George A. Romer, '95
On September 19, 1994, President John McCardell delivered his beginning of the year "State of the College" address. In this, he identified as one of his goals making Middlebury "The environmentally aware campus" and identifying as a "10-year goal the establishment of the preeminent Environmental Studies Program." In the following section, we will examine where the College now stands in regard to overall environmental awareness and make recommendations to improve the College's standing in this area. It should also be noted that the President has convened an ad hoc Committee on the Environment to broadly address these issues. This Committee submitted its Report to the President in April 1995.
There are two general arenas of environmental education at the College. The first is the Environmental Studies (ES) major, in which students achieve depth and breadth in study of the environment. The second deals with environmental education in a broader sense. It concerns the environmental education of students who don't major in environmental studies as well as introducing the environment as a topic in courses not specifically part of the Environmental Studies Program.
The Environmental Studies Program at Middlebury College, established in 1965, is the oldest in the country. The Program was a relatively small one through the late 1980s, typically graduating five to twelve majors per year. This has changed dramatically, however. Since graduating no majors in 1988, the Program has grown at an astronomical rate: nineteen in 1991, forty-one in 1994, and a projected sixty graduates in 1995. Currently, Environmental Studies is the fourth largest major at Middlebury. Nineteen faculty members from twelve different departments are now affiliated with the ES Program. The major has four parts: a set of three core courses, an in-depth focus, cognate courses that supplement the breadth gained in the core courses, and senior-level work.
We recommend that the College continue to support a strong Environmental Studies major.
Under the "old" distribution requirements (in place through the Class of 1997), a concentration in Environmental Studies exists. This has been a popular concentration with students. Under the "new" distribution requirements, the required concentrations have been replaced with voluntary minors. Due to enrollment pressures, especially in the introductory ES courses, there is no minor in Environmental Studies.
Currently, three problems regarding environmental education outside of the ES major exist at Middlebury. (1) There is no minor available for students who would like this opportunity. (2) It is very difficult for non-ES majors to get into ES classes after sophomore year. (3) There is no requirement that all students take at least one environmentally-related course before they graduate. The first two problems are related to staffing issues and student demand. If more sections of the ES courses could be offered, or if a new ES course for non-majors could be developed, these problems could be dealt with. The third problem requires action by the faculty. One option would be to make the environment a fourth category of the Cultures and Civilization category of the new distribution requirements. This would mean all students must take at least one course relating to the environment in order to graduate, and this course could satisfy other requirements as well (e.g., subject matter distribution or major).
A further concern is the idea of incorporating environmental subject matter into more courses across the curriculum. This, too, would require the support of the faculty (e.g., their interest) and the Administration (e.g., course development grants).
We recommend that the College support initiatives to increase environmental education across the curriculum, including staffing to allow for an Environmental Studies minor and courses for non-majors, and that the faculty add the environment to its distribution requirements.
In the following section we examine current policies and groups involved in furthering environmental awareness for the entire Middlebury College community--faculty, staff, and students.
The Environmental Council is an ad hoc committee appointed by the Vice President for Administration and Treasurer of the College. It consists of faculty, staff, and students who are concerned with environmental issues and whose jobs deal with aspects of the college that affect the environment. The Council came into existence in 1992, though its roots can be traced to the Energy Council that began in the mid-1970s. Among the issues that the Environmental Council deals with are: developing a campus environmental plan; promoting composting, energy conservation, waste minimization and recycling, and water conservation; and raising environmental awareness on campus through environmental contests, fairs, and speakers. It should be stressed that the Council has no authority or power to make decisions regarding College policy; it is purely an advisory and educatory body. In 1994-95, the Council has had a $5,000 budget to support its activities.
We recommend that the Environmental Council become a permanent committee. (see Environmental Council section)
1. Middlebury Mountain Club. This student group, founded in 1930, focuses on helping students to engage in outdoor activities, such as backpacking, biking, camping, canoeing, caving, climbing, hiking, kayaking, and skiing, throughout northern New England and the Adirondacks. The group organizes trips, lends out equipment, and brings speakers to campus. Although not an environmental group per se, by helping get students outdoors, the Mountain Club plays a crucial role in furthering environmental awareness on campus and in developing a sense of place in the surrounding region. A special program that the Mountain Club runs is the Middlebury Outdoor Orientation (MOO). This program for incoming students serves as an orientation to the College and to the surrounding natural regions. It has been a tremendous success since it began. In 1994, 215 first year students participated in the fall MOO, and the Mountain Club hopes for 300 students in 1995. In addition, this February FOO (February Outdoor Orientation) was initiated for students beginning the year in February.
2. Environmental Quality (EQ): EQ is a student group dedicated to educating and mobilizing students on environmental issues. Among the organization's major activities are inviting and sponsoring speakers on environmental issues, undertaking letter-writing campaigns, and organizing Earth Day activities. One of EQ's greatest successes is the C.U.P.P.S. program, which supplies every student, faculty, and staff member with a portable plastic cup to use for take-out beverages. This program has led to the elimination of paper cups at the dining halls. EQ, founded in 1980, has been a very popular and successful organization. Current membership is approximately 25 students. EQ has no relationship to the ES Program.
3. Weybridge House: Weybridge House--or the Environmental House--is a student residence based on mindful living. Established in 1991, between 12 and 20 students live in the house. Among the activities members have undertaken over the last few years are hosting faculty dinners on environmental issues, communal cooking and eating (the House is off the meal plan), gardening and composting, and forming a nature writers' circle. Future goals include retrofitting Weybridge House with a composting toilet and taking the House off the electric grid through solar and wind energy. Weybridge House raises awareness both through example and through their activities. Weybridge House has no relationship to the ES Program.
4. Otter Creek Journal (OCJ): The OCJ, founded in 1992, is a student environmental journal. Published each semester, the OCJ includes student, staff, and faculty writing and artwork on issues related to the environment. Much of the work in the journal is "nature writing," though the OCJ is open to any work exploring the relationship of humans to their environment. The OCJ publishes on tree free paper.
We recommend that the College continue to support and fund these student organizations.
One central element to the growth of environmental awareness throughout the Middlebury College community is the strong support of the administration. By sending a clear message to all segments of the community that environmental awareness is an important part of the College's mission, there is a growing likelihood that environmental awareness will expand and deepen. Recent positive examples of this have been the College's donation of lands in Cornwall Swamp to the Nature Conservancy, the decision to support the Otter Creek Greenbelt, and President McCardell's September speech identifying the environment as a peak of excellence at the College.
We recommend that the Administration support significant environmental initiatives in all aspects of College life and make it clear to the College community that environmental awareness is important. This could be done through presidential statements and through including language on environmental awareness in the Middlebury College Catalog and the Middlebury College Handbook. (see College Publications section)
Residential life is an arena where environmental awareness can be raised significantly. It is in the dorms that students make most of their decisions about energy use, recycling, and water use. Including environmental awareness as a responsibility of Resident Assistants (RAs) and Junior Counselors (JCs), the students will see the importance of this and be reminded of it in their living space. It is of the utmost importance that the Dean of Students cooperate in helping to build environmental awareness on campus.
At present, student cooperation in the dormitories with conservation and recycling efforts is poor. In an effort to improve this situation,
We recommend that the Dean of Students include in the new student orientation program in September and February a 30-minute environmental awareness session to be conducted in the relevant residence halls by the Environmental Coordinator. Attendance at this environmental awareness session shall be mandatory for all entering students.
In recent years it has been the responsibility of the Environmental Council to appoint Environmental Monitors to promote energy and water conservation and recycling in the various buildings on campus. It has been particularly difficult for the Environmental Council, working through various student organizations and through the office of the Recycling Coordinator, to find student volunteers to serve as Environmental Monitors in the dormitories. The current system for making these appointments is very time-consuming and very inefficient. However, the assistance of Environmental Monitors in the dormitories is essential if the student body is to be made environmentally aware, leading to full cooperation with College efforts aimed at conservation and recycling.
We recommend that the Residential Life Program, under the supervision of the Dean of Students, take on full responsibility for appointing Environmental Monitors for all student residence halls and ensuring that monitors carry out their responsibilities. The job description of the Director of Residential Life, the RAs, and the JCs should include responsibility for promoting environmental awareness, conservation, and recycling. The RAs and JCs should participate in an environmental monitor training session with the College Environmental Coordinator and serve as Environmental Monitors themselves. They should also assist the Director of Residential Life in appointing and supervising a core of additional Environmental Monitors as needed. The position of residence hall Fire Safety Monitor and Environmental Monitor could be combined, and it would be appropriate to offer the students who assume this joint responsibility some form of compensation. The Environmental Coordinator will conduct orientation and training sessions for the residence hall Environmental Monitors at the beginning of each academic year as soon as the Environmental Monitors have been appointed.
Faculty are often engaged in environmentally-oriented research and in local projects related to environmental issues. The College should seek to have the faculty share this work with the public, as it has done in such past events as The Sense of Place Symposium. In addition, the College should continue to support efforts to bring in environmental speakers, such as Gary Snyder, Terry Tempest Williams, and William Cronon, and to undertake conferences, such as The Future of the Northern Forest and Spirit and Nature.
We recommend continued support of speakers and conferences on environmental issues. To further this support, we recommend establishing an endowed lecture fund for environmental affairs.
If Middlebury College is to become a leader in environmental education and environmental awareness among colleges and universities, it must be aware of what other institutions are doing and respond accordingly. For instance, a number of campuses are designed to be car-free or pedestrian campuses (e.g., UC-Davis, St. Lawrence). George Washington University just signed an agreement with the EPA to make the institution a "green" university. The EPA hopes to sign similar agreements with other schools. Why not Middlebury? Tufts University has an Environmental Literacy Institute. The EPA's Green Lights program has over 76 college and university members. Why not Middlebury?
Middlebury College has shown leadership in signing the 1990 Talloires Declaration, a commitment by university presidents to a sustainable future. If the College is to be a leader, however, it must at the very least be doing what other institutions are doing. Indeed, Middlebury should be doing it before them. The College should be an innovator in areas like energy conservation, reduced use of toxic substances, and sustainable land management.
Community Awareness and Education Subcommittee
Appendix
Suggestions Regarding Weybridge House
As part of the establishment of Environmental Studies as an academic peak, the College should review its policy on academic interest houses. The environmental house, in a brainstorming meeting earlier this semester, decided that it would like some major changes. Some of the items listed would only benefit house members, but many could be implemented on a campuswide basis.
OR
Alexander P. Lee, '97
George A. Romer, '95
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