Presidents' Perspectives

What Colleges Want the Public to Know

June 28, 2012

We recommend this recent article originally posted on the Huffington Post, by Dr. Scott Miller, president of Bethany College and signatory to the ACUPCC. 

With the current election year, among other topics capturing headlines and media analysis, it's sometimes challenging for other newsworthy stories to receive the coverage they deserve.

A prominent example is higher education. Aside from high-profile scandals, spectacular jumps in tuition costs or significant research breakthroughs, much of the news about colleges and universities escapes the attention of the mainstream media. Not only is this news generally good, but it directly impacts families and their daily lives all across America.

As a former reporter, I know well how and why certain stories are assigned in the newsroom. As a college president, however, I also appreciate the little-publicized but substantial achievements of higher education -- as well as their related challenges -- that deserve the public's attention. Here are some examples:

Please link to the Huffington Post for the full article.

Integrating Sustainability & Climate Action into Every Student's Learning Experience

June 7, 2012

By Richard L. Torgerson, President, Luther College And Co-Chair, ACUPCC Academic Committee 

(This article appears in the June, 2012 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

Richard Torgerson, President, Luther College

Since its founding in 1861, Luther College has remained true to its mission by preparing graduates to respond to a changing world. As we look ahead we see global environmental problems, resource scarcity, and climate change threatening the health of the planet. In response to these threats Luther College’s 2007 Sesquicentennial Strategic Plan pushes the college to seek sustainability through greater operational efficiencies while preparing graduates with the skills, knowledge, and experience to lead society toward a more sustainable future. In order to “make sustainability a part of every student’s learning experience,” a clearly articulated conceptual framework for sustainability education is necessary so that faculty from disciplines across the campus can discover how sustainability connects to their work and can enrich their teaching.

Macalester President Brian Rosenberg on Taking a Stand

March 16, 2012

If your institution's president is considering signing the ACUPCC, but is unsure if it's an appropriate stance to take on behalf of the institution, below is a great line of reasoning from Macalester College's president Brian Rosenberg.  The following is an excerpt from a 2009 essay titled "What Am I Doing Here" that ran in Inside Higher Ed:

I consider it my civic duty to vote and my right as an individual to contribute from time to time to the campaigns of particular candidates, but I am typically reluctant to make public endorsements. Similarly I do not believe that I should be staking out through my public remarks Macalester’s position on health care reform or cap and trade or military intervention in Afghanistan. These are however precisely the issues that all of you should be studying, arguing about, and taking action on through your lives as students, scholars, and global citizens. My job is to ensure that Macalester provides the environment within which you can do these things, rather than to delineate in each instance the proper "Macalester" stance.

On the other hand, I have spoken out both individually and on behalf of Macalester on issues including the importance of diversity to higher education and the necessity for all of us to practice and model environmental responsibility. For me, these issues are inseparable from and directly relevant to our work as a college and therefore ones that I can and should address. Some might contend that the latter topic is one that falls outside the standards I have defined; my response is that the reality of climate change has passed beyond the point of reasonable debate and has become an essential component of responsible citizenship, whose encouragement, at least at Macalester, lies at the core of our mission.

Return on Sustainability Investment

December 6, 2011

By Stephen Mulkey, President, Unity College

Over the last decade, Unity College has made great strides in developing its sustainability portfolio by implementing numerous infrastructure projects and sustainable practices into our operations.  Our former president, Mitchell Thomashow, did much to enhance our commitment to sustainability (see our remarkable 90 percent passive dorm, TerraHaus, and our net zero multipurpose facility, Unity House).  Most recently, I have committed the College to participation as a founding member of the Billion Dollar Green Challenge developed by the Sustainable Endowments Institute, in partnership with the ACUPCC, Second Nature, AASHE, and others.   The green revolving fund established through our participation will provide Unity College with a source of recurring dollars to fund sustainability projects over the long term.

The Year Ahead for the ACUPCC

July 7, 2011

By Timothy P. White, Chancellor of University of California, Riverside and Co-Chair of the ACUPCC Steering Committee

(This article appears in the July, 2011 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

In February 2012, the ACUPCC will turn five years old. At this time five years ago, the initiative was an idea, just starting to build momentum. That momentum has now propelled the initial idea into one of the most important climate change initiatives in the world.

Timothy P. WhiteThe higher education sector in the US is responsible for many of the world’s most influential ideas, values, and leaders. With a critical mass of these institutions — nearly 700 strong, representing 6 million students — now making real progress towards climate neutrality, the ACUPCC is laying an important foundation in creating the clean, green economy.

Looking ahead to the next academic year, the ACUPCC Steering Committee has identified three key ideas about how to build new momentum for this critical initiative.

First, we aim to ensure that all ACUPCC institutions are fulfilling their pledge, and realizing the benefits of a proactive climate action plan. In practice, the best metric for measuring fulfillment is the reporting rate — the percentage of ACUPCC schools that are up-to-date in publicly submitting their greenhouse gas inventories, climate action plans, and progress updates. At present, 66% of the network is in good standing with their reporting. We have a goal of increasing that number to at least 80% within the next twelve months.

Getting to Grid Positive: What it Took and Why It’s Important

July 1, 2011

by Diana Van Der Ploeg, President of Butte College.  This blog article was originally published on the AASHE blog

My eight-year tenure as President of Butte College ends this week on an exciting note: Butte College is now the first college in the history of the U.S. to go grid positive, meaning that we will generate more power from onsite renewable energy than our campus consumes. We are, in effect, our own renewable power plant.

At Butte College – located in Oroville, California, about 75 miles from Sacramento – we began installing solar panels on campus several years ago, and we now have 25,000 of them. Thanks in part to a generally sunny climate in our part of California, our solar panels will generate a combined 6.4 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually. That’s enough to power over 900 homes or take over 600 cars off the road.Butte Solar

Our solar project was completed in three phases – the first concluded in 2005; the second in 2009; and the third this week. In order to get financing on the best possible terms, we relied on lease revenue bonds, where energy cost savings are used to satisfy the debt obligation, for phase one. We relied on bank financing for phase two. For phase three, the largest phase, we used a combination of federal Clean Renewable Energy Bonds and our own funds.

Institutionalizing Sustainability: Shifting Gears, Shifting Culture

March 8, 2011

By Wim Wiewel, President, Portland State University

(This article appears in the March, 2011 issue of The ACUPCC Implementer)

RIGHT - PSU President Wim Wiewel (r) and Portland Mayor Sam Adams (l) bike to work

On my first day at Portland State University back in August 2008, I rode my bike to work alongside Portland Mayor-elect Sam Adams. The ride symbolized Portland State University’s partnership with the city, and both Portland and PSU’s commitment to sustainability. I haven’t stopped pedaling since.

How we think about and implement sustainability at Portland State University reflects that ride. Our region provides more than just background and scenery—it gives us a context for the work that we do, as well as a broad array of public, private, and nonprofit partners willing to tackle our common challenges.

Presidents Make the Case for Climate Neutrality at Council of Independent Colleges Presidents' Institute

February 3, 2010

by Richard J. Cook, President Emeritus of Allegheny College and Second Nature Education for Sustainability Fellow

In slightly over two years the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) has grown from a compelling idea into a nationwide phenomenon. Almost 700 institutions of higher learning are now ACUPCC signatories. And many others are eager to learn more about the effort. Interest in the ACUPCC was widespread at the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) annual Presidents’ Institute in early January 2010 on Marco Island, Florida.

Presidents representing four ACUPCC signatory colleges participated in a panel discussion entitled “Presidential Leadership in Climate Change and Sustainability.” President Marvalene Hughes described an inspirational commitment made by Dillard University to rebuild its campus on the principle of carbon neutrality in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.  Rosalind Reichard, president of Emory & Henry College, described the challenges of pursuing climate neutrality on a campus situated amid a coal-based economy and culture. Paul Fonteyn, president of Green Mountain College, told of his small college’s rapid journey to carbon-neutrality, and the way in which such an audacious commitment has helped galvanize the entire campus community behind a unifying ideal. For my part, I discussed my efforts to generate institution-wide engagement with the climate commitment and described the financial and branding benefits of the effort.

Subscribe to Presidents' Perspectives