Higher Ed makes hay out of Vermont's 'green' tradition

Vermont Business Magazine, Dec 01, 2004 by Barna, Ed

There were people campaigning outside Middlebury's polling place On November 2, but they werent from parties involved in the elections. Middlebury College students from the Conservation & Environmental Policy course were promoting "72 Hours of Light," an event to be held on the town green November 13-15 in collaboration with Efficiency Vermont, Middlebury Global Warming Action, and the Town of Middlebury

There they were at the appointed time, handing out free hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, crepes, compact fluorescent bulbs, and information to the effect that the energy cost savings from using the bulbs would be a much bigger gift than the free cats. In the basement of a nearby local church they had connected a bicycle to an electric generator, and invited visitors to experience how much more energy it took to light two 100-watt incandescents than two Energy Star 28-watters.

"If every household in Vermont replaced one light bulb with an energy-efficient bulb, Vermonters would save enough electricity to light 14,500 homes for a year," proclaimed one leaflet. It asked, "Can Middlebury light the way for Vermont?"

Middlebury College, the University of Vermont, Green Mountain College, Sterling College and others are trying, through a combination of faculty research and involvements, student environmental studies that often extend across many disciplines, the principles by which the institutions construct and operate buildings, and other aspects of on-campus life. Vermont Law School, with its environmental law program, has added another dimension, but one that is beyond the scope of this article.) Green education is increasingly a factor in attracting students to Vermont, and the schools are increasingly involved with a movement toward sustainable business growth that could have important implications for the state's economy. And as part of their studies, students often have working relationships with area businesses and non-profit organizations

It would be impossible to describe in detail what all of Vermont's colleges and universities are doing, but a closer examination of the first four institutions mentioned - along a spectrum from small to large - will give an indication. Sterling College

Founded in 1958 as a boys' prep school (Sterling was a founder's wife's name), this four-year college still owes something to Outward Bound's philosophy of "Combining academics, physical challenge, craftsmanship, and service to others," as a Sterling account puts it. Surviving prep school market changes through a variety of adaptions, it awarded its first Associate's degree in 1982, and became fully accredited in 1987.

They would like to grow, said admissions director John Zaber (himself an '85 alum), but only from about 100 to perhaps 120. Anything more would detract from a unique on-school environment in which students do chores that include work in the managed woodlot and raising vegetables and meat for the dining hall (they are one of only seven members of the Work College Consortium), go on a Winter Expedition at the end of the fall semester, take part in community meetings, and benefit from close relationships with faculty members in the course of highly hands-on learning experiences.

With the Northeast Kingdom close at hand, and sometimes through partnerships like one with the US Forest Service, it's a natural, so to speak, to offer hard-tofind courses of study in environmental areas. Few if any schools list wildlands ecology and management, outdoor education and leadership, sustainable agriculture, northern studies (they're the only college with this concentration, as far as they know) and "self-designed" as BA courses of study.

Students go from learning how to use a chainsaw and a tractor to using the global positioning and geographic information systems. Off campus, they might have internships "from Alaska to Mongolia," and for the sake of perspective can find themselves in Belize, Lapland, Japan or several other far-flung destinations for two-week programs.

Lately, they've been exploring possible biodiesel fuel use on campus, findings socially responsible vendors, and doing a campus energy audit to supplement previous efforts at conservation, recycling and composting.

Graduates' jobs send them far and wide, but some stay in Vermont. For instance, '02 grad Christina Goodwin directs the Lamoille County Natural Resources Conservation District and Nature Center, while '03 Alyssa Powers co-owners an herb farm in West Brattleboro. But perhaps the most important connection is through the required Senior Applied Research Project-, typical examples, Sterling's information said, would be developing a marketing plan for a vegetable farm or designing a recreation plan for some of the Green Mountain National Forest's land.

For any who fear that Sterling might be highly politicized hive of "environmentally

Zaber said "We're not here to turn people into activists. What we want is for people who leave Sterling to lead productive lives."

Green Mountain College