AASHE Bulletin for the Week of April 16th

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April 16, 2019

News of the Week

McGill U Drops Redmen Name From Sports Teams

The university announced its recent decision to drop the Redmen name from varsity sports teams after consultation with the McGill community. The name is considered to be an offensive term for Indigenous peoples. Moving forward, a steering committee will be established to lead a consultative process for choosing a new name.

Georgetown U Students Endorse Slavery Reconciliation Fund

Students recently voted overwhelmingly in favor of a referendum to establish a semesterly fee of $27.20 that would go toward a fund to benefit descendants of the GU272, the 272 enslaved people sold by the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus in 1838 to financially sustain the university. If approved by the university, the referendum would create a reconciliation fund, which would be presided over by a Board of Trustees including five students and five descendants.

Northwestern U Receives Energy Star Award

The 2019 Energy Star Partner of the Year Award recognizes the university’s achievements in energy efficiency, including efforts to accurately track energy usage data and measure progress in reducing consumption. Northwestern’s notable accomplishments include completing a comprehensive building energy consumption audit of all 222 campus buildings and implementing a new dashboard system that supplies key departmental contacts across campus with monthly utility consumption reports.

Academics

San Bernardino Valley College Receives Clean Energy Training Grant

Engagement

Eight Presidents Commit to Island Sustainability

Georgia Tech Receives $40K Grant for Sustainability Network

American College Greece Holds Inaugural Climate Change Symposium

Operations

Colgate U Benton Hall Earns LEED Platinum

U Saskatchewan Completes Water Efficiency Project

California State U Los Angeles Bans Plastic Straws & Bags

Planning & Administration

Chalmers U Tech Launches Gender Equality Project

Salem State U Receives $57K in Fund Holdings for Divesting

12 HEIs Make Canada’s Greenest Employers List

2 Florida Community Colleges Win Aspen Award

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Opportunities

Grand Challenges Institute: Water

Grand Challenges Institute: Water, hosted by the University of Hawaiʻi from May 13-15, is three days of intensive trans-disciplinary professional development around course and educational project (re)design focusing on water in the wider contexts of lived practice, community engagement, indigenous knowledge, sustainability, food sovereignty and climate change. The deadline to register is May 1. The University of Hawai’i is one of 13 regional AASHE Centers for Sustainability Across the Curriculum.

Sustainability Across the Curriculum Workshop at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

The curriculum workshop, happening at UTRGV from May 16-17, is an interdisciplinary experience that aims to help faculty incorporate sustainability concepts, problems or solutions into new or existing courses. Participants will discover new ways of aligning personal values to theoretical course content, and connecting these to the real world sustainable development goals. The deadline to register is May 3. UTRGV is one of 13 regional AASHE Centers for Sustainability Across the Curriculum.

Change the Pallet Sign-On Letter

Change the Pallet, AASHE and ICLEI invite individuals to sign onto a letter asking suppliers to consider shipping to college and university campuses on lightweight, recyclable, corrugated cardboard pallets instead of wood or plastic, in an effort to reduce transport emissions.

2019 Green Sports Alliance Summit Discount

The Green Sports Alliance Summit, taking place from June 19-20 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, aims to convene stakeholders to learn and share better practices and the latest innovations in greening operations, advancing the supply chain, and engaging fans. This year’s theme is Playing for the Next Generation. Receive a $75 discount by using code AASHE.

Request for Proposals: NextGen 2019 Grant

The NextGen Committee of the Ray C. Anderson Foundation is currently seeking proposals for new or existing programs that will help to reduce global warming, whether through direct carbon avoidance, climate communication, climate education, industry engagement or otherwise. The foundation intends to award one $100,000 grant to the organization with the best proposal, to fund work during the 2020 calendar year. The deadline to submit a request for proposal is July 12.

North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) Conference Scholarships

NAAEE invites eligible faculty and/or administrators to apply for a scholarship to the annual NAAEE Research Symposium and Conference, happening Oct. 15-19 in Lexington, Kentucky. The scholarship provides up to $500 toward the conference and Accreditation workshop registration fee. The deadline to apply is June 17.

Georgia Drawdown Postdoctoral Fellowship

The Georgia Drawdown Project seeks two recent Ph.D.s to to participate in research and to collaborate with principal investigators and faculty from Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Georgia and Emory University, which comprise the core partners of the Georgia Climate Project. The team will deliver an assessment that identifies a set of 10-12 promising climate mitigation solutions for Georgia.