megan
Swing Energy and Sustainability Engagement Coordinator Sustainability Office |
7.1 Continuing education offerings in sustainability
Narrative and/or website URL providing an overview of the sustainability-focused continuing education course offerings:
The Extended Learning Office provides academic opportunities that extend beyond the traditional fall and spring college semesters. We assist current SUNY Cortland students, visiting students and community members interested in credit and non-credit experiences, with a primary focus in winter and summer.
Sustainability focused Extended Learning classes include:
- EDU 129: Introduction to Sustainability and Environmental Justice- This course is intended to highlight the intersection of pressing 21st century social, economic, and environmental issues and to provide a systems-thinking foundation for individual and collective responses to emerging polycrises.
Discussions, Documentary Showings, Lectures and Seminars:
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Kiss the Ground, documentary showing, The documentary focuses, by regenerating the world’s soils, we can completely and rapidly stabilize Earth’s climate, restore lost ecosystems and create abundant food supplies. The film illustrates how, by drawing down atmospheric carbon, soil is the missing piece of the climate puzzle, through the use of compelling graphics and visuals and with NASA and NOAA footage. The movie profiles scientists, farmers and environmentalists as they explore the important role healthier soil plays in better human and planetary health. (November 2023)
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Lecture: Women in India's Emerging 'Ecological Public': Presented by LeRose Veera D’Souza. In India, ecological concerns began to re-emerge through articulate social movements in 1970s. These movements charted a model of development to replace the ill-conceived resource intensive development path that India had endorsed. They brought to light the indiscriminate ecological destruction and reclaimed the role of locals in protecting the environment. What are the distinct peoples’ participatory movements that emerged to conserve ecology in India? How did it promote significant policy initiatives at the level of government? How do women in India carry forward the UN mandate to protect, restore and promote the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, manage forests, combat desertification, prevent and reverse land degradation and biodiversity loss? This event is free and open to the public. (November 2023)
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Three Sisters Garden and Conversation with Ethan Tyo: SUNY Cortland welcomes Ethan Tyo, Akwesasne Mohawk, to discuss Indigenous foodways, sustainability, and land ethics, at the Model Garden. SUNY Cortland welcomes Ethan Tyo (Akwesasne Mohawk) to discuss Indigenous foodways, sustainability, and land ethics. Tyo holds a master’s degree in Food Studies from Syracuse University and is the Assistant Director of Native American an Indigenous Student Initiatives in the Multicultural Resource Center at SUNY Binghamton. The visit will mark the initial planting and dedication of a Three Sisters Garden at SUNY Cortland in the garden plot between Cornish Hall and Memorial Library. Members of the Cortland community are encouraged to join in the events to hear more about the Three Sisters, an agricultural method traditional to the Haudenosaunee, and to learn about Tyo’s efforts to bring knowledge of Indigenous food and agricultural practices to communities across upstate New York. Tyo’s visit has been supported and facilitated by the Sustainability Office, the Native American Studies Program, and Cortland Auxiliary Services, and closes the Cultural and Intellectual Climate Committee’s year-long event series on the theme of “Food." (May 2024)
Does the institution have at least one continuing education offering that is focused on a topic other than sustainability, but incorporates sustainability content or addresses a sustainability challenge?:
Narrative and/or website URL providing an overview of the institution’s continuing education offerings that incorporate sustainability content or address sustainability challenges:
The Community Roundtable series provides programs on diverse intellectual, regional and cultural topics of interest to College faculty and staff and community members. Sponsored by the President’s Office, the Community Roundtable is free and open to the public. Registration is not required.
The Cultural and Intellectual Climate Committee (CICC) is an all-campus committee of faculty and staff. Each year members of the Committee choose a theme to frame a year-long series of lectures, discussions, film screenings, and art exhibitions. This theme is meant to promote cultural life on campus and help the campus and Cortland community engage in discussions connected to issues relevant to today's world.
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2024/25 Academic Year Theme: Air
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Like Food, Air will afford our community the opportunity to explore a myriad of interdisciplinary topics. From concrete examinations of air pollution, carbon sequestration, and atmospheric changes to substantially more abstract conversations. For instance, the late neuroscientist Dr. Paul Kalanithi reflected on the question when does “breath become air” as he struggled to understand his life after he was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. From a space of such spiritual and metaphysical interpretations, we might also exam air as a holder or possessor of human emotions. When, for instance, is love or tension in the air? Is there an air of secrecy or foreboding. What comes out of thin air? Money, perhaps? Air also helps move the information we need as Wi-Fi and radio waves move invisibly all around us.
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Events:
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Tai Chi Grandmaster Dr. Jesse Tsao is an internationally recognized expert in Tai Chi, Qigong, and traditional Chinese medicine. Dr. Tsao will give a public lecture and demonstration of tai chi. This event will explore the intersection of breath (qi) and air as a life-sustaining force, delving into the spiritual and metaphysical dimensions of air within Tai Chi practice. The demonstration will highlight how the flow of air and breath is central to the physical movements of Tai Chi. The lecture will be free and open to the public. (October 2024)
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Food is one of the most interdisciplinary themes in our daily lives. From the science of agricultural practices to the economics of food systems, from the cultural values that surround family recipes to the histories behind culinary traditions, food unites communities as well as academic fields. Food can also act as a window into some of the largest crises of our time, such as the need for fostering sustainable ecosystems, the precarity of global food pathways in the face of climate change, widespread hunger and famine, food deserts, and inequalities of access to healthy nutrition. This academic year, the Cultural Intellectual Climate Committee will partner with local groups, including the Cortland Food Project, to explore the many facets of Food on our campus and in our communities. Building on SUNY Cortland’s commitment to green initiatives, we hope that the shared topic of Food will not only provide “food for thought,” but also that it will inspire collaborative actions as we work together toward a nourishing and sustainable future.
- Events
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- Thursday, Sept. 7, 4 p.m. - Old Main, Room 220 (the Colloquium). Teaching Braiding Sweetgrass: Classroom Contexts, Lesson Plans, and Learning Objectives.
- Thursday, Oct 5, 8 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. - Park Center Hall of Fame Room. A Community Roundtable: Addressing food insecurity in Cortland County.
- Thursday, Oct 12, 1 p.m. - Old Main Room 220 (the Colloquium). Sandwich Seminar: The SUNY Cortland Cupboard.
- Thursday March 28, 4:30-6:00 p.m. Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge. Women in the Food System: Growing healthy people and environments - We will be joined by Kate Downes Project Manager Seven Valleys Health Coalition, Bryn Carr Director of Cortland Collectives Impact Initiatives and owner manager of Wensleydale Cottage Farm, and Sienna Senn Registered Dietician at Guthrie Medical Center to discuss their food focused work in our community.
- Monday April 8, 5:30-6:45 p.m. Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge. Local Foods, Local Projects - join us to discuss community food systems projects and interventions with Mayor McCabe of the Village of Homer, Director of TC3 Farm Todd McLane, Seven Valleys Health Coalition's Food Rescue Coordinator Hannah Gibbons-Arthur and owner operator of Freetown Food Forest Karlyn Fendya.
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Discussions and Seminars:
- Earth Week Event, Environmental political strategy: policy roundtable by United University Professions to strategize about persuading Albany lawmakers to reduce SUNY’s carbon footprint, expand degrees and training for green jobs, establish battery storage pilot programs on campuses and other sustainable initiatives. (April 2021)
- Green Days Sandwich Seminar: LEED: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, presented by Matthew Brubaker, Facilities Operations and Services, and Rob Shutts, interim co-director of Facilities Planning Design and Construction (April 2021)
- Lecture: Pollinator declines: What you can do: Lecture: "Pollinator declines: What we know and what YOU can do," presented by Dr. Scott McArt, Cornell University (October 2022)
- Online Lecture: Doug Tallamy: A Chickadee’s Guide to Gardening. Doug Tallamy is a best-selling author, podcaster and scientist at the University of Delaware. His books include Nature's Best Hope, The Nature of Oaks, and Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants. Tallamy will explain how native plants support wildlife better than plants that evolved elsewhere. In the process he shows how sharing our spaces with other living things will enhance our pleasurable garden experiences. (October 2023)
- Plastic Pollution and the Road to Activism: Kimberly Cameron ’95, a plant biologist, entrepreneur, educator and environmental activist who lives her own ideals, has quite a few ideas on what ordinary people can do about the significant human harm from plastics in their environment. Cameron, a member of the national Beyond Plastics Volunteer Speakers Bureau, will discuss this and other various environmental topics. The event is free and open to the campus community. (April 2024)
- Lecture: Transition to ‘Green Energy’ in Fragile States, presented by Sameer Hairan, sustainability scholar-in-residence at SUNY Cortland's Clark Center for Global Engagement. Globally, around 800 million people still lack access to energy for basic needs, with around 90% of them residing in fragile states. An additional 1 billion people lack access to reliable energy in similar contexts. This is a critical obstacle for ensuring global access to affordable, sustainable, and reliable energy. The transition to renewable energy sources and the phasing out of fossil fuels to achieve net zero emissions are essential steps toward meeting these targets. This presentation aims to highlight major challenges in fragile states focusing on the energy sector. Sameer Hairan is Sustainability Scholar-in-Residence with Clark Center for Global Engagement and teaches in the Physics Department. He is also a Fulbright scholar, holding a Master of Science degree in Sustainable Energy Systems from SUNY Cortland, and a Bachelor of Technology degree in Electrical Engineering from India. He worked in policymaking, engineering, and management posts in reputable organizations including an electric utility in a fragile state. He researches energy transition in the Fragile States and his interest also lies in inter-regional connectivity and distributed energy resources (DERs). This event is free and open to the public. This event is organized by the Clark Center for Global Engagement & the International Studies Program. (April 2024)
- Energy Discussion: Energy Reduction Pathways: What we learn by doing, hosted by the Physics Department and Sustainability Office. Presented by Dom Mantella, Dragon Solar, Matthew J. Brubaker, SUNY Cortland and Carter Strickland, SUNY System. Much of the New York State infrastructure is at an inflection point, SUNY Cortland’s campus is no exception. In 2019, the State passed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), in 2022 Governor Hochul issued Executive Order 22 with a mandate for State Agencies to Lead by Example in implementing various components imbedded within the CLCPA. This presentation will touch on a the main components of the CLCPA, Executive Order 22, and how the Executive Order 22 is playing out here at SUNY Cortland in the form of our Clean Energy Master Plan that will reduce SUNY Cortland’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions to 85% below 1990 levels by 2033 (GOAL). This plan has impacts across campus, join us to see how the plan was developed, next steps, and opportunities across the state to engage in Climate Action. This discussion is open to all campus community. (April 2024)
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