Campus Sustainability Programs as a Tool for Building Student Leadership: The Case of Sustainable Carolina

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Campus Sustainability Programs as a Tool for
Building Student Leadership The Case of
Sustainable Carolina
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Introduction

• Greening the Campus
• Greening Ourselves

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Presentation Outline

1. Elements of a Green Organizational Structure
2. Creating Sustainable Carolina
3. Green Leadership Training

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I. ELEMENTS OF A GREEN ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

• Defining Leadership
• Green Values
• Social Change Model of Leadership Development
• Sustainable Learning Communities
• Other Inspirations

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Defining Leadership

• A focus on relationships

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Defining Leadership
A leader is one who is able to effect positive
change for the betterment of others. All people
, in other words, are potential leaders.
Moreover, the process of leadership cannot be
described simply in terms of the behavior of an
individual rather, leadership involves
collaborative relationships that lead to
collective action grounded in the shared values
of people who work together to effect positive
change. (Komives Wagoner, 2009, pg. 45)
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Green Values

• Grassroots Democracy emphasizing the meaningful
  participation of everyone in decision making
• Decentralization -- emphasizing a distribution of
  decision making power that is as localized and
  decentralized as possible
• Equality -- Emphasizing the equal participation
  and the minimization of hierarchy on the
  assumption that hierarchies are unnatural,
  undesirable, and avoidable

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Social Change Model of Leadership Development
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Sustainable Learning Communities

• Professional Learning Communities 4 functions
• Reduce isolation
• Increase staff capacity
• Provide caring, productive environment
• Promote increased quality
• (Integrative Learning)

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Other Inspirations

• Ecovillage Models
• Twin Oaks Ecovillage (Labor Credit system)
• Earthaven Ecovillage
• Community-Based Social Marketing
• Midwest Academy Organizing for Social Change

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II. CREATING SUSTAINABLE CAROLINA

• Organizational Context
• Mission
• Project Teams
• Responsibilities (Setting Goals, Training and
  mobilization, etc)
• Labor Credit System

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Organizational Context Core Organizations

• Sustainable Carolina
• Office of Sustainability (Facilities)
• Learning Center for Sustainable Futures
  (Provosts Office)
• Green Quad (Student Affairs University Housing)

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Organizational Context Extensive Collaboration

• Environment and Sustainability Program (Arts and
  Sciences)
• University Housing (Student Affairs)
• Recycling Office (Facilities)
• Landscaping Department (Facilities)
• Healthy Carolina (Student Affairs)

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Mission Sustainable Carolina

• . . . educate and transform the campus by
  promoting collaborative relationships among
  students, faculty, staff, and community members
  for exploring and implementing the changes
  required to create a sustainable society.

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Project Teams3 Campaigns and 16 Teams

• Three Campaigns
• CAMPAIGN 1 PROMOTE CAMPUS-WIDE INTEGRATIVE,
  ECOLOGICAL THINKING
• CAMPAIGN 2 BUILD CAMPUS CAPACITY FOR
  TRANSFORMATION
• CAMPAIGN 3 PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF
  CAMPUS RESOURCES
• Green Council Meeting (monthly, all 47 staff
  members)
• Coordinating Council Meeting (bi-weekly,
  full-time staff and graduate assistants)

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Composition of Project Teams

• Undergraduate students
• Interns Paid Staff
• Graduate students
• Interns Paid Staff
• Full-time Staff
• Faculty
• Community Members

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CAMPAIGN 1 PROMOTE CAMPUS-WIDE INTEGRATIVE,
ECOLOGICAL THINKING

• Project 1A Curriculum Team
• Project 1B Campus-Wide Programming Team
• Project 1C Greening the Mind Team
• Project 1D Experiential Learning Team
• Project 1E Global Sustainability Team
• Project 1F Green Quad Community Education Team
• Project 1G Eco-Reps Team

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CAMPAIGN 2 BUILD CAMPUS CAPACITY FOR
TRANSFORMATION

• Project 2A Campus Planning Team
• Project 2B Green Leadership Team
• Project 2C Assessment Team
• Project 2D Marketing Team
• Project 2E Local Environmental Action Team

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CAMPAIGN 3 PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF
RESOURCES

• Project 3A Campus Food Team
• Project 3B Recycling Team
• Project 3C Transportation Energy Team
• Project 3D Built Environment Team

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Responsibilities of Project Teams

• Set goals (Link goals to STARS)
• Train and mobilize team members
• Recruit campus and community allies
• Plan campaign strategy, including events,
  tabling, recruitment, speakers, films, workshops,
  etc
• Assessment

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Labor CreditsIndividual Accountability in a
Sustainable Learning Community

• Labor Credits
• Graduate Assistants 320 Credits (hours)
• Graduate Interns 210
• Undergraduate Interns/Staff150
• Sources of Labor Credits
• Project Work, Attending Events, Attending
  Professional Development Workshops, Attending
  Staff Meetings, Working in the Community Garden,
  Outreach Time for other campus and community
  organizations, Vacation, Holiday work

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III. GREEN LEADERSHIP TRAINING

• Staff Orientation
• Professional Development workshops from
  Leadership Team
• Project Team consultations with Leadership Team
• Ongoing feedback from Assessment Team
• Creation of training modules based on Social
  Change Model of Leadership

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Questions?

• David Whiteman
• Department of Political Science, Associate
  Professor
• Green Quad, Faculty Principal
• Learning Center for Sustainable Futures, Director
• Sustainable Carolina, Coordinating Council Member
• whiteman_at_mailbox.sc.edu
• 803-777-2093