First-Year Students
As Agents of Campus Change
Brian Hagenbuch and Dan Morse
Pine Lake Institute for Environmental
and Sustainability Studies
Hartwick College, Oneonta, New York
pinelake@hartwick.edu
About Hartwick College
Hartwick College is
a private liberal
arts college of
1,500 students,
located in
Oneonta, NY, in the
northern foothills
of the Catskill
Mountains.
(20 miles from Cooperstown)
Pine Lake Environmental Campus
• 125-acre off site living
and learning laboratory
• Up to 38 students
reside in Lodge,
Farmhouse, cabins
• Open to any FT
Hartwick student
• Strawbale House and
Cob House
• Model sustainable living
and learning
Liberal Arts Campus as
Laboratory for Sustainability
Idea and Practice of Sustainability
• First-year seminar
• Students have option of
living at Pine Lake
• College skills
• How things work
• Introduce research
• Engage in service
• Prepare them for
academic study
• Build community
Why First-Year Students?
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Personality
Energy and enthusiasm
Young, naïve,
impressionable
Ready for challenges
Open to experiential
learning opportunities
Explorative majors
Want to make a
difference
Why First-Year Students?
Academic Perspective
• No thesis work yet
• Improve process skills (or at least good habits)
• Connect to their potential majors
Why First-Year Students
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Institutional Interest
Create community of
peers, improve sense of
belonging
Agenda and practice of
decreasing waste, reducing
cost, improving ecological
footprint
Peer leaders
Increase student success
Retention
Why First-Year Students?
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PLI Interest
Experiential Learning
Challenge student
assumptions and
worldviews
Campus leadership
Agents of Change
Four more years
Alumni donors
Learning Outcomes
• Apply the basic principles and methods of sustainability to
assess a variety of ecological, economic, and social
perspectives
• Relate systems theory to a number of issues including food
stability, climate change, consumption and waste, and
product design
• Through problem-based learning undertake acceptable and
recognized methods of research, data analysis, and
communication to study the key issues
• Critically read and evaluate primary and popular literature
• Write clear and succinct reports
• Present scholarly work through oral presentations and
posters
• Participate and contribute to the overall dynamics of small
groups and the class
Three Challenges (3 F’s)
Food
Fuel
Fiber
What Shall We Eat?
• Background: readings, films, reflections
• Challenge: How can Hartwick dining produce 2,500 meals
per day in a sustainable manner?
Where is the Next Energy Source?
Background:
Readings, Tours, films
Challenge: How will we get around and heat our homes?
How Will We Live?
Background: Cradle to Cradle. 2002.
Challenge: How can we maintain a quality of life that
creates more just, equitable, and sustainable
communities?
Campus Sustainability Project
• Identify a sustainability
project--water, waste,
energy, renovations, etc.
• Dining and Facilities
• Midterm Needs
Assessment
– Identify problem and need
• Final Project:
– Grant proposal describing
the need and your
solution
Project Examples
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Composting program with the Commons*
Campus Organic Garden*
Water-saving showerheads in resident halls*
Biodiesel initiative
Bike share program
Green commercial kitchen for Robertson
Lodge at Pine Lake
• Solar hot water system designed Farmhouse
cabin at Pine Lake
*completed or near completed
Changing Campus Behaviors
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Reading: Fostering Sustainable Behavior
Random Acts of Sustainability
Observe, document, and select behavior
Needs Assessment Mid-term
– What’s the problem?
– Is it a problem?
– Research method—surveys, interviews, data
collection and analysis, IRB
– Results—tables and graphs
– What can be done about problem?
Behaviors—Final Project
• Final Paper
– Identify benefits and barriers
– Community-Based Social Marketing Technique
– Prompts, incentives, model behavior, etc.
– Implement CBSMT
– Comparative analysis of behavior changes
– Write up as research paper and present
Your Cell Phone
Charger is Cheating
on You
Awareness and Sustainable
Behavior in Regard to Vampire
Power
by: Nicole Smaranda
Changing Campus Culture
• Five-point sustainability agenda presented to
Hartwick President
• Campus Dining Services and Facilities Staff
• Collaborate with faculty and staff
• STARS Honors Mini-Seminar
• Internships—Recycling projects
• Recyclemania Reps
• Campus Sustainability Day/Beautification Day
• Random Acts of Sustainability become Social Norms
• Take pride and ownership in promoting
sustainability
Student Perspectives
• Being a student, I too can make a difference. I
became part of a bigger organization This
class gave this group independence and unity
all in one.
A lot of us made personal changes in our lives
based of what we learned. Change does not just
happen, but it definitely impacted the life styles
of those involved in the research.
Faculty and staff are not as scary as I thought. Working
together with them on a project gave us a sense of
equality. They are willing to help and they too share the
same interest in sustainability.
If it isn’t fun….it isn’t sustainable!
www.hartwick.edu/pinelake
pinelake@hartwick.edu