Goal 1 - Response to the Cry of the Earth
Hanley Sustainability Institute: Extends the University's sustainability efforts campus-wide and into this community. Our distinctive, highly integrated approach prepares students to meet the growing demand for sustainability skills in the workplace. Leveraging existing programs, degrees and courses, such as the Environmental Biology and Geology degrees, the master’s degree in Renewable and Clean Energy Engineering, and an undergraduate minor in Sustainability, Energy and Environment (SEE), the Institute is making enormous strides to become a leader in sustainability education. Over the last two years, HSI has developed a cross-disciplinary network of innovative people and projects, stimulating and supporting dynamic collaboration between the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Engineering, School of Education and Health Sciences, School of Business Administration, the University of Dayton Research Institute, and within the community.
The Rivers Institute Program provides students with solutions-focused, applied learning experiences that address water stewardship and sustainability challenges on campus, in the greater Dayton community, in the U.S., and abroad. Each cohort of fifteen students annually represent all schools of the university including engineering, business, health and sports science, and arts and sciences majors. This three-year program develops environmental leadership and civic engagement skills and guides students to develop innovative solutions to meeting sustainability challenges such as environmental justice, water stewardship, and climate change. To assess the success of the projects, River Stewards and Dayton Civic Scholars are evaluated on the application of the Fitz Center for Leadership in Community’s five practiced principles of community building and their overall year and a half project process.
Xerces Society Bee Campus USA: Thinking globally and acting locally, Bee Campus USA provides a framework for communities to work together to conserve native pollinators by increasing the abundance of native plants, providing nest sites, and reducing the use of pesticides.
Sierra Club Cool Schools for Sustainability: The University of Dayton, for three straight years, was in the top 10 percent of Sierra Club's Cool Schools for sustainability and was top in the Midwest.
The Fitz Center - Rivers Institute initiative brings key partners in the Greater Dayton community together to promote, preserve and protect the area’s watershed. Students, faculty, and staff work with community members, stakeholders, and local organizations to build community around local rivers. The group focuses on promoting learning and undergraduate research, and the team’s multifaceted projects bring both the University and the Dayton community to the river.