The Triangle

Issue date: 5/22/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Olivia Garrity

Eight Drexel Green committees presented their findings and recommendations for a Green Strategic Plan at the University May 18, with ways to implement sustainability into students' academic lives early on.

Carl "Tobey" Oxholm, the dean and chief executive officer of the Center for Graduate studies and chair of Drexel Green's Committee for Sustainability, said the various committees researched four main objectives over the last eight months, including reviewing recommendations by national organizations and evaluating how the suggestions could be applied at Drexel.

Oxholm said the committees also researched the progress of other schools on sustainability and made recommendations for actions Drexel could take to improve.

Kim Stott, senior consultant for talent management and organizational development for Human Resources, presented the findings of the Academics Committee.

"We compiled a list of courses which are sustainability-focused," Stott said. "We recommend a requiring a minimum of one sustainability course for students in any major."

The committee also recommended incorporating sustainability into the University 101 classes via a "module" that would help educate new students on the issue.

"We are also suggesting that when students come to Drexel, we evaluate their knowledge of sustainability, and then evaluate them again before they graduate, to see if what we're doing works," Stott said.

Five faculty members will travel to San Diego, Calif. for a conference to learn to implement sustainability into different disciplines.

"We believe in providing the faculty with the tools to teach sustainability," Stott said. "So when the faculty come together to talk about their courses, we want to promote working together across disciplines."

The Research Committee recommended having a "keyword-useable" sustainability database, according to Richard Cairncross, the committee's faculty co-chair.

"It would be very useful not only to identify faculty, but make internal and external connections for collaboration, consultation and funding opportunities," Cairncross, an associate professor of chemical engineering, said.

Both the research and academic committees recommended a center or institute for sustainability, complete with its own staff to oversee its progress on campus.

"We recommend the institute be staffed with 10 to 12 faculty members from Drexel, from a variety of disciplines, because sustainability is also interdisciplinary," Cairncross said.

Continued...

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