After reviewing an article by Mary Spilde, who serves as the current chair of the AACC Board of Directors and Lane Community College's president, I was immediately impressed by how involved she was in her campus' efforts to increase its sustainability. Judging from the article, not only was she aware of the motivation for increased sustainability, she herself was paramount in insuring that the campus will continue to increase its sustainability. Under her leadership, Lane Community College has increased the visibility of sustainability efforts by being the focus of academic articles and implementing educational requirements that include sustainability across every major.
Spilde reveals her passion for increasing sustainability efforts at all colleges and in her efforts, catapults her university in the forefront as a leader. Not only does Lane have a student organization motivating students to increase their sustainability, they have their president initiating efforts and defining expectations that on our campus are far too vague. Spilde urges that their efforts tell their public, what, why and how. She also urges that the why is tied to an area of interest.
Spilde reveals her passion for increasing sustainability efforts at all colleges and in her efforts, catapults her university in the forefront as a leader. Not only does Lane have a student organization motivating students to increase their sustainability, they have their president initiating efforts and defining expectations that on our campus are far too vague. Spilde urges that their efforts tell their public, what, why and how. She also urges that the why is tied to an area of interest.
On Florida A&M University’s campus and many others the only individuals pushing for sustainability efforts are student-led organizations. Judging from the effectiveness of the sustainability efforts at Lane, clear support from a university’s leadership is pivotal to message validity and acceptance. Many individuals in a target public must be informed that a topic is important by someone important to actually embrace the message.
I will definitely share this article with my group. It was very eye-opening for me because the sustainability efforts our class is involved with have not been endorsed by the leadership at our university. We must find a way to explain how the Green Energy Fund that we want residents to vote for relates to something they care about.
Spilde, M. (2009). Seizing the moment. Community College Journal, 80(2), 6. Retrieved October 18, 2011, from Research Library. (doi: 2014096051)