Are you interested in shaping one of your classes around a topic in sustainability? Integrating sustainability issues into a component of your course? Or developing a new sustainability course? Have you wanted to learn more about how to bring sustainability into your field of expertise and your classrooms? We invite you to enhance your teaching and engagement by becoming a Sustainability Faculty Fellow.
The Sustainability Faculty Learning Community, a project of the Sustainability Committee, is pleased to announce that we are accepting applications for the second cohort of faculty and staff to join the existing multidisciplinary faculty network to engage in a yearlong exploration of sustainability, the scholarship of teaching, collaboration, and community building. This program is open to academic and professional faculty. This program is funded by the Office of the Provost, the Office of Campus Sustainability, the Sustainability Committee, and Campus Auxiliary Services.
Program Goals – The goals of the Sustainability Faculty Learning Community, founded in the fall of 2016, are to create a community of faculty across ranks and disciplines committed to exploring teaching and course design strategies that integrate sustainability into the New Paltz curriculum, as well as to enhance the understanding of sustainability concepts among faculty and students, particularly those not trained in environmental fields.
Program Elements – The cornerstone of the fellowship will be a 2-day retreat, January 16-17, 2018, when fellows will participate in an immersive training program led by Dr. Deborah Rowe, a nationally-acclaimed sustainability education scholar and instructor. Dr. Rowe will lead the first day’s activities on campus and SUNY New Paltz’s own faculty and staff will lead the second day. During the retreat, fellows will have the opportunity to learn sustainability principles as well as techniques for bringing those fundamentals to their own particular disciplines, classes, and programs.
Fellows will also meet for two on-campus meetings in the fall semester and two meetings in the spring semester and be expected, by the end of the yearlong fellowship, to present plans for integrating sustainability into a current or future course (including a new or revised syllabus). There is a stipend of $250 to be provided to each fellow upon completion of the program and submission and presentation of the revised syllabus at the end of the Spring 2018 semester.
The Sustainability Faculty Learning Community, in partnership with the Faculty Development Center, will organize sustainability programs and workshops open to all fellows and the extended campus community. This past spring, the SFLC organized workshops on change agent skills, sustainability in pedagogy, and systems thinking.
Expectations of Sustainability Faculty Fellows
Participants in the Sustainability Faculty Fellows program are expected to:
- Attend two gatherings in the fall
- Read some material prior to the January retreat
- Attend the 2-day retreat on January 16 – 17, 2018
- Attend two gatherings in the spring
- Present plans for integrating sustainability into a current or future courses at the final gathering
- Submit a revised or new syllabus that integrates sustainability into a current or future course
Please note that many of the Sustainability Faculty Fellows from 2016-17 ended up integrating sustainability into a course that they were offering in the spring of 2017. This is not a requirement, but it worked well for the first group of fellows.
How to Apply – Applications for the program will be accepted until September 1, 2017. Click here to fill out the online application.
If you are a professional faculty member interested in becoming a fellow, please contact Lisa Mitten if you would like assistance in framing your application so that you’re integrating sustainability into your work or a program that you manage instead of an academic course.
Program Contacts
For additional information about the Sustainability Faculty Learning Community, please contact one of the following:
Lisa Mitten, Office of Campus Sustainability
Michael Sheridan, Business Management
Will Hong, Digital Media & Journalism
Michael Boms, Biology
Kate McCoy, Education
Joshua Korenblat, Art
