A holistic approach to culture
change on campus: a new model of
liberal arts education
AASHE 2013
Matt Mayberry & Jensen Morgan
Green Mountain College
Green Mountain College
Poultney, VT
Big Hairy Audacious Goal
Transformation to a New Model
Performance
Sustainability 2020 Transformation
New
culture
Uncertain
transformation
period
TO ?
FROM
Old
culture
Metrics are our
navigation system
2013
2020
Time
Resilience
Authentic
Sustainability
Transparency
Engaged
Community
Narrative
Credibility
Incorporates
Social Justice
Guiding Principles
Ongoing
Reassessment
and
Improvement
Sustainability 2020 Metrics
See Aaron Witham’s talk: “Shooting for the STARS and beyond”
Tuesday, 2:00 – 2:30pm, Music City Center, 101D
Human Capital
•
•
Health and well-being
Personal development
–
–
–
–
–
Problem
solving/creativity
Systems
thinking/sustainability
Entrepreneurial skills
Breadth of knowledge
Depth of knowledge in
areas of primary
expertise
Natural Capital
•
CO2-e emissions
•
Fossil fuel usage
•
Campus/regional
biodiversity and ecosystem
health index
Financial Capital
•
Enrollment-related
metrics
•
Revenue/expense metrics
•
Financial resilience
metrics
•
Diversion rate
•
Solid waste volume
•
Affordability metrics
•
Impact-weighted campus
purchases
•
Compensation and equity
metrics
Social Capital
•
•
•
•
•
Embodied energy in
campus food purchases
•
Economic impact metrics
•
Scope 3 carbon emissions
associated with campus
purchases
•
Built environment
metrics
•
Alumni impact assessment
•
Grit
Trust
Associations
Diversity and inclusion
Effectiveness of telling
the story
Developing and analyzing metrics in
the classroom
Metric
Course
• Grit
• Psychology
• Embodied energy in campus
food purchases
• Quantitative Environmental
Analysis
• Impact weighted campus
purchases; Scope 3 carbon
emissions
• Economics of the environment
• Alumni impact assessment;
impact of alumni on social,
human and natural capital
• Jr. Seminar (Sustainable
Business)
• Social Capital: Trust, Associations • Organizational Transformation
(GMC)
• Economic Impact; Social Capital:
Trust, Associations (GMCPoultney)
• Gallery Curating and
Management
Boots on the Ground
Sustainability
2020 Metrics
Culture change (Schein)
Artifacts
Visible organizational
structures
and processes
Espoused
Values
Strategies, goals,
philosophies
Basic
Underlying
Assumptions
Unconscious, takenfor-granted beliefs,
perceptions,
thoughts and
feelings.
“Culture change, in the
sense of changing basic
assumptions is . . .
difficult, time consuming,
and highly anxiety
provoking.”
Ed Schein, Organizational
Culture and Leadership
Culture Shift #1
FROM: ACTIVITIES
•

Initiatives
TO: OUTCOMES
• Overarching goal:
achieving authentic
sustainability
• Being rewarded for
starting things
• Closing the loop
• More activity is
better
• Better results are
what count
• Input metrics
• Output metrics
Sustainability
2020 Metrics
Culture Shift #2
FROM: APPLICATION
TO: REFLECTION-IN-ACTION
• Liberal Arts Curriculum
+ co-curriculum are
separate
• Our case study is us:
individual, school,
community
• Education is
preparation for work
• Meaningful Work
begins now
• Sustainability is
vocational
• Transformative
learning requires
doing/reflecting
A New Model of Liberal Arts Education
• Discovering exciting
career interests and
opportunities.
• Using achievements at
GMC as a springboard
for future work.
• Engaging in meaningful
and innovative
sustainability work.
Practical
Skills
Career Experience
Meaningful
Community
Work
Liberal arts
foundation
• Enhancing the region
economically, socially
and/or ecologically.
See Lucas Brown’s talk: “A design-build block semester,”
Tuesday, 3:30 – 3:50pm, Music City Center, 208A
• Developing intellectual
tools and skills: problem
solving, analytical
thinking.
• Acquiring practical
know-how needed to
get things done in real
communities: producing
results.
• Examining the nature
of the good and human
nature, of politics and
ideals, of religion and
meaning.
• Providing an
intellectual and ethical
foundation for
sustainability.
Culture Shift #3
FROM: TEACHING
TO: CO-LEARNING
• Faculty as experts
• Faculty as fellow
travelers
• Static syllabus
• Dynamic syllabus
• Students go through
transformation
• Community goes
through
transformation
Transformation to a New Model
Performance
Sustainability 2020 Transformation
New
culture
FROM:
TO:
1. Activities
1. Outcomes
2. Application
2. Reflection-in-Action
3. Teaching
3. Co-learning
Old
culture
Metrics are our
navigation system
2013
2020
Time
Solving Two Problems At Once
Global
Sustainability Crisis
Crisis in
Higher Education
Questions?