I’d like to share two opportunities to reduce your own carbon footprint:

Central Hudson is selling 60w-equivalent LEDs for $1 each via their online store to customers located in their service territory.  Consider upgrading your own home lighting to LEDs!

This fall, the Office of Campus Sustainability is hosting the second annual Sustainability Fair and we’re striving to bring in sustainability/energy companies and nonprofits from the region who can advise faculty and staff on strategies to reduce their carbon footprints with:

• Home energy audits
• State and utility incentives for home energy improvements
• Solar photovolatics
• Electric vehicles discounts
• Other programs!

Stay tuned for information about this upcoming fair!

1. Turn off the lights in your day-lit office for at least one hour, beginning at noon today.
2. Visit your neighbor’s day-lit office and remind him or her that it’s daylight hour time.
3. Explore shared common spaces (ie. bathrooms, conference rooms, etc) around your office.  Can the lights in these spaces be turned off or only turned on when occupied?

1. Turn off the lights in your day-lit office for at least one hour, beginning at noon on Friday, June 16.
2. Visit your neighbor’s day-lit office and remind him or her that it’s daylight hour time.
3. Explore shared common spaces (ie. bathrooms, conference rooms, etc) around your office that can be turned off.

New Paltz has joined a select group of U.S. colleges and universities that have met campus environment standards established by the Arbor Day Foundation, the nation’s largest nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees.

“Earning Tree Campus USA status demonstrates to the world what those of us who live and work at SUNY New Paltz already know – that we have an extraordinary environment for studying ecology, not only off-campus but on campus as well,” said Eric Keeling, assistant professor of biology.

A small group of students, faculty, staff and community members came together this year to work toward earning Tree Campus USA designation, an honor reserved for schools that meet five requirements:

• Establishment of a Campus Tree Advisory Committee
• Development of a campus tree care plan
• Allocation of annual expenditures to campus tree program
• Arbor Day Observance
• Creation of at least one service learning project.

The effort to create an Advisory Committee was led by Emerita Professor of Biology Carol Rietsma, who enlisted Keeling, Grounds Supervisor Rich Drosdowich, and NYS DEC Senior Forester (and New Paltz alumnus) George Profous ’04 (Elementary Education). A number of students contributed to the effort as well.

Much of their efforts focused on presenting the New Paltz campus as a resource, both to students and faculty interested in studying the flora in our own backyard, and to community members seeking education about Hudson Valley plant life.

“I hope this reminds the broader public that our campus can be a resource – a place where people can come learn about trees and find new ways to appreciate their value to our communities,” Rietsma said.

To that end, the College’s new Campus Tree Advisory Committee has been working with local partners to help the Village and Town of New Paltz create a tree management plan and apply for green infrastructure grants.

“Tree Campus USA designation is in itself just a symbol; however, it is also a recognition of the spirit of innovation at SUNY New Paltz,” Profous said. “The implementation of new technology and science in tree planting and streetscapes in urban settings has lagged behind for decades. May your addition to the Tree Campus community help change that.”

Readers can learn more about trees at SUNY New Paltz by visiting the campus tree database, an invaluable resource that uses GPS and the hard work of biology students and faculty to locate and identify every tree on campus.

More information about the Tree Campus USA program is available online.

SUNY New Paltz students Ryan O’Hara ’18 (Management: Sustainability) and Martin Dearaway ’18 (Management: Sustainability) originally just wanted to plant a tree on campus for Arbor Day.

“Our fraternity first set out to do this as a way to get involved and do something green,” O’Hara said. “When we brought the idea up with the sustainability office and with the School of Business, it became something a lot bigger.”

The Arbor Day event grew into a collaboration between the students of New Paltz’s Pi Alpha Nu chapter, the Office of Campus Sustainability and the School of Business, and April 28, dozens of students, faculty and staff came out to celebrate not only the planting of a new tree on campus, but the launch of a new line of business courses designed for students interested in applying green practices to their future careers.

“Today marks the official beginning of the Sustainability Track in our Management major; today our program begins to establish roots in our School and our community,” said School of Business Dean Kristin Backhaus. “I want to say thank you to Pi Alpha Nu, to Michael Sheridan and to everyone in Facilities for all the work that went into this event – especially the people who dug that hole and picked out this tree.”

The new track is shepherded by Assistant Professor Michael Sheridan, who in a short time has created new courses and helped the School of Business forge partnerships with regional businesses and organizations concerned with sustainability.

For students, this means access to unique opportunities working with local companies on sustainability assessments – comprehensive, real-world evaluations in high demand by companies of all sizes that are looking to achieve cost savings and reduce their environmental footprints.

“The business community has a major role to play in solving sustainability challenges, especially with climate change,” said Campus Sustainability Coordinator Lisa Mitten. “The community is stepping up, alongside governments and public citizens across this world, and students in this track are positioning themselves to join those companies and push them to continue this important work into the future.”

The enthusiasm for the new track among students at the Arbor Day celebration was as easy to see as the symbolism of planting a new tree and launching a new sustainability track on the same day.

“The sustainability track shows that the School of Business is embracing a green future, and we’re really excited about that,” O’Hara said. “We hope that as this tree grows, the program will grow with it.”

Visit the School of Business and the Office of Campus Sustainability online to learn more about their programs, or contact Michael Sheridan at sheridam@newpaltz.edu for information about the Sustainability Track in the Management major.

The Office of Campus Sustainability is hiring a team of paid student Sustainability Ambassadors for the fall of 2017.  The primary responsibilities of Sustainability Ambassadors are to connect students (especially incoming students) with the Sustainability Network on campus and educate students about sustainability.  The Sustainability Network includes all the students, faculty, and staff who forward sustainability on campus through teaching, research, engagement, and operational improvements.

Sustainability Ambassadors educate students about:

• Sustainability practices on campus (ie. the limited sales of bottled water on campus, no plastic bags, sustainable food and beverages in campus dining, solar photovoltaics with battery storage on campus, energy conservation and efficiency improvements on campus)
• Sustainability behaviors (ie. how to recycle and conserve energy in residence halls)
• Sustainability student organizations, the living learning community, and regional organizations
• Sustainability majors & minors
• Sustainability GE courses and upper division courses
• Sustainability events (ie. the Repair Café and the Sustainability Fair)

If successful in the fall, students may be invited to continue their employment into the spring of 2018.

Responsibilities through the semester

• Training/Orientation – Sustainability Ambassadors attend an orientation/training prior to the start of the semester.
• Regular Meetings – Approximately every two weeks, Sustainability Ambassadors will attend a group meeting with the Campus Sustainability Coordinator to plan future events and brainstorm about how to most effectively do this work and connect with students.
• Farmers Market Tabling – The primary work hours during the Fall of 2017 are during the weekly farmers market on Thursdays from 10 AM to 3:30 PM.  Students will be assigned hours to work at the farmers market when they are not in class.
• Additional Duties – Sustainability Ambassadors will have additional duties as assigned, such as connecting with incoming students at Welcome Back Weekend, organizing the Sustainability Fair, conducting waste audits, coordinating New Paltz Unplugged and Recyclemania, and working one-time events, such as the Repair Café and Sustainability Fair.

Sustainability Ambassadors will be employees of the Office of Campus Sustainability and will report to the Campus Sustainability Coordinator Lisa Mitten.  Student Ambassadors are paid $11/hour.

Ideal candidates:

• Have an passion for sustainability
• Have experience with sustainability on campus, whether through student organizations, living learning communities, or academic programs
• Have excellent verbal communication skills, are enthusiastic, and are able to motivate and inspire other students

Timeline

Students who apply for this position by April 28 and are selected for an interview, will be interviewed during the first week of May.  Students who submit applications during the first week of May may be interviewed that same week.  Students who apply by May 14 will be interviewed during exam week.  The Office of Campus Sustainability will strive to make offers to student prior to the end of the semester.  Students will begin work in August of 2017.

Application

The application has two parts: a written application and a short video submission. Click here to download the Sustainability Ambassador Application for Fall 2017.

Questions?

Email Campus Sustainability Coordinator Lisa Mitten at mittenl@newpaltz.edu with any questions.

You are invited to swing by the Sojourner Truth Library during one of the time periods listed below and build a poem inspired by water on a typewriter!  No previous poetry experience is needed.

Drop-In Poetry Typist Sessions

• Wed, April 5 from 3 – 5 PM
• Thur, April 6 from 6 – 8 PM
• Tues, April 11 from 6 – 8 PM
• Wed, April 12 from 3 – 5 PM
• Thur, April 13 from 3 – 5 PM

About the WaterWords Poetry Project.  WaterWords is an interdisciplinary project at SUNY New Paltz that combines poetry, performance, digital art-making, and zine-making.  Water is essential to life, a “resource” consistently threatened by pollution caused by human activity including climate change, pollution, and privatization. Water is also synonymous with fluidity, a theoretical framework through which we may understand identity, communication, creativity and other aspects of lived experience.

WaterWords takes place through April 15th and includes the following events and participatory installations. We encourage you to get involved by dropping in at one of the poetry typist sessions, viewing the exhibit below and attending the final performance.

Student Exhibition

Theater student Sarice Olson has mounted her projection that incorporates the theme of water with poetry in the Fine Arts Building Rotunda Lobby.  Stop by anytime to watch the projection for a few minutes.

Culminating Poetry Reading

On Thursday, April 13 at 7 PM is a free culimating poetry reading at Parker Theater where several theater students will perform and Sarice will present her projection installation.

Drop-In Poetry Typist Sessions

• Wed, April 5 from 3 – 5 PM
• Thur, April 6 from 6 – 8 PM
• Tues, April 11 from 6 – 8 PM
• Wed, April 12 from 3 – 5 PM
• Thur, April 13 from 3 – 5 PM

About the WaterWords Poetry Project.  WaterWords is an interdisciplinary project at SUNY New Paltz that combines poetry, performance, digital art-making, and zine-making.  Water is essential to life, a “resource” consistently threatened by pollution caused by human activity including climate change, pollution, and privatization. Water is also synonymous with fluidity, a theoretical framework through which we may understand identity, communication, creativity and other aspects of lived experience.

WaterWords takes place through April 15th and includes the following events and participatory installations. We encourage you to get involved by dropping in at one of the poetry typist sessions, viewing the exhibit below and attending the final performance.

Student Exhibition

Theater student Sarice Olson has mounted her projection that incorporates the theme of water with poetry in the Fine Arts Building Rotunda Lobby.  Stop by anytime to watch the projection for a few minutes.

Culminating Poetry Reading

On Thursday, April 13 at 7 PM is a free culimating poetry reading at Parker Theater where several theater students will perform and Sarice will present her projection installation.