Save the Date: Two-day Conference on Education for Sustainability
November 17th, 2009
Student demand, institutional commitment, and faculty interest are all inspiring the integration of sustainability themes into higher education curricula and research agendas. The complex and interdependent nature of solutions for a more sustainable future call for inter- and trans- disciplinary teaching and research.
Institutional support for collaborate endeavors varies from campus to campus. Questions and challenges arise around tenure track and promotional requirements, funding, budgeting, and academic/disciplinary homes for faculty and students. This conference will explore the ways in which institutions of higher education are adapting to support the collaborative endeavors of faculty and staff and the roles that chief academic officers and deans can play in the evolving arena.
Where: Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C.
When: March 22-23, 2010
Who: Chief Academic Officers, Deans, Faculty leaders, Sustainability Officers
What: Day 1 of the conference will consist of several panel discussions:
- Career training and development in an era of green jobs
- Creative approached to meeting the Presidents’ Climate Commitment educational goals
- Integrating sustainability across the curriculum
- Co-curricular opportunities for experiential learning
Day 2 of the conference is a workshop on the opportunities and challenges to integrating inter- and trans- disciplinarity:
- Chief academic officers, deans, faculty, and sustainability coordinators will work together to discuss the roles each can plan in supporting the development of this learning environment for students
- Participants will explore reward systems for faculty who engage in inter- and trans-disciplinary work, as well as the institutional barriers that discourage this engagement.
There is no registration fee for this conference. Participants are responsible for their own travel and lodging.
Registration site coming soon.
Contact the WFU Office of Sustainability at sustainability@wfu.edu for more information.
“The world is ours to lose,” concluded Applied Anthropologist, Dr. Duncan Earle at his lecture titled “2012: What’s the Story?” on November 11. This was the second of two lectures Earle delivered at the university on the 11th. His first lecture, “Micro-Financial Alternatives to Rain Forest Destruction in the Congo,” addressed the question of creating financially viable alternatives to environmentally destructive activities that lead to tropical forest loss including alternatives such as carbon-credit offsets and sustainable enterprises for local economies.
Starting in September 2008, Jim Alty, associate vice president for Facilities & Campus Services, began phasing out old service trucks from the facilities service fleet and replacing them with entirely electric vehicles from Miles Electric Vehicles.
“My house is my toy,” Rick Matthews, associate provost of information systems, said. His Faculty Drive home, built in 1984 may well still be the most energy efficient structure on the block over 20 years after its construction. Matthews uses super insulation to make his home comfortable year round.