Category

Four-year and Graduate Institutions 1,000 - 7,500 Student FTE

Dickinson College's sustainability mascot the Green Devil hands out Carbon Friendly awards at the 2007 Step It Up event at the Carlisle Central Farmer's Market. Photographer:

Contact

Sean Diamond
Sustainability Coordinator
Facilities Management
Dickinson College
Carlisle, PA
(717) 254-8199
diamonds@dickinson.edu

Governance & Administration

Ever since 1991, Dickinson College has had an active, presidentially-appointed committee, known as the Commission on the Environment (COTE). During the spring of 2006, Dickinson College created the Sustainability Coordinator position. This one-year full-time position in Facilities Management is filled by a graduating senior each year. The one-year nature of this position ensures that new ideas are being brought to the table and that the position is filled by someone who has a good connection with the current students. Some of the responsibilities of the sustainability coordinator include organizing events and programs that promote awareness about sustainability on-campus, ensuring that current sustainability projects are running smoothly, and actively searching for innovative ways to improve campus sustainability efforts. In order to effectively fulfill all of these responsibilities the coordinator manages a group of 5-6 sustainability interns every semester and chairs the College's environmental committee. In conjunction with the creation of this new position, COTE became restructured and renamed as Dickinson College's Society Advocating Environmental Sustainability (SAVES) in the fall of 2006.

The mission of Dickinson SAVES is to advise the College and the administration on implementing new programs and policies regarding sustainability. The committee is comprised of interested students, faculty and staff, including many members of Facilities Management and a liaison from the Dickinson College Student Senate. SAVES meetings are conducted bi-weekly and open to any member of the Dickinson community to ensure that all possible viewpoints are considered when policy recommendations are made. The committee is guided and empowered by the College's strategic plan, which states that:

We will embrace the goals of accountability and sustainability as individuals and as an institution of integrity and principle. We will state our goals clearly and communicate them to those both within and outside of our limestone walls. We will be accountable for the goals we set. We recognize that engaged global citizenship requires an awareness of, and respect for, the natural world that supports the social world. We also recognize that responsible citizenry requires the prudent use of resources of all types, physical and fiscal. Educating for sustainability requires a holistic approach to decision making which embodies liberal arts education and promotes an engaged community. The College must serve as a living example of sustainability in all arenas. We will always remember that Dickinson's future is our responsibility.

As a corollary to the College's strategic plan, the College's president, William Durden, is a signatory and a member of the leadership circle for the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, dedicating the College to eventual climate neutrality. These commitments give a clear direction for campus sustainability by requiring us to perform a greenhouse gas inventory, set goals and benchmarks for improving our own operations, and develop plans to meet those goals.

Dickinson College has also recently created the position of Director of the Center for Environment and Sustainability Education.  The director's responsibilities include integrating sustainability into coursework across the different academic departments and within specific courses and helping coordinate other sustainability initiatives.

Operations

The operations of Dickinson College truly reflect the institution's commitment to sustainability. Energy choices have been made with a focus on efficiency and renewable sources. Dickinson purchases 50% of its energy from wind energy from Community Energy, Inc. Also a 60 kW solar panel array on the roof of Kaufman Hall, funded by a PA Department of Environmental Protection Energy Harvest Grant, has generated over 57,000 kWh to date.

With regards to buildings, Dickinson has committed to attaining LEED Silver certification for all new building and major renovation projects over $500,000. The Center for Sustainable Living, also known as the Treehouse, recently received LEED Gold certification and is the first LEED Gold residence hall in the state of Pennsylvania. The new Rector Science Complex is expected to receive LEED Silver certification, and includes many sustainable design features, including an energy wheel that increases the efficiency of the heating and cooling systems, as well as lights that adjust to take natural lighting levels into account.

The College's Dining Services have also implemented various programs to increase sustainability.  Approximately 20% of the total annual food budget is spent on local food from various local farms, including a local organic dairy farm and the College Farm. Dickinson brand coffees are fair-trade, organic, and shade-grown.  Take-out containers and plastic utensils used in campus dining locations are made from corn-based, compostable plastic, and paper dishes are made from recycled fibers. Students are provided with cloth bags to use instead of paper bags when taking advantage of the College's to-go lunch option. Students are offered a discount to use reusable mugs at campus dining locations. All organic waste from the Dining Hall is sent to the College Farm to be composted; approximately 700 pounds of waste (1 garbage dumpster) are sent to the farm each day.

Dickinson encourages the use of more environmentally-friendly transportation. The Department of Public Safety manages a fleet of red bicycles that student, faculty, and staff can borrow. Bicycle racks across campus also promote bicycle use. The College Fleet has four hybrid cars. An in-house biodiesel project produces 100 gallons of biodiesel a week from waste oil from local restaurants. The fuel is used by the College's garbage trucks, grounds equipment, and even the President's car.

The College maintains a campus-wide recycling program, including paper, comingled, batteries, old cell phones, and plastic bags. Each year, Dickinson participates in RecycleMania, a nationwide recycling competition. In 2008, Dickinson received an award for being #1 in the state of Pennsylvania for "Targeted Materials-Paper" and the "Per Capita Classic", measuring pounds of recyclables per person. In addition, Dickinson finished seventh nationally in "Targeted Materials-Bottles and Cans". As a testimonial of reuse, students turn cereal boxes and old paper into "Trash Notebooks" that are sold in the Bookstore.

Purchases for the College are made with sustainability in mind. Dickinson uses Green-Seal certified and Bio-renewable cleaning products in all buildings, and purchases paper with 30% post-consumer recycled content.

Curriculum & Research

According to Dickinson President William Durden, "As a campus we already are engaged in numerous environmental and sustainability efforts, but as a college, the greatest and longest lasting contribution we can make, in keeping with our core mission, is education." Dickinson is known for having one of the oldest and strongest Environmental Studies programs in the nation. Students may choose to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science, or a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies. Students may also complete a minor in the field. As part of these degrees, students take part in an interdisciplinary program dedicated to the comparison of social and environmental issues in the Chesapeake Bay and Mississippi River watersheds. The program includes two weekend field trips within the Chesapeake Bay, and a three-week excursion to southern Louisiana. This program is made possible by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation for $460,000. Recently, the College was awarded a $1.4 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to study ways to instill concepts of sustainability into every College discipline - from Environmental Science to Religious Studies; from English to Geology; from Psychology to Physics.   The planning grant has spawned The Sustainability Working Group - including more than 20 faculty members and 10 College Administrators - all committed to advancing Sustainability and educating all of the College's students towards a more sustainable future. As a result the Mellon Grant has been used to hire a director of the new Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education, a new faculty position in the field of environmental health, and create a postdoctoral program in geographic information systems.
 
The College has several on-going, sustainability educational and research programs. For example, the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM) is a student-staffed project of the Environmental Studies department under the direction of three professional staff that is dedicated to providing technical assistance and mentoring to grassroots watershed organizations. Also, the Dickinson College Biodiesel Project employs 3 or more interns each semester and summer session. In addition to researching the fundamental biodiesel production processes, the interns take on related research projects, such as composting, solar thermal systems, soap making, and energy balancing.

The College farm is located on 180 acres of College-owned property not far from campus.  The College initiative plans to convert 30-50 acres of the existing land into a certified organic vegetable production farm.  The aim of the farm will be to supply the College Dining Hall with significant amounts of fresh produce during the summer, fall and late spring.  Additionally, the farm will work with faculty, staff and administrators to develop academic programs that support research and student interests.  Not only will the farm become a food production and educational facility for the College, it also strives to develop itself as an anchor in the local community for people interested in learning more about sustainable food production, renewable energy, and environmental stewardship.  The College farm employs a farm manager and an assistant farm manager, along with 6-9 students year round.

Campus Culture

Dickinson's campus culture truly reflects a commitment to sustainability. Dickinson's sustainability mascot is the Green Devil, a relative to the College's Red Devil mascot.  Students are exposed to the Green Devil their very first day on campus, learning about sustainability during orientation. First-years also receive a reusable water bottle and a reusable cloth bag.

There are a variety of avenues for student involvement with sustainability. EarthNow! is a student organization dedicated to exploring and taking action on numerous environmental issues affecting Dickinson and the nation. Many of the issues discussed by Students for Social Action have an underlying environmental theme. Dickinson SAVES (Society Advocating Environmental Sustainability) brings students, faculty, and staff together to discuss and work on sustainability issues.

Dickinson's peer-to-peer sustainability outreach is led by 6 Sustainability Interns, supervised by the Sustainability Coordinator. The interns are responsible for planning and executing a variety of sustainability programs, such as Sustainability Week, Trash on the Plaza, RecycleMania, the Green Devil Sustainability Challenge, and the Focus the Nation event held in January 2008. In addition the Green Devil, helped by the Sustainability Interns, rewards students doing sustainable actions with the "Caught Green Handed" program. Each year, Sustainability Week features speakers, panel discussions, and movie screenings that highlight various environmental issues. It allows students, staff and faculty to learn about sustainability, both on a local and national level. The "Trash on the Plaza" event held each year during the RecycleMania competition provides a hands-on, highly visible learning experience for the college and the community.  Held on the plaza outside the student union building, students and even President Durden sort through 24 hours worth of trash from the union building, showing what could be composted or recycled instead of just thrown away. The Green Devil Sustainability Challenge aims to reduce the energy and water consumption across campus through a competition between the dorms, and the academic buildings. Those that reduce their consumption by the most win a prize.
Each spring, seniors are asked to sign a Sustainability Graduation Pledge, in which they promise to consider the social and environmental impacts of their actions and to use what they learned at Dickinson to improve the sustainability of their communities. Seniors are also informed about Alumni for a Sustainable Dickinson, a group founded in 2003 that works to promote sustainability at Dickinson.

The Center for Sustainable Living, known as the Treehouse, is a LEED Gold building that houses 14 students who are dedicated to leading a sustainable lifestyle. The Treehouse features a gray-water recycling system, a corn pellet stove, and a sun-tracking solar hot water array. Each semester, the Treehouse hosts multiple "Soup and Bread" dinners. Students enjoy homemade vegetarian soup and bread while listening to a speaker or watching an environmental movie. 

In 2006, a recycled materials sculpture contest was held, with entries from students across all majors. The two winning sculptures were displayed in the student union building and the winning artists received a prize and were treated to dinner with President Durden.

Community Service and Outreach

Dickinson College recognizes the importance of community connections, and its sustainability program demonstrates how Dickinson strives to involve the community in its environmental efforts. The largest college-community partnership is the annual U-Turn project. At the end of the school year, Dickinson works with the United Way of Carlisle to collect clothing, books, electronics, and furniture from the students, which are then sold in a yard sale open to the community. The donated items are kept out of the landfill and the money raised from the yard sale benefits the United Way of Carlisle. In 2008, about 3 tractor trailers worth of items were donated and saved from the landfill, and over $11,000 was raised for the past two years.

Another important community partnership is the College Farm, located 7 miles from campus. It is working to become a certified-organic farm. The Farm sells produce to the College Dining Hall and local businesses, and also donates food to Project S.H.A.R.E., a local food bank situated on campus. The College Farm also manages a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), a program for produce from the farm. Subscribers receive produce each week, picked up at either the Farm or the College.  The Farm also sponsors workdays when students and community members can volunteer, serving as an educational tool for sustainable agriculture. Student interns work on the farm during the year and over the summer. The Farm also serves to educate the community about sustainable energy, utilizing photovoltaic panels and solar hot water panels.

The College hosts ALLARM a student intern organization, which teaches municipalities how to perform watershed surveys and testing and educates youth groups about water pollution in a program called SMART.

The College has an excellent working relationship with Borough of Carlisle. This past year our college president, William Durden, pledged $50,000 to ensure that a comprehensive traffic study would be performed in the borough's downtown. Some of the primary focuses of this study are to look at ways to make the downtown traffic patterns more pedestrian and bicycle friendly, as well as decrease air pollution.

Community service is an integral part of the College. All community service organizations are overseen by the Office of Religious Life and Community Service. In the 2008 academic year, Dickinson students volunteered over 27,000 hours in the Carlisle community. There are many different ways for students to become involved with community service, such as leading Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts; Dreamcatchers, a mentoring program for immigrant students; Habitat for Humanity; Special Friends, a mentoring program for individuals with special needs; and many more.

Additionally, the Greek organizations actively volunteer and perform fundraisers for community groups. For example, the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority was recently awarded the PA CASA Voice Award for their on-going support of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) for Children. Also, the annual Mr. Dickinson competition hosted by Delta Nu sorority features male Dickinson students in a mock beauty pageant and raised more than $3,300.00 to benefit Safe Harbor, a local homeless shelter.