St. Olaf College
Contact Information
Education and Research:
Environmental Studies (ES) is an interdisciplinary department with a major. The faculty includes professors from the faculties of social and applied science, the humanities, fine arts, and natural science and mathematics. There is a popular ES concentration for non-majors.
Buildings do not really use energy, people and programs do. Professors Paul Jackson and Gary Spessard led a move of the Chemistry curriculum to Green Chemistry. This chemistry does all of the same work and more, but uses water-based reactions. The change has nearly eliminated hazardous waste, and allowed our new Regents Hall to support the work but use 60 fewer fume hoods than a traditional curriculum would have required. Regents Hall modeled 60% below the MN Energy Code and is performing better.
The research of many Natural Science and Mathematics professor focuses on sustainability issues, and some examples follow. Virtually all faculty research at the college includes students as integral members of research teams.
Jackson is chair of Environmental Studies and a member of the Chemistry Department. His research focuses on problems related to separations science, the environment, and issues of environmental sustainability. Much of it is local, and includes: Green Chemistry and Chemical Analysis; Anthropogenic Pollutants - Pharmaceuticals in Surface Waters; Retracing the 1838 Undine Expedition of J. N. Nicollet: Changes in Landscape and Water Quality; The Chemistry of Building Materials; and Wetland Profiling Using Solid Phase Micro-extraction. He designed and teaches a course on the chemistry of building materials, and his students researched and recommended the lab equipment supplier for the building as well as several other materials and systems.
Professor Charles Umbanhower Jr. teaches in Biology and ES. His students designed and installed the building’s green roof. He developed a building energy monitoring protocol, and also set up means of monitoring the characteristics of storm water flows, both for use in courses. Umbanhower’s research includes: Prairie Community Ecology; The Fire History of the Minnesota Big Woods (includes the campus); and Prairie and Oak Savannah Restoration.
Professor Gene Bakko has been the Curator of the Natural Lands, which includes the agricultural land. Bakko and students have done most of the physical work on the land projects, and set up a number of faculty – student research projects. Many have been on prairie and wetland restoration. Others focused on the progression of soil conditions under various farming protocols, prairie and wetland ecology, wildlife populations, and more.
Physics Professor Robert Jacobel is also in ES. His teaching focuses on geophysics, environmental science and global climate change. His research interests are geophysical studies of glaciers and ice sheets utilizing ice-penetrating radar and satellite imagery to focus on the response of ice masses to climate change. He has current and recent research projects supported by NSF in Antarctica, Alaska, Sweden, and Washington state.
Campus Operations:
St. Olaf developed its own Sustainable Design Guidelines that guide all development. We feel that they produce a LEED gold level building. Our new Regents Hall for Natural Science and Mathematics (190,400 sf) is expected to achieve LEED Platinum using our guidelines with a couple of additional credits.
Campus infrastructure is constantly evaluated and improved so that best use is made of scarce resources and we impact the biosphere as little as possible while producing the program. Peak steam flow on the coldest day is the same as it was twenty years ago, with a net increase of over 600,000 sf.
A 94% efficient 30,000 lb/hr boiler was recently installed to meet low off season demands as efficiently as practical.
Facilities staffing is at the 1989 level even as the campus has grown by 45%. We make it work through better equipment, products, training, and technology. Custodial products are nearly 100% Green Seal certified.
The grounds crew has converted planting beds to perennials, adding many to eliminate formal grass lawns. Steep hillsides have been planted to eliminate unsafe mowing, reduce fuel consumption, and reduce storm run off. Grounds equipment is fueled with B-20 bio-diesel.
In 2006 we started an on-campus self generating wind turbine of 1.65 megawatt capacity. It provides the power that Regents Hall requires. The project has multiple aims: to reduce the operating cost impact of the new building on students; minimize the carbon impact of operating the campus, demonstrate that distributed generation is an important concept and should be used when it can be, and to serve as a powerful symbol of our efforts.
The college owns 1,100 acres. The forma core campus is 250 acres. 350 contiguous acres have been restored to their condition at the time of white settlement – woodland, prairie, and wetland. Over 40,000 trees and seedlings have been planted in this effort and 14 wetlands restored or created. This has been key to our storm water strategy as well as providing wonderful ambience and wildlife habitat. The remaining land, still rented, has been contractually committed to a no-till program. Biology and Environmental Studies faculty and students use all of the lands in teaching and research.
The dining program has an extensive local Farm to Fork program, using as many local farmers as possible. A student organization, STOGROW, farms organic vegetables on campus land and is a key supplier to the food service. The food service hopes to expand this program by adding land to start supplying other accounts, and adding a supervisor who will develop Farm to Fork education for all of their contracts.
The grounds crew collects all food waste for on-site composting using a Wright Environmental in-vessel system. All compost is used on campus, much of it on the STOGROW gardens, completing a circle on campus. Just this week we started collecting cooking oils for conversion to bio-diesel that will be used in grounds vehicles.
Administration and Finance:
Faculty and Staff Access
We have taken aggressive steps to diversify the faculty, staff, and student body. The special assistant to the president for diversity, associate director of admissions for minority recruitment, and associate dean for multicultural awareness and community outreach lead these efforts. The special assistant works to assure that all searches are affirmative, that talented non-majority persons have a real opportunity to be included, and that consideration be shown in exceptional circumstances.
Academic Access
St. Olaf has shown an extraordinary commitment to the federal educational opportunity programs of TRiO. It supports Upward Bound, Gear Up, Educational Talent Search programs in mostly urban school settings, and Student Support Services (SSS) on campus for current students.
SSS focuses on students who are first generation in college with few financial resources. SSS has a computing lab and study/social space with a director and three assistants who work with students all year. SSS rates mirror that of the student body. It includes a month residency for incoming students. They receive mentoring about campus life and take a lab science course as a cohort.
Our Undergraduate Scholars Program (USP) encourages diverse students to pursue graduate degrees, and, ultimately, become professors at liberal arts colleges. The USP provides mentoring to develop strong experiences that will help students be competitive for graduate opportunities.
The Young Investigators Program is a summer residency for urban 9th and 10th graders who come to campus to do a biology course taught by St. Olaf faculty, with mentoring provided by current St. Olaf students.
St. Olaf meets full demonstrated need of all admitted students.
Planning
Campus planning is fully integrated and based primarily on thge program. The college Framework Plan guides development, and is more like a community comprehensive plan. It is principle driven and solutions must respond to the principles or be withdrawn.
It identifies land types, building opportunities, infrastructure, fit to program, building characteristics, and on and on. All known needs are listed and further categorized into two categories - mission critical, and desirable. The plan shows several opportunities for meeting any set of needs, and it is sustainable as any choice made simply sets the options off on another prepared path. No decision closes off another path. It has guided development for 14 years and has yielded five buildings that are among the best of their kind.
Finance
Financial operations are transparent and any member of the community can see audited statements at any time. The Regent’s finance and audit committees work to assure transparency and compliance, often exceeding requirements.
The budget is developed by the president’s cabinet, which represents the campus broadly. The special assistant and facilities management persons are included as they have perspectives that are not often present at this level.
AASHE Bulletin
For the latest campus sustainability news, resources, opportunities, and events: Subscribe to AASHE Bulletin