The Sustainability Faculty Learning Community, a project of the Sustainability Committee, is now accepting applications for SUNY New Paltz's ninth cohort of academic and professional faculty to join the existing multidisciplinary faculty network. Incoming Sustainability Faculty Fellows engage in a year-long exploration of the multiple dimensions of sustainability and the scholarship and practice of teaching, collaboration, and community building.
This program is funded by the Office of the Provost and the Office of Campus Sustainability.
New and returning fellows are welcome to apply. This program is open to all academic and professional faculty, including part-time faculty.
What do we mean by sustainability?
Our approach to sustainability includes social, economic, and environmental dimensions. During the fall gatherings of Sustainability Faculty Fellows, we introduce multiple definitions and frameworks for sustainability. We share Project Drawdown's Climate Solutions and Regeneration.
We also introduce Fellows to the sustainability competencies including change agent skills and systems thinking, and regional partnerships to develop applied, experiential learning student opportunities.
Program Goals
Founded in the fall of 2016, the Sustainability Faculty Learning Community strives to foster a community of academic and professional faculty across ranks and disciplines committed to infusing sustainability into their teaching, research, and programs.
Program Expectations
Over the course of one academic year, academic faculty are expected to modify at least one syllabus or program to include sustainability content or develop a new sustainability course. Professional faculty are expected to infuse sustainability content into an existing or new program. After a series of professional development opportunities for sustainability, Fellows are expected to submit revised/updated course and/or program information to the Co-Coordinators of the Sustainability Faculty Learning Community by the end of the spring semester. 2024-25 Fellows will present their innovations to their cohort and the next cohort in September of 2025.
Program Elements
The cornerstone of the fellowship is a required in-person 2-day January Institute from January 15 to 16, 2025 when Fellows will participate in an immersive training program led by their colleagues. During the retreat, Fellows will have the opportunity to learn sustainability principles and techniques for bringing those fundamentals to their own disciplines, classes, and programs and build community. If you cannot attend the January Institute, please apply in a future year.
Fellows will also meet for a minimum of three 8 am meetings in the fall semester and two meetings in the spring semester and be expected, by the end of the yearlong fellowship, to submit plans for integrating sustainability into a current or future course (including a new or revised syllabus) or program at the end of the spring semester. A stipend of $250 will be granted to each Fellow upon completion of the program.
For Returning Fellows
Sustainability Faculty Fellows from prior cohorts as well as individuals with substantive sustainability knowledge and expertise who have not participated in this program before are invited to re-apply/apply and propose a major sustainability project such as:
- A major sustainability grant application
- Re-designing an academic program/curriculum
- Developing program-level sustainability learning outcomes
- Integrating sustainability into departmental communications to prospective students
- Developing a new sustainability-focused course
- Initiate inter-disciplinary, sustainability-focused collaborative research, teaching, or programming
Expectations of the Ninth Cohort of Sustainability Faculty Fellows
To summarize, participants in the Sustainability Faculty Fellows program are expected to:
- Attend three 8 am morning meetings in October and November
- Attend the 2-day January Institute on January 15 - 16, 2025
- Read/watch material introduced before gatherings and the January Institute
- Attend two meetings in the spring
- Submit a revised or new syllabus or program in May of 2025
- Present plans for integrating sustainability into a current or future course or program in September of 2025
Please note that many former Sustainability Faculty Fellows have integrated sustainability into a course that they were offering in the spring. This is not a requirement, but it has worked well for many.
How to Apply
This program is brought to you by...
The Co-Coordinators of the Sustainability Faculty Learning Community:
Anthony Dandridge, Black Studies
Andrea Frank, Art
Lisa Mitten, Office of Campus Sustainability
Daniel Lipson, Political Science
Sarah Wyman, English
