Sustainability in the Classroom: a cooperative EMS program

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Sustainability in the Classroom a cooperative
EMS program

• Harvey Smith
• Social Science Research Institute
• Northern Illinois University
• DeKalb, IL
• hsmith_at_niu.edu

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NIU Undergrad minor in EMS

• At least 3 basic science policy courses
• 4 advanced courses from the three perspectives
  outside students major Business, Engineering,
  Policy, Science
• Two capstone courses
• Strategies for EMS
• Internship/Project
• Total 18 credit hours

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IIT M.S. In Environmental Management

• 13 required core courses (science, law, math, RA,
  Ecology, Regs, HS, IT, Finance, Management)
• 1 of 4 electives in Management
• 2 capstone courses
• Issues in Global Sustainability
• Strategies for the Sustainable Enterprise
• 16 required in all

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NIU-IIT Articulation

• Students with NIU minor in EMS receive 3 course
  reduction at IIT
• M.S. in Environmental Management in one year
• Curricular integration of topics contents

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EMS Education Project

• N. Illinois University faculty collaborative team
  (10 profs.)
• NSF interdisciplinary curriculum grant to support
  developing curricular materials
• (NSF-DUE Grant 0088903)
• External Advisory Group to review and provide
  feedback (industry, Gov.. agencies, academics)

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External Advisory Group

• INDUSTRY
• Akzo Nobel, Waukegan IL
• Ford Motor Corp., Dearborn MI
• International Truck Engine, Melrose Park IL
• Motorola Corp., Schaumburg IL
• NTN Bearing Corp. Elgin IL
• SWD Inc., Addison IL
• Wisconsin Energy, Milwaukee WI

• ACADEMIA
• Illinois Institute of Technology
• Loyola U. of Chicago
• Wilbur Wright CC of Chicago
• Anonymous Reviewers
• GOV/NGOs
• Illinois EPA
• Kestrel Management

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Advisory Group Activities

• Three AG workshops
• Scope and focus of EMS education, May 2000
• Preliminary Review of sample EMS curricular
  materials (capstone course), April 2001
• Summative Evaluation of EMS curricular materials,
  June 2002

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NIU-IIT Cooperative Program

• Curricular initiative
• Assessment instrument 30 items on key topics of
  EMS Envir. Science
• IIT - Envir. Law and EMS Design (EM 502), Winter
  quarter 2002-03
• NIU EMS Capstone Course (IDSP 441), Spring
  semester 2003

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Course Contents

• NIU IDSP 441
• EMS overview
• LCA Engineering
• Ecology/Science
• EMS design
• Public Health
• Business/sustainability
• EMS implementation

• IIT EM 502
• EMS stewardship
• EMS design
• Regulatory Framework
• EMS incentives
• EMS auditing
• EMS implementation

Class EMS projects/ISO 14000 focus
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TA DAH! IIT Results (n16)
Topics (items) Pre-test Post-test
EMS items (4) 68.8 78.2
Bio/ecology (5) 70.0 66.2
Regs-air (3) 81.3 87.2
Regs-water, hw (3) 44.7 56.4
Policy (6) 69.2 65.4
LCA-Engineering (5) 66.2 69.2
Health Safety (2) 90.3 72.4
Business/Sust. (2) 75.0 61.5
Summary 69.3 69.4
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TA DAH! NIU Results (n15)
Topics (items) Pre-test Post-test
EMS items (4) 58.3 65.0
Bio/ecology (5) 68.0 68.9
Regs-air (3) 70.0 75.0
Regs-water, hw (3) 53.3 40.0
Policy (6) 49.4 58.9
LCA-Engineering (5) 62.7 66.7
Health Safety (2) 70.0 100.0
Business/Sust. (2) 50.0 70.5
Summary 59.8 65.8
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How do we look? Post Results
Topics (items) IIT - Post NIU Post
EMS items (4) 78.2 65.0
Bio/ecology (5) 66.2 68.9
Regs-air (3) 87.2 75.0
Regs-water, hw (3) 56.4 40.0
Policy (6) 65.4 58.9
LCA-Engineering (5) 69.2 66.7
Health Safety (2) 72.4 100.0
Business/Sust. (2) 61.5 70.5
Summary 69.4 65.8
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Good News Lessons Gleaned

• Tunnel vision aka specialization vs.
  interdisciplinary vision
• Technical training vs. environmental stewardship
• Integrative theme More Sustainability
• Integrate class projects into assessment
• 93.6 score on EMS project assessment

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Next Steps

• Instructional materials on the Web
• Expand interest and partnerships
• More curricular coordination for students sake!
• Link ISO 14000 to sustainability strategies