Learning Resources

Abstract: Greening the Ivory Tower and Degrees That Matter provide an enlightening case study of Tufts University’s sustainability initiatives over the past 17 years. While Greening the Ivory Tower could be aptly titled Lessons Learned from the Field, its sequel, Degrees That Matter, could be renamed More Lessons Learned. As companion pieces, these works offer comprehensive and accessible information for creating a campus environmental sustainability program that addresses waste reduction, energy efficiency, transportation reform, and purchasing practices.

Abstract: The sustainability movement in higher education has made considerable headway in the areas of research, campus operations, and community outreach, but has been less successful in bringing about curricular reform. To promote greater thinking about sustainability in the undergraduate curriculum, this essay explores three main questions: What are the implications of sustainability for higher education? What are some noteworthy examples of institutions incorporating sustainability into the curriculum? And, what can we learn from their experiences? The author advocates implementation of a "third order" learning model, emphasizing deep learning, a participative process which takes the form of continual exploration through practice.

Abstract: A growing cadre of progressive K–12 educators believes that sustainability education has a central role in developing in students a sense of responsibility for the future. Leaders within the movement to educate for sustainability see an opportunity in the convergence of the large-scale systemic reform efforts sweeping our nation and the vision and goals of the emerging field of sustainability education. Transformations are appearing in classrooms that have adopted sustainability education as a context for systemic reform efforts, and the results of this are bound to affect the shape of higher education in years to come.

Abstract: Four distinct waves can be discerned in the history of American higher education. The 85 years before the Civil War were characterized by the founding of hundreds of liberal arts colleges. The post–Civil War era saw the majority of these small colleges disappear, replaced by public land-grant schools. Around the turn of the last century, the giants of American industry led the founding of the great private research universities. The term "megaversity" entered the American lexicon after World War II, when thousands of returning GIs swelled the ranks of higher education; the second half of the 20th century also witnessed the proliferation of community colleges. The fifth great wave is now breaking, with for-profit competition and revolutionary teaching technologies among its main characteristics.

Abstract: Book review: Ecodemia: Campus Environmental Stewardship at the Truth of the 21st Century, by Julian Keniry. National Wildlife Federation, 1995. 222 pages. ISBN 0-9-45051-57-3

Abstract: An eight-year-old, rapidly growing institution serving the Denver metropolitan area will soon have the nation's largest installation heated by solar energy. To construct the North Campus of the Community College of Denver, state agencies and legislators have agreed to fund a project with 8 percent higher initial costs in anticipation of long-term savings. In this article, the author describes the evolution of this significant project.

Abstract: Among the many reforms currently sweeping higher education is the growing demand that formal educational opportunity be opened to adults. The result has been expansion of traditional continuing education and extension programs as well as a plethora of new and experimental programs aimed at the adult student. In an attempt to bring some order out of the resulting chaos, Jane Lord, a researcher for Educational Facilities Laboratories, and Ronald H. Miller, project coordinator for the New York City Regional Center for Life-Long Learning at Pace College, have reviewed the literature on adult education to produce this article, discussing the trends and the options open to institutions of higher education. An extensive bibliography is included.