Pomona College
Contact Information
Education and Research:
Student Affairs programming is infused with sustainability values from the first day a student arrives on campus, including workshops, seminars, presentations, and programs for incoming students and residence hall staff (including RAs). Throughout the year there are lectures, film showings, and events that focus on sustainability, from social events sponsored by student organizations (organic dinners, parties, teach-ins, art shows, and conservation competitions) to prominent speakers and workshops spearheaded by the administration. These events focus on everything from campus-based to global issues. The College’s Sustainability Integration Office also administers a variety of programs, including student and staff-faculty email newsletters featuring campus events and issues as well as major news headlines. The office also runs a comprehensive website and prepares presentations and talks for staff and faculty events.
We have an Environmental Analysis program with 11 concentrations (Biology; Chemistry; Engineering and Physics; Ethics; Geology; Human Behavior; Mathematical Analysis; Policy; Society and Development; Race, Class, Gender and the Environment; Environmental Design). The Program also offers a minor and is one of the most popular majors at the College. It offers a variety of coursework in a wide variety of sustainability-related topics and issues, as well as opportunities for service-learning. The EA program relies heavily on the on-campus Organic Farm as an outdoor classroom and laboratory in techniques of sustainable agriculture and food systems.
Our extremely popular outdoor activities program provides opportunities for students to connect with and learn more about the regional environment through backpacking, sailing, biking, and other activities. Orientation Adventure is a required program for incoming students that takes them on trips prior to the start of their first year.
Pomona’s Summer Undergraduate Research Program has funded much environmental research. In summer 2008, student research subjects included: Water Scarcity and Pollution: Indian Wetlands; Vicuna Conservation and Management: South Peru; Mining History: Stanley, ND; Habitat Restoration of California Coastal Sagescrub; Floricultural Industry in Colombia.
Our faculty is full of leaders in sustainability-related fields, including authors, speakers, grant recipients, and policy leaders in issues of land use, climate change, environmental chemistry, and water resources. For instance, Prof. Rick Worthington is coordinating U.S. participation in World Wide Views, a lead to Copenhagen international talks to set environmental standards focused on carbon emissions. Dr. Rick Hazlett is co-author of The American West at Risk: Science, Myths, and the Politics of Land Abuse and Recovery, which Amazon.com recently named a 2008 Best Book in Outdoors & Nature and Dr. David Oxtoby, President of Pomona College, is an environmental chemist who focuses on the science of climate change.
Campus Operations:
Green Building Standards for all new construction and renovation have been in place since 2002, and Campus Planning is required to identify sustainability objectives for every project. 10% of our square-footage is LEED certified, with two Gold and one Silver certified buildings. In May we broke ground on a 150-bed dorm to be Gold-certified.
We've purchased renewable energy credits for 4.5% of our electricity use, and have a total of 92 kW of photovoltaic power currently installed. A student-built 1 kW mobile solar station is available to power events on campus and we are pursuing a number of new solar projects. We have placed laundry drying racks in almost every laundry room on campus, and laundry racks are available for free checkout. Students can also check out CFL bulbs for their rooms.
We have reduced our total water use of the past five years through the use of efficient irrigation and plumbing equipment. 30% of landscaping is not irrigated and 22% drip irrigated, and we continue to change our landscaping palettes and equipment. Sensors and a weather station prevent watering when unnecessary, and a new project under construction will channel almost half of the stormwater runoff on campus into the campus’ natural area for filtration back into the aquifer.
60% of dining hall produce is grown within 150 miles of campus and much is organic. All dairy, eggs, and bread products are local and meat is packaged locally, and all seafood is in accordance with the Monterey Bay Aquarium program. We compost all non-meat or -dairy scraps at the Farm, and students can check out a free compost bucket for their rooms. All disposable diningware is compostable.
The Organic Farm features 1.5 acres of garden, a cob oven, a solar dehydrator, a bee hive, a chicken coop, and an innovative Earth Dome building built completely by students and alumni. Farm student staff hold events and meals throughout the year.
We require that offices purchase recycled paper and EnergyStar appliances. All paper used for publications is FSC-certified. Housekeeping operates a 100% green program, with green chemicals, reusable cloths, 100% recycled-content paper products, and foam soap dispensers.
The College has 9 Zipcars, and provides discounted or free use to students. We also provide group transportation options to minimize the need for personal cars, and this year freshman cannot bring cars. Green Bikes provides free bike loans and labor for repairs, and we have folding and mountain bikes that can be checked out daily. We also provide employees $100/month for transit expenses and pay $2 for every day they do not drive alone to campus.
Every classroom, office, and dorm room has a recycling bin and we also have a dropsite for a variety of other items (e.g. electronics, CDs, batteries, ink cartridges). Unwanted items from upgrades or renovations are donated through IRN, and we collect all reusable items left by students at the end of the year and donate them or sell them back to students.
Administration and Finance:
The President’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability (PACS) produces yearly recommendations for the President and the full-time Director of the Sustainability Integration Office (SIO) develops, administers, and assesses sustainability-related programs and projects at the College. The SIO student staff develops and manages a variety of programs including the student and staff-faculty newsletters, orientation programming, the checkout program, and others. Over the past three years, the Presidents Sustainability Fund, administered by PACS, has given a total of $30,000 student-led sustainability projects including laundry drying racks and compost buckets for students and the mobile solar station.
The 2009 Faculty-Trustee Retreat (a weekend workshop for faculty and trustees) was focused entirely on sustainability, featuring high-profile speakers and sessions on College-related sustainability issues. The Board of Trustees requests quarterly updates on sustainability programs, and the SIO will present its first Sustainability Annual Report in October 2009. The College has had an Environmental Policy since 2002, and in May 2009 the Board approved an update that requires the College to consider sustainability in budgetary, planning, and curricular decisions, secures funding for the SIO, and requires sustainability objectives for every building project.
The College has been a signatory of the ACUPCC since 2007. We completed a 900-page Campus Sustainability Audit in 2008 and are in the process of creating our Sustainability Action Plan. In 2008-09 the SIO created the Sustainability Action Fellowship, in which 30 students were accepted by application for a leadership program that conducted initial research and generated priority recommendations to move into the planning process.
The College currently has funds invested in five century capital and three private equity firms that specialize in clean technology, including investments in pollution control, energy efficiency, distributed energy, waste reduction, water purification, renewable energy sources, and biofuels.
We have one of the only need-blind admissions processes in the country and guarantee 100% of demonstrated financial need with no loans. We also participate in programs such as Questbridge and Posse which specifically attract traditionally underrepresented students. Our Pomona Academy for Young Scholars program is an intensive 4-week summer academic program that focuses on high school students that are first-generation college students, low-income families, and/or students of color.
Pomona is also involved in local sustainability and social justice-related projects, including a variety of research projects, volunteer and internship programs, and policy-related efforts. Students, staff, and faculty from the College have participated in the City of Claremont’s extensive Sustainability Plan and implementation process, and one student sits on the Claremont’s exclusive sustainability advisory board.
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