CFAES Give Today
SENR

School of Environment and Natural Resources

CFAES

Ohio State Launches New Housing Learning Community Focused on Sustainability

Aug. 26, 2014

This story was originally published on the website for the Department of Agricultural, Environmental
and Development Economics
 and adapted for the School of Environment and Natural Resources.

With the start of the autumn 2014 semester, the university
adds a new housing learning community focused on sustainability 
to its diverse living options for new and returning students. The
university offers its students more than a dozen learning communities, 
which are comprised of groups of students who live together
on a residence hall floor who have common majors, career aspirations
or personal interests.

SUSTAINS (Students Understanding Sustainability
and Taking Action to Improve Nature and Society)
is targeted at undergraduates studying or interested
in the environment and focuses on helping students
to explore and engagewith sustainability topics
and investigate human interaction with environmental problems.

Through discussion, service and hands-on learning, students who
are members of this community will learn about best practices for
sustainable living and have opportunities to explore how sustainability
relates to their lives and the lives of others.

Professor Jeff Sharp, SENR Interim Director, welcomes SUSTAINS students at their inaugural retreat.

Partners in the development of the community include Ohio State University Housing in the
Office of Student Life
,the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics (AEDE),
the School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR), and the College of Food, Agricultural,
and Environmental Sciences (CFAES)
.

“I am most excited about learning to live sustainably and the career opportunities and connections
that this learning community may introduce me to. I joined SUSTAINS for those reasons as well as to meet
people with similar interests to my own,” notes Roland Bennett, a freshman student from Athens, Ohio.

A key programming goal for SUSTAINS is connecting students with campus partners working to make Ohio State
and Columbus a greener place to live.  SUSTAINS offers students special programming including a weekly seminar             
featuring presentations from faculty and other partners as well as a monthly dinner and dialogue series.                                            

                                                                                                                                                                                                           
 

SUSTAINS students canoeing during welcome weekend events.

SUSTAINS was developed with a vision of strong faculty and staff engagement and support. Partner representatives will be heavily involved with SUSTAINS programming, additionally guest speakers from the John Glenn School of Public Affairs, the Fisher School of Business, and other academic units at Ohio State, as well as industry partners, will regularly engage with SUSTAINS community members.

“Student Life’s department of Residence Life is really excited about expanding our learning community offerings to include the SUSTAINS LC this year. The students who are a part of the inaugural group are passionate and engaged, and the focus of this community is a perfect fit with Ohio State’s discovery themes,” remarked Julie Sanzone, Assistant Director of Academic Initiatives for Residence Life in Ohio State’s Office of Student Life.

SUSTAINS students spent move-in weekend getting to know one another and solidifying their vision for the community through a welcome dinner with faculty and administrators, a day-long retreat, as well as a canoeing trip in Hocking Hills.

Eighteen students were selected to live in the community during its first year. The students represent a diverse population of academic areas including Ohio State’s Environment, Economy, Development and Sustainability (EEDS) program, environmental science, public health, and engineering.

For its inaugural year the community is housed in Nosker House and is currently welcoming any other students living in this residence hall who are not yet members. Applications will be available this fall to apply to join the community for the autumn 2015 semester.

To learn more, visit housing.osu.edu. Questions may be directed to Gina Hnytka at hnytka.4@osu.edu

August 26, 2014

Tags: