| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 54.99 |
| Liaison | Katherine Spector |
| Submission Date | March 5, 2021 |
State University of New York at Oswego
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Scott
Furlong Provost Vice President of Academic Affairs Office of the Provost |
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Campus Engagement?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Campus Engagement:
SUNY Oswego has a number of project in which it is using its areas/infrastructure for learning about sustainability.
The Rice Creek Field Station that is located a little over a mile from main campus is used extensively by students and faculty, particularly for our Biology program, but also Geology, Sustainability Studies and others.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Public Engagement?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Public Engagement:
The Rice Creek Field Station noted earlier is open to the general public for recreational and learning opportunities. This includes a variety of exhibits, summer campus, and walking trails noting a variety of sustainability topics.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Air & Climate?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Air & Climate:
As a campus that sits on the shores of Lake Ontario, the campus is well suited particularly through its Meteorology program to study climate and weather issues associated with lake effect
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Buildings?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Buildings:
See Rice Creek comments earlier.
Student interns in the Office of Sustainability have teamed up with student interns in the Major Projects office to create a virtual tour of the campus which highlights the sustainability features of the buildings and grounds (current and ongoing project).
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Energy?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Energy:
SUNY Oswego has labs for classes and research on renewable energy through our program in Electrical and Computer Engineering and also Physics. In addition, our Technology Mgt program also has labs and equipment for the study and installation of renewable energy.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Food & Dining?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Food & Dining:
In the Spring of 2019, the Student Association, interns in the Office and Sustainability, and staff members from our food and dining services worked together to eliminate non-essential plastics (straws, plastic cups, takeout containers) from the dining centers.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Grounds?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Grounds:
Using permaculture principles and techniques, the on-campus Permaculture Living Lab (PLL) mimics natural systems to create a thoughtfully designed landscape which maximizes beneficial interactions among plant, insect and animal species. This lab functions a lot like a forest, and in fact, permaculture techniques are often used to create "edible forest landscapes."
Students, faculty, staff and community members are collaborating to create a natural, productive learning space. The laboratory acts as a dynamic landscape for all visitors to observe, interact with and influence ecological processes. Upon maturity, the garden will provide community members with an abundance of nutrient-rich, organic food.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Purchasing?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Purchasing:
Former student interns in the Office of Sustianability presented a proposal for internal carbon pricing to accelerate our institutional goal of reaching carbon-neutrality by 2050. Through the implementation of this program, campus-wide understanding and appreciation for sustainable practices will be recognized.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Transportation?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Transportation:
Student teams in Computer Science 380 (Spring 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters) have worked on creating a carpooling application for use by the campus community with the goal of reducing scope 3 emissions related to transportation.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Waste?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Waste:
Student interns in the Office of Sustainability are performing a waste audit of the recycling efforts in the dorms. From the results of this audit, the policies, procedures and features of the recycling rooms will be re-vamped.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Water?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Water:
Our Biology, Chemistry, and Geology programs take full advantage of our location on the shores of Lake Ontario. The Environmental Research Center, for example, specializes in the analysis of emerging and legacy contaminants in a variety of environmental matrices, and has two environmental chemistry laboratories equipped with research-grade analytical instrumentation for sample preparation and the measurement of organic contaminants in the environment. Past studies conducted in the lab include the analysis of native Alaskan foods and The Great Lakes Fish Monitoring Program - Lake Ontario Air Deposition Study (LOADS).
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Coordination & Planning?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Coordination & Planning:
Five students serve on the Strategic Planning Advisory Board. This board works to articulate the college's strategic plan which includes these priorities: Student Success
Academic and Creative Excellence
Inclusive Community
Sustainable Institution
Partnerships
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Diversity & Affordability?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Diversity & Affordability:
In 2019, the Student Association at SUNY Oswego drafted and passed the Women's Center Period Act resolution that required the institution to allocate funds each semester to provide students with free menstrual products in all women's and gender-neutral bathrooms, as well as in one-third of all men'bathrooms.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Investment & Finance?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Investment & Finance:
Applied student learning happens in a living laboratory for Investment and Finance students in both curricular and extra-curricular activities. In FIN 340, Financial Statement Analysis, student teams forecast financial statements for seven renewable energy companies and do a live debate about the companies’ equity valuations as an end-of-semester assessment. In FIN 447, Seminar in Commercial Lending, students in a case study argue whether to approve or deny a loan to a firm that services the natural gas hydrofracturing industry, mentored by guest speakers from the banking industry and taking into account recent controversy about lending to the fossil fuel industry. Finally, in an extra-curricular activity, students in the Investment Club compared the fossil fuel industry outlook with the renewable energy industry outlook. They sold their $5,000 fossil fuel holdings and invested the proceeds in renewable energy stocks out of their total portfolio of about $450,000.
Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Wellbeing & Work?:
A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Wellbeing & Work:
UNY Oswego has implemented multiple programs that offer students an opportunity to work with faculty to plan, implement and evaluate health and wellbeing for students, faculty and staff. Specifically, the Department of Health Promotion and Wellness offers a program called Be Well NOW. This program utilizes student health coaches who conduct weekly group coaching sessions in our wellness lab and classrooms in order to assist undergraduate students with making positive behavior changes while at Oswego and beyond. The program focus on implementing positive changes in social, emotional, physical and intellectual wellbeing. The program runs every semester.
Oswego offers a worksite wellness program called Discover Wellness which also utilizes student research assistants to assist faculty with planning, implementing and evaluating worksite wellness programs for faculty and staff. Both of these programs offer various internship opportunities for students who plan to be health and wellness educators in the future.
The department also offers a peer educator course (HSC 250). In this course, students work with the campus health educator to promote healthy behaviors across campus. After successfully completing the course, the students become certified peer educators.
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:
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