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Colby College

Colby College
Campus Category: 
Four year and graduate institutions under 5,000 student FTE

Contact Information

William
Wilson
Director
Institutional Research
Education and Research:

Colby’s Strategic Plan identified “The reinforcement of Colby's Environmental Studies Program, in both its policy and scientific formations, including a sustainable campus greening initiative” as a strategic objective. Environmental Studies (ES) program faculty and students are key contributors to Colby’s signature greening initiatives, including energy and emissions reductions, food and waste initiatives, and community engagement.

Colby’s ES Program, created in 1971, is one of the oldest in the country. Faculty from many departments and programs representing every academic division of the College teach courses related to sustainability topics. The number of ES majors has grown from five in 1995-1996 to more than 80 currently. The number of minors in the ES Program is currently around 40. ES is the second-largest interdisciplinary major and among the top ten in number of majors per program/department. In addition approximately 30 students major in one of the environmental science concentrations in biology or chemistry. The potential for growth in students interested in sustainability is high. Data from the Admissions Office show a growing number of applicants with an interest in the environment, and last year’s applications showed the highest level of interest in the environment observed by that office.

Several components of our curriculum have served as national models for undergraduate environmental education, including an emphasis on the pedagogy of project-based learning and education through research developed with and recognized by major grants from the National Science Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and others. Students are immersed in research experiences, data analysis and presentation, civic engagement, and developing communication and leadership skills beginning with our introductory ES courses and continuing through the senior ES capstone courses.

Through the ES Program and Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement, we have a strong civic engagement component in the curriculum and work closely with local and state communities and organizations, including annual studies of lakes in the region, the state of Maine’s environment, environmental health, and mapping the environment of Maine with Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

Colby faculty members are recognized nationally and internationally for their scholarship related to environmental economics, ecology, environmental chemistry, biodiversity conservation, energy, climate change, environmental policy, environmental history, and other sustainability topics. Students are engaged in collaborative research with faculty, as well as scholarship related to sustainability in courses and independent research. Colby recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Undergraduate Research Symposium, and ES is one of the largest contributors. Faculty development and integrated studies grants have encouraged new courses with sustainability themes, collaborative teaching about sustainability takes place across disciplines, and Colby has received major grants to hire postdoctoral fellows to develop new teaching and research initiatives related to environmental science, GIS, environmental justice, and international environmental human rights.

The ES Program supports co-curricular efforts. It fosters community behavioral change through environmental education, and it promotes climate change awareness working with the Green House, student organizations such as the Environmental Coalition and Environmental Studies Club, the Environmental Advisory Group, and other departments and programs.

Campus Operations:

Green Buildings

  • Colby’s policy requires all new construction to be built to at least LEED-Silver standards. Four buildings are LEED certified; another is under review.
  • Renovation projects follow sustainable principles and attain LEED certification whenever possible. Renovations regularly implement sustainable initiatives including: high efficiency pumps, motors, and variable speed drives; window replacements; heat recovery; and recycling of construction waste.
  • All five project managers in the Physical Plant Department are LEED-accredited professionals.

Green Power

  • Since 2003 Colby has purchased 100-percent renewable electricity. The EPA named Colby a Green Power Conference Champion in 2007-08 and 2008-09, and both years Colby had the highest percentage use nationwide among all participating schools.
  • Implementation of biomass technology in our central heating plant is in the feasibility phase. Currently oil there is preheated and waste heat powers a cogeneration turbine.

Conservation

  • Student workers monitor classroom buildings at night to keep windows and doors closed, lights off, etc., for conservation.
  • Lights in the field house and other spaces have been converted to T-5 and other high-efficiency bulbs.
  • Computers are set to conserve power.
  • Vend-mizers power down many vending machines. Motion-detection switches in many locations conserve power.

Transportation

  • The president’s vehicle is a hybrid. Other hybrid and electric vehicles are used on campus.
  • Colby provides a shuttle service to reduce individual student trips to town.
  • Starting in 2008 public bus service directly connects the campus to regional travel hubs.

Human Resources

  • Colby employs an environmental compliance officer full time and a sustainability coordinator. One full-time recycling coordinator slot is filled by multiple students. Other paid, part-time student positions include environmental intern, RESCUE coordinator, energy conservation clerk.

Dining

  • Twenty percent of food is purchased locally.
  • Onions, garlic, and greens from a campus garden are served.
  • Dining trays were eliminated, reducing food waste and wash water.
  • More than 84 tons of pre- and post-consumer food waste is composted annually.

Recycling

  • On average, more than 15 tons of paper and cardboard are recycled monthly.
  • Students collected 68,631 pounds of recycling for the 2008 Recyclemania, with the assistance of college employees.
  • All grass clippings and leaves are recycled.
  • Recent construction projects diverted nearly 90 percent of construction waste by recycling.
  • Cans, bottles, tins, and plastics are recycled from residence halls.
  • The end-of-year RESCUE program keeps items out of the waste stream. Fall sales reduce purchases of new items by new students.

Student Engagement

  • Four students are members of the Environmental Advisory Group.
  • The Environmental Studies Club and Environmental Coalition are popular, active organizations.
  • The president, Physical Plant Department, and Dining Services hold open meetings to discuss sustainability.
  • A residential “Green House” emphasizes student awareness and engagement, providing events and information about sustainability.
  • Students plan an ambitious Earth Week program.
  • Students initiated “green graduation,” which includes local food, eco-friendly decorations, recycling, composting, and use of bulk beverages to reduce bottles and cans.

 

Administration and Finance:

Colby has a proud history of providing sustainability leadership—on campus, in local communities, throughout Maine and New England, and in higher education. Recently state, regional, and national awards have recognized that leadership.

President William D. Adams has signed the Presidents’ Climate Challenge as well as the state of Maine’s Governor’s Carbon Challenge. Campus Sustainability and Resource Conservation is one of seven core-value statements articulated in the College catalogue and online. Colby’s decision in 2003 to purchase electricity only from 100-percent renewable sources was widely credited with creating the market for others seeking green electricity contracts in Maine. Our Environmental Advisory Group (EAG) meets bi-weekly to advise the College on issues of environmental sustainability.

Public Engagement

  • Mid-Maine Sustainability Coalition. A grassroots initiative created to conserve resources, sustain the environment, and promote economic prosperity for the mid-Maine region, the coalition was created as the result of Colby students’ efforts, under the supervision of Colby’s academic Environmental Studies (ES) Program, to catalyze action on community sustainability issues. During the summer of 2009, five student interns supervised by the ES faculty are working with municipal governments and community groups to build sustainability capacity and momentum in Waterville and several nearby towns.
  • Focus the Nation. A dedicated group of students, including many ES majors, organized local events for Focus the Nation, a national teach-in and action day held Feb. 6, 2009. The mission of Focus the Nation is to accelerate the transition to a more just and prosperous clean energy future to combat the effects of climate change.
  • America's Energy Future Forum. On April 25, 2009, ES students and Environmental Coalition members organized America's Energy Future Forum, part of a nationwide collaboration with Focus the Nation, Greenpeace and the Sierra Student Coalition. More than 50 members of the local community convened with officials to discuss solutions for creating a clean energy economy. Student leaders met with aides to Senator Susan Collins and Congressman Mike Michaud after the forum to press for strong climate legislation from the United States.

Investment

Access and Affordability

  • Colby no longer expects students to borrow to pay college costs. Beginning in 2008-2009, Colby stopped assigning loans to the aid packages of students who need financial assistance as determined by the College, instead replacing former loan amounts with grants that don’t have to be repaid.

 

Please email resources@aashe.org with any suggestions, additions or updates.