Governance & Administration

In Fall 2005 Aquinas initiated a process involving representatives of its three governance bodies and the Board of Trustees, assisted by the SB faculty, to design Aquinas' Sustainability Initiative. After exploring various options, it was decided that each body (Faculty Assembly, Staff Assembly, Student Senate) would create their standing committee with the shared, "triple bottom line" mission to redesign Aquinas as a place where people "love to work and learn." Our three respective sustainability committees and a Joint Sustainability Committee (established in Spring 2006) will coordinate the innovative "redesign" effort through an engaging innovation process that will open all practices, procedures and facilities of Aquinas to a potential "redesign" toward sustainability beginning Fall of 2006. SB student teams will serve as resources for the committees and aid individuals with ideas for redesign. SB student teams as well as the Center for Sustainability Program Director Jessica Eimer will also be engaged in furthering an inventory of existing practices and facilities.

As part of the Sustainability Initiative education process, Janine Benyus delivered a campus-wide lecture in March. The campus effort ties to the Community Sustainability Partnership, which was signed by Aquinas' President (see Community Service and Outreach).

Operations

Aquinas, through its Sustainability Initiative, is currently examining its operations through the sustainability inventory. We are expecting that this will identify key areas for improvement through a thoughtful design of a campus-wide transition. In addition to this effort, a new 50,000 sq. ft. library is nearing completion (September 5, 2006) and will seek LEED certification. The library is an extension of an existing building, the Jarecki Center for Advanced Learning which was constructed with energy conserving/generating photovoltaic (PV) solar roof panels.

Additionally, Aquinas will divert its food waste beginning in Fall 2006 as part of a pilot composting project being undertaken (See Community Service & Outreach). Our food service contractor will also be providing increased local and/or organic food in its cafeteria offerings.

Electronics recycling was also conducted in Spring 2006 in conjunction with CompRenew, a local NGO. Approximately 5813 pounds of potential electronic waste was diverted from landfilling.

Curriculum & Research

Aquinas features one of the country's first and only (and to our knowledge) four-year undergraduate Sustainable Business (SB) program. The program is an outgrowth of the SB concentration which was developed in August 2003. Since February 2005, when the Sustainable Business program was established as its own department, the number of undergraduate majors has grown to nearly 50 students (Fall 2006). This places our program in the top third of Aquinas' academic majors. SB students undertake a rigorous course of study in Sustainable Business as well as three concentrated areas of coursework (traditional science and business as well as environmental studies) in addition to general education requirements. SB course offerings include Industrial Ecology, Sustainable Business Management, Sustainable Energy Systems, Building Social Capital and others. The major was developed by Dr. Matt Tueth in consultation with a 13-person Sustainable Business External Advisory Committee (involving area businesses and civic leaders), as well as the Biology, Chemistry and Business Departments of Aquinas. Dr. Tueth currently serves as Chair of the Department and Steelcase Foundation Professor of Sustainable Business. Dr. Deb Steketee was added as a second faculty member in August of 2005.

In addition to the four-year curriculum, an undergraduate certificate program is offered through the Sustainable Business program, as well as a concentration (four course requirement) in Sustainable Business in our Master of Management program. Other notable academically-related activities have included a campus-wide lecture and classroom visit by Biomimicry author Ms. Janine Benyus in March 2006, as well as an on-campus biomimicry workshop open to SB students, Aquinas faculty and staff and our SB advisory committee. Our SB Department, along with the Jane Hibbard Idema Women's Center at Aquinas also hosted a free public event featuring a panel of four female "green entrepreneurs" including Ms. Benyus. Additionally, the SB Department funded a faculty-led visit of 12 students to the Charlottesville, VA offices of Mr. William McDonough in the Summer of 2006. This visit included a session with this renowned author and leading sustainability proponent.

SB students have also been actively engaged in launching Aquinas' Sustainability Initiative, including gathering information for a campus-wide of baseline inventory of our practices and campus facilities as well as classroom visits as part of our effort to transition toward sustainability. This effort will have increased attention in 2006 as we work with our new governance structure which intends to embed sustainability principles throughout our college's decision-making and operations.

In January 2005, Aquinas was also successful in securing a five-year $1 million grant from the Steelcase Foundation to help grow our Sustainable Business academic program and related on-campus sustainability activities. Other grants have included a five year $100,000 award from the Wege Foundation.

Community Service and Outreach

Aquinas has been working on many fronts with innovative sustainability projects involving high levels of community collaboration and outreach. In August 2005, Aquinas launched the Center for Sustainability, including a web-based clearinghouse of information and programming related to sustainable commerce and community. A full-time program director and Sustainable Business Department graduate Jessica Eimer, was hired in January 2006. The Center's Executive Director is an SB Department faculty member. Sustainable business information and resources are also nested within this broader attention to sustainability, documenting business sustainability initiatives in a variety of industries. Sustainable business students have been actively involved in the Center's web design and information gathering. Funded efforts are currently underway to further develop non-credit sustainable business workshops and learning laboratories which will engage area businesses with SB faculty and students as the Center seeks to help develop sustainable solutions to business challenges. The Center also partnered with Rotary International to host a February 2006 conference relating to this NGO's "Thirsting to Serve" project. This project is a worldwide effort to bring clean drinking water to individuals while also offering local economic development opportunities through utilization of the "bio-sand" water filter and other low-cost technologies. About 210 individuals participated from various domestic and international locations. We are scheduled to host another conference in February 2007.

Since February of 2006, Aquinas is also participating in a small-scale pilot project aimed at testing the feasibility of an urban organic waste management system in the City of Grand Rapids. In particular, project participants including 10 area businesses, NGOs and governmental organizations are participating in the development of an economically, socially, and ecologically feasible composting system. In addition to Aquinas' role in project development, we are implementing a food separation plan in conjunction with our food services contractor. If the pilot project is successful, we will help develop a full-scale urban organic waste composting and management facility in an eco-industrial park located within the city limits of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The project sponsor is Interface Fabrics, which has compostable scrap from their bio-material (polylactate) based Terratex fabric.

In a unique partnership with other four area educational institutions and the City of Grand Rapids, Aquinas is one of the founding members of the Community Sustainability Partnership. This partnership was launched in August 2005 for the express purpose of continuing to foster and promote principles of sustainability among other partner groups including Grand Rapids Public Schools, Community College, and Grand Valley State University. An additional 100 organizations have endorsed the principles of the Community Sustainability Partnership. Aquinas also has agreed to host the Partnerships' website.

Aquinas extends its outreach to various community groups, professional associations, and businesses through guest lectures not only in West Michigan but also abroad. In November 2004, Dr. Matt Tueth provided the keynote address to the first Sustainable Business conference held in Tokyo. This summer (2006), 12 students and a faculty member from Atomi University took part in an in-residence two-week program focusing on Foundations of Sustainable Business. Aquinas a member and hosted a 2006 meeting of the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum.

Member Spotlight

Tufts University (Medford, MA) is our current spotlight campus! At Tufts, GHG emissions have been reduced to close to 1990 levels, dining services offers organic and local foods, an electric tractor mows the organic baseball field, several buildings have PV and solar thermal installations, and its newest residence hall received LEED Silver certification. Learn more

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