Community College Journal - October/November 2010

In addition to environmental technology courses, CCCC strives to maintain a smoke-free campus and to build with low-toxicity materials. It has installed a series of no-flush urinals that save nearly 45,000 gallons of water a year. The college also has sought approval to install a wind turbine on campus and has initiated many smaller practices to further reduce its carbon footprint. It saved money and reduced fuel consumption when it stopped mowing grass in certain low-traffic areas on campus. The practice initially met resistance, but has since become a model for state prisons and hospitals looking for simple ways to save fuel and money.

CCCC initially tapped its facilities director to head up sustainability efforts on campus, but as these efforts became more involved, it hired an associate director of facilities and sustainability to exert broader influence and oversee the college’s sustainability committee. President Kathleen Schatzberg says the move instilled a “buck stops here” mentality to sustainability and ensured the college stayed committed to change. “The first time we tried composting, we were overrun with flies,” says Schatzberg. “The response

The Southwest Tech District Board invites
applications for the position of President.
One of 16 accredited Wisconsin technical
colleges, Southwest Tech serves more than
11,000 students annually (nonduplicated
headcount) and offers over 40 programs
of study. With strong regional support, the
college recently completed a $32 million
expansion and renovation project on its
130 acre campus. Southwest Tech offers
state-of-the-art training and
instruction, which
is integral to a
vibrant regional
economy comprised
of business, industry,
and agriculture.
COLLEGE PRESIDENT

t r of business, industry,

Waubonsee Community College
bio-lab students test the health
of a local stream.

was not to say, ‘We can’t do it,’ but rather, ‘We can’t do it that way.’”

Taking Responsibility

Haywood Community College (HCC), between Blue Ridge National Park and Smoky Mountain National Park in Clyde, N.C., has a history of responsible resource management. Increasingly, the college has focused on pursuing resource management through more economically sound means.

As a growing number of factories— once the backbone of the region’s

Minimum qualifications include at least five years experience as a senior level administrator at an educational institution, an earned doctorate from an accredited institution, and ability to be certifiable by the Wisconsin Technical College System.

Complete information including the Presidential Profile, application requirements, timeline, college background information, and contact information for further inquiries is available at swtc.edu. For initial consideration applicants are encouraged to apply by November 19, 2010.

Southwest Tech is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Educator.

economy—have closed, HCC has adjusted, teaching sustainability in the guise of practical skills that promise to help students secure jobs upon graduation. Likewise, administrators recognized that the college’s budget also needed to be sustainable. The college named a vice president in charge of coordinating its disparate sustainability programs and added a full-time sustainability technician to oversee facilities and emissions issues.

Today, HCC incorporates ele-
ments of sustainability into more
than 50 courses, from construc-
tion and electrical engineering to
cosmetology—where it promotes
the use of natural products. It
recently partnered with Haywood
It also helps minimize costs.

“We see it as our responsibility to
demonstrate that these things can be
done,” says Johnson. “But we haven’t
incorporated anything that will not
pay off.”
A new paperless filing system is
already saving the college money, says
Johnson, a benefit she credits to having
a sustainability point person on staff.
“Even with that massive software instal-
lation, we saw big savings. We saw im-
mediate savings in our trash collections
and in the money we spend on paper.”

Money isn’t the only benefit to having a green guru or two on campus. “I really believe that our environment can allow anyone to make a viable living without destroying it,” says Johnson. “The more we can do to demonstrate viable ways to practice sustainability, the more we are helping our students walk successfully into their futures.”