• The Jack Rawlins Professorship of
Environmental Literacy was established in the College of Natural
Sciences in 2002
– The Endowment
• Actually working capital from dividends
$18-24,000
• Pushnik appointed to Professorship Fall 2004
– Previously held by Dr. Roger Lederer

• Partnership between Rawlins Endowment and College of
Natural Sciences to Promote Sustainability Education
– Partnership is defined by the trust document
• Source: Rawlins Trust III Document
• Purpose
– To Support a Faculty Position
• Responsible for educating all students, regardless of their major, on sustainability using an interdisciplinary approach
• In addition to other teaching duties within home departments:
– Biological Sciences
– Science Education
• Mission
– Expose all Chico State students to a variety of learning experiences about the current state of the environment and how they can act to reverse the decline.

• Fund a portion of a full-time professorship
– Environmental Literacy Course (ENVL 105)
– Ambassador to the campus and community
• Financial resources to promote sustainability education for students
– Visiting speakers
– Workshops
– Training
– Research
• Rawlins Environmental Research Fellowship

• Fund a portion of a full-time professorship
– Environmental Literacy Course (ENVL 105)
• Financial resources to promote sustainability education for students
– General Education Science Courses based on
Sustainability
• NSCI 101 and 102
– Research
• Center for Ecosystem Research
• Center for Nutrition and Activity Promotion
– Outreach
• Gateway Science Museum
• Museum without Walls

• 2010: Nature Education and Sustainability
Tour. California Parks and Recreation Office of
Grants and Contracts (Pending) $1,521,600
• 2010 Educating for a Sustainable Future:
Attracting and Retaining STEM majors:
Educating for a Sustainable Future. NSF
(Pending) $200,000
• 2009 Integrating Sustainability across the curriculum. Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CELT) Impact Grants $5,500

By-Laws – adopted by committee on 2/21/2007
– Mission: Advise and support the professor of environmental literacy, whose focus is to prepare all students of all majors, across the various campus disciplines, to deal with a world environment, which is being continually diminished by the loss of species, disappearance of habitats, and degradation of air, water, and soil.

Role as Defined in By-Laws
– The Board will advise the professor of environmental literacy in all areas, including the allocation of funds and the continued development of university programs and curricula focused on sustainability .
– The Board will act as a liaison with the community ensuring that these members represent the diverse aspects of the Chico community.

• General Education Requirements
– California Education Code Title 5: All students must complete a course in both Physical and
Biological Sciences with active laboratory investigation
– Specific Courses offered:
• ENVL 105 (GE Area E: Lifelong Learning)
• NSCI 101 (GE Area B1: Physical Sciences)
• NSCI 102 (GE Area B2: Life Sciences)

• This course introduces students to the issue and practices of environmental literacy.
– Environmental literacy is the capacity to perceive and interpret the relative health of environmental systems and to connect the environment to human physical, mental, and social health.
• Students are encouraged to recognize that their lives depend upon the environment, and that their personal decisions affect the environment.

• Our emphasis is ensuring an understanding that humans are part of nature and not separated from it.
• Concepts that are integrated:
– System Thinking
– Physical and Geological Systems
– Biological Systems and Energy Flow
– Social, Economic and Political
Systems
– Education Systems

• This course focuses on the principles and scientific thought processes as they relate to climate change, air and water resources, and ecosystem alteration.
– The Earth's physical environment is the primary focus, although a portion of the course covering ecosystems bridges physical and biological interrelatedness of the global environment.
– Problem solving skills and skills in analyzing environmental issues are emphasized.

• An integrated study of the nature and interactions of living things and their environments.
– This course is an introduction to the processes of evolution and speciation, ecology and ecosystem processes, organismal physiology and cellular biology with an emphasis on how these processes are shaped by the environment.
– The course is primarily for students without a strong background in high school biology or chemistry.

Student Enrollment in NS Environmental Courses
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0 NSCI 102
ENVL
ENVL
NSCI 101
NSCI 102
Total

• GE Design Process
– Sustainability as an element of general education: horizontally and vertically through the curriculum
– Sustainability thread resulting in inter-disciplinary minor
• Potential student impact across the University :
– 3,000 new freshman students enroll every academic year
• Sustainability-related courses offered:
– In 06-07: 150 Green courses offered
– In 09-10: 214 Green courses offered
• Additional support for GE Design curriculum:
– NSF grant pending written by Pushnik
– CELT funding out of the Provost’s office

Since Partnership began:
• Majors in College of
Natural Sciences have steadily increased
– Environmental Sciences
• 19% growth in Majors over the past few years
• Options – launched in
2007:
– Applied Ecology
– Atmospheric Sciences
– Earth Resource
Science
– Hydrologic Sciences
• Graduate Programs in
College of Natural Sciences
– Professional Science Masters in Environmental Sciences
– 13 Majors in 2008-10
• Founded in 2007
• Advising Patterns
– Environmental
Biotechnology
– Natural Resource
Management
– Sustainable Development and Technology
– Global Change ( initial discussion with Environmental Sciences )
• BA/BS Degree Program

• Searching for kindred colleagues
– Sustainability Mixers and Summits
– Created a Virtual Faculty Unit
• Self-assembled from across many disciplines (65 faculty)
• Development of new collaborations and potential courses
• Workshops for course design and implementation
(Jumping through the Hoops)

• Individual Institutional Workshops
– CSU, Chico (1 a year for the past 6 years)
– Butte College (3 during the past 5 years)
– Folsom Lake College (1 with a follow-up scheduled)
– Sierra College (3 in the past 4 years)
– Yuba College
– Cramer Creek School, Missoula MT
• UC/CSU/CC Conference Workshops
– UC Santa Barbara 2005, 2007
– CSU, Channel Islands 2006
– CSU, San Luis Obispo 2008

• SCORE Certification Workshop
– Students completed a sustainability audit for the City of Chico
• SCOOP
– Students conducting consultations with offices across campus about sustainable practices
• Green Campus
– Students addressing campus energy needs and consumption
• Net Impact
– Business students addressing Climate Change
• Ecological Footprint Boot Camp
– Students learn how personal lifestyle impacts the environment

• Curriculum changes that were encouraged and partially supported by the Rawlins
Professorship:
– Majors in other colleges:
• Masters in Geography (College of Behavioral and
Social Sciences)
– Option
» Environmental Policy and Planning
– Minors in other colleges:
• Managing for Sustainability (College of Business)*
• Environmental Studies (BSS)

• University-Community events which were publicized through a variety of media outlets
• 2003 : David Orr – 2,500 in attendance
• 2004 : Steve Schneider – 2,000
•
Percy Schmeiser-750
• Ricky Ott- 400
•
2005 : Lester Brown - 3,000+
• Mathias Wackernagel 500
•
Charles Moore 500
• 2006 : Paul Hawken – 3,000+
• Sandra Steingrabber-700
•
2007 : Dennis Hayes
– 1,200
• 2008 : David Orr – 2,000
•
2009 : Elizabeth Kolbert
– 1,500
• 2010: Orville Schell and David Brashears-
800

• 2007 : Taylor Bass
– Project SEED
• 2007 : Max Kee – The Cause/GRUB
– Community Gardening
– Microloans for energy retrofits for students
• 2008 : Melissa Dalzell
– Sustainable education for children in Kenya
• 2008 : Ashley Gunther, Elise Watkins, Emilie
Johnson, Jessica Mindt and Katelyn Davis
– Energy Conservation Awareness Campaign
• 2009 : Rebeka Funres
– Sustainable Communities
• 2010: Scott Ellis
– City of Chico Climate Action Plan Education
Outreach

•
Our Earth Advisory Board: Association of Climate Change Officers
Duke University 2010
• Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness (CLEAN) Advisory Team
NSF 2010
• National Organizing Committee: Signs of Change: The Third Nation
Teach-In on Global Warming 2009-10
•
Program Reviewer for the National Council Accrediting Teacher
Education (NCATE) for Environmental Education 2009-2010
• City of Chico Sustainability Taskforce 2005-Present
•
Focus the Nation, Organizing Committee, 2008-2009
• California State Environmental Education Initiative, Curriculum
Reviewer 2005-2009
•
California State Environmental Education Initiative Taskforce 2004-05
• National Science Foundation Proposal Review Panel for Scholarship in
Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM). 2007-
2009
• Institute of Sustainable Development Technical Advisory Committee,
CSU Chico

• Cash Money Market Account $21,723.41
• Expendatures
– ASSHE Meeting Expense (Pushnik) 1,150
– Rawlins Internship (Ellis) 964
– Student Tickets to UPE
– Rawlins Keynote (Rowland)
2,160
885
– This Way to Sustainability Conference 521
» $16, 043

• Focus on General Education
– Greatest potential impact on students’ education
• Build on existing course and collaborations
– Help faculty develop sustainability courses and increase cross campus offerings
• Develop degree programs
– Begin the process of creating degrees in different disciplines across the University
• Work with community
– Solicit and address the needs of our Northern
California Service Area
• Continue efforts to secure external funding to further Rawlins efforts