Course: Reducing Dickinson's Carbon Footprint, Dickinson College

Republished From: Cooling the Curriculum; Author: Neil Leary
Initial Publication Date: April 29, 2016

Summary

Students in this service learning/community-based research course worked together as a consulting team to research options for reducing campus greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The students evaluated the climate action plans of Dickinson College and other schools, met with campus operations staff to identify information needs, conducted research and analyses of selected options, developed recommendations, and presented their findings and recommendations to the office of campus operations and senior officers of the college. Students were also introduced to climate change science and policy and the implications of climate change for environmental, social and economic sustainability.


Learning Goals

Learning goals are for students to be able to:

  1. Assess and explain connections between campus operations, climate change and sustainability;
  2. Critically analyze climate action plans of colleges and other institutions;
  3. Evaluate options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and advancing sustainability goals using environmental, financial and other criteria;
  4. Work effectively as a member of a team to develop recommendations for climate change action and sustainability that are supported by credible evidence, good analysis, and well reasoned arguments; and
  5. Communicate recommendations effectively to community members and decision makers.

Description and Teaching Materials

The course syllabus and selected assignments are provided. The assignments include (1) GHG inventory lab, (2) analysis of campus climate action plans, (3) financial analysis lab for GHG mitigation projects, and (4) a community-based research project on reducing campus GHG emissions.

Course syllabusSUST_301_FA_2012_Syllabus_LEARY_DickinsonCollege.pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 136kB Dec7 15)

GHG inventory lab


GHG_Inventory_Lab.pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 86kB Dec7 15)


Analysis of Climate Action Plans


Climate_Action_Plan_Analysis_template.pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 73kB Dec7 15)


Financial Analysis Lab


Financial_Analysis_Lab.pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 59kB Dec7 15)

Community-Based Research Project: Reducing Campus GHG Emissions


CBR_Project.pdf (Acrobat (PDF) 76kB Dec7 15)

Teaching Notes and Tips

There are no prerequisites for this course, but students must be of sophomore or higher standing. The course works well with students from a variety of majors and from multiple class years. Some of the research projects developed by students involved surveys of students and required review by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Anticipate this need by devoting a class session to IRB review process and working with your IRB chair in advance of the course to provide support to students for submitting applications to IRB.

Assessment

Assessment of student performance is based on participation in class discussions and activities, short written assignments and labs, two exams, and a community-based research project. The research project accounts for 50% of the grade. Details are provided in the syllabus.

References and Resources

Two books were assigned for the course:

  • A. Rappaport and S. H. Creighton, 2007. Degrees that Matter, Climate Change and the University. MIT Press, Cambridge MA. (Abbreviated as R&C in course schedule).
  • A. Lovins and the Rocky Mountain Institute, 2011. Reinventing Fire, Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era. Chelsea Green Publishing Co., White River Junction, VT.

Other assigned readings are noted in the syllabus.

Also of use to students and the instructor is

  • W. Simpson, 2009. Cool Campus! A How-To Guide for College and University Climate Action Planning. Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. PDF of the guidebook and wiki version of the guide can be accessed at http://www.aashe.org/wiki/climate-planning-guide.

Citation

Leary, N. (2014). Course: Reducing Dickinson's Carbon Footprint, Dickinson College.