Coalition for Christian Colleges and Universities

Global Stewardship Initiative

Campus Activity Report (1995-1996)

CALVIN COLLEGE

submitted by Uko Zylstra

Biology Department

email: zylu@calvin.edu

Calvin College continues to work out its stated mission that "through learning, we seek to be agents of renewal in the academy, church, and society. We pledge fidelity to Jesus Christ, offering our hearts and lives to do God's work in the world." An important dimension of this mission concerns stewardship of God's creation.

There continues to be a progression of interest and involvement in global stewardship initiatives in both curricular and co-curricular aspects of the college. Much of the background and development of these initiatives have been reported in the initial GSI document submitted at the beginning of Global Stewardship Initiative program. This report will only include ongoing activities and new developments in the past two years.

Physical plant operations and activities.

Expansion of services of New Co-generator Plant.

Physical Plant built a co-generator for heating coupled with electricity production about eight years ago. This resulted in a significant energy savings even though only part of the campus was serviced by this plant. During 1995-1996 the heating supplied by this co-generator was extended to two additional buildings by building tunnels from the co-generator to these buildings. This replaced the heat source from an older heating plant and tunnels which had excessive heat loss.

Recycling

The college has been recycling office paper, cardboard, and glass and metal for several years. In 1995 the recycling of office paper was refined. Each faculty and staff office and dorm complex is now supplied with containers that allow for separation of high quality office paper from the general colored and junk mail paper. This requires a deliberated conscious involvement of each staff member to make such separation.

Staff activities

Earth Friendly Summer

In the summer of 1995 the Human Resources Department initiated an Earth Friendly Summer by encouraging staff to bike, walk, carpool or take the bus to work at least once a week. The intent was to conserve fuel energy and to cut down on air pollution. The program arose in response to the Ozone Action Days that the city of Grand Rapids had designated for the summer. At the end of the summer participants were rewarded to free pizza at a lunch party. This past summer 75 people participated. Plans are to continue this program next summer.

Environmental Stewardship Council (a student organization)

Student Leadership Conferences

Three students attended conferences that developed their leadership potential for environmental concerns not only on campus but also for leadership in the world about them.

1. Sue Boersma participated in the organized student activities in Washington, D.C. for support of the re-authorization of the Endangered Species Act in the early part of 1996. As a result of her experience, Sue presented a report and led a discussion at a seminar sponsored by the Environmental Stewardship Council. About 60 students and staff attended this seminar.
2. Andrea Dekam was selected to participate in the Student Leaders and Global Stewardship Program of GSI-Belize. Her report was very affirmative in her participation in the program. We look forward for more students to be trained in this program.
3. Michelle Kooy participated in the Student Environmental Training Conference sponsored by the Christian Environmental Association held this past August at Hidden Lakes, California.

The college will undoubtedly experience significant benefits from these programs in the leadership that Andrea Dekam and Michelle Kooy will provide for the Environmental Stewardship Council.

CUPPS

The Environmental Stewardship Council continues to encourage students to reduce waste by introducing First-years students to CUPPS as part of their orientation to college life. By using CUPPS at the college snack shop and certain restaurants, students not only reduce the amount of styrofoam cups used, they also receive a savings in a reduction of the cost of drinks.

Ecosystem Preserve

New Environmental Education Program on the Calvin College Ecosystem Preserve

Since it was established in 1985, one goal of the Ecosystem Preserve management has been to create an environmental education program to serve the lower elementary grades of area schools. The vision was to create a program for grades K through 3 which would be led by Calvin students. The curriculum would incorporate state guidelines for environmental education in these grades in a manner specifically adapted to the natural history of the Preserve. The program would also contain a significant stewardship component.

After ten years of studying the impact of visitors on the site and developing site facilities for educational use, a program incorporating the above components was launched in the fall of 1995. Twenty-two schools were invited to make use of the program and sixteen responded by sending one or more classes. A total of 1329 students attended in the fall of 1995. The program was repeated in the spring of 1996 for 643 students. Including both semesters, a total of 16 Calvin students served as program leaders.

Since we had determined that about fifty students on the trail at one time is the "carrying capacity" for the Preserve, we are limiting class groups to that size. Each visiting class is divided into groups of 12 or 13 students, and each of these groups assigned to a program leader. If the full complement of 50 elementary students comes for a program, then there are 4 student-led groups on the trail system.

The program for each grade level explores a specific theme at four stations along the Preserve trail. The themes for the four grade levels are: kindergarten--sensory exploration, 1st grade--plants, 2nd grade--animals, and 3rd grade--habitat. Each program is scheduled for 90 minutes. The same overall themes are used for both fall and spring programs though the modules are customized to account for the seasonal differences.

School response has been very encouraging. Questionnaires were sent to all the teachers who attended the program in the fall and 50% of those were returned. Opinion about the content and conduct of the program was generally high, and many teachers included suggestions for how they thought the program could be enhanced for their future visits. In advance of our announcement of this fall's program we have received many requests as to whether we will be conducting the program again, and several teachers have said that they would like to make this outing a regular part of their fall or spring program.

Expansion of the Ecosystem Preserve

In the Fall of 1995 the College acquired (with the assistance of a generous donation) an addition to the Ecosystem Preserve of a 5_ acre plot including a ranch house with 2,000 square foot of floor space on the main floor and an equal footage in the basement. This plot will provide a valuable alternate access corridor to the Ecosystem Preserve. The house will become the college Eco-Stewardship Center, providing office space, research space and classroom-seminar room space.

Also, in 1995, a small service building at the main entrance was remodeled to provide a small office and support facilities for student monitors and tour guides.

Ecosystem Preserve Manager Position

The Ecosystem Preserve Director has just submitted a proposal to establish a new position, that of Manager for the Ecosystem Preserve. The Preserve manager will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the preserve program, enforcement of preserve policies, training of student personnel, overseeing maintenance of all preserve structures, monitoring use of the preserve by visitors and wildlife, and proposing changes in policy and program as needed.

Curriculum

The new Environmental Science major was approved by the Faculty Senate in the Spring of 1995. Four students already graduated with a major in Environmental Science in its first year of implementation. Presently there are 31 students enrolled in the program: 5 seniors; 7 juniors; 9 sopomores; 10 freshman. In addition, there are 15 students who are pursuing a minor in Environmental Studies; 10 of these have a mjoar outside of the natural sciences.

Establishing The Environmental Science major has resulted in the development of several new courses which are required components in the course as well as electives in the biology, chemistry or geology major programs. These new courses and their enrollments are:

	1995	1996
Biology 345, Ecosystem Ecology and Management		18
Chemistry 271, Environmental Chemistry	9	9
Geology 312, Environmental Geology		15

Enrollments in other courses that have a major environmental content are:

	1995	1996
East 201, Human Activities and natural Environments	38	68
East 202, Envir. and Society: Issues and Policy	33	36
East 385, Internship in Envir. Studies	6	9
East 395, Seminar in Envir. Studies	11	15
Econ 332, Envir. Economics and Public Policy		17
Econ 337, World Poverty & Development	22	35

Courses with a significant environmental content:

Non-major courses:

Biology 111, Biological Sciences

Biology 116, Field Biology

Biology 114, Plant Biology

Major course:

Biology 336, Microbiology

Biology 341, Entomology

Biology 344, Vertebrate Biology

Biology 346, Plant Taxonomy

Biology 395, Seminar in Biological Perspectives

Religion 232, The Doctrine of Creation

Sociology 308, Demography and World Population Problems

CAP (Calvin Accelerated Program for adults) course: Principles for Life

Interim Term (January) courses with a significant environmental content:

Society, Technology, and Environment: A Geography of the Netherlands

Costa Rica Rain Forest: An Outward-Bound Adventure

Wilderness under Siege: Back-Country Skiing in Yellowstone

Strategies in Agricultural Missions: Study Visits to ECHO and Haiti

Women's Plight in a Developing Country

Tropical Marine Biology

Is your Water Safe?

Ecology on the Equator: Galapagos Islands and the Amazon Rain Forest

Chemistry: What Are We Doing to the Environment?

Off-Campus Programs

Calvin is also a partner in many off-campus programs which provide alternative educational experiences for students. Some of the programs are sponsored by the CCCU or other organizations, and some are Calvin Programs. Programs which have global stewardship content and in which Calvin students have participated are:

AuSable Institute for Environmental Studies Program

Oregon Extension Program

Latin American Studies Program in Costa Rica

Semester in Honduras Program ( A new Calvin Program)

Proposal for a Partnership between Bir Zeit University ane Calvin College

This proposal is being reported by Bert Devries as part of his GSI Project. Further details are contained in his report and not presented here.

Grants

GIS grant proposal

Members of the Biology and Geology, Geography and Environmental Studies departments along with the Development Office has drafted a grant proposal for establishing a GIS (Geographic Information System) computer laboratory. The development Office is proceeding to raise funds from local businesses that have interests in environmental stewardship issues.

Wege Foundation grant

The college has received a small five year grant for the support of environmental and stewardship education. This has provided an excellent source of funds to initiate and carry out activities and programs under the supervision of the Environmental Science Committee.

Faculty and Staff

Appointments

Appointment of Janelle Curry-Roper in the Department of Geology, Geography and Environmental Studies and to the Spoelhof Endowed Chair for 1996-97. Dr. Curry-Roper's specific appointment is in the area of geography and environmental studies. She will provide a valuable contribution to a growing area in our curriculum.

Sabbaticals and research

Dr. Randall VanDragt has been granted a sabbatical leave for 96-97 to develop educational materials in restoration ecology.

Conferences attended relating to Global Stewardship beyond those sponsored by the CCCU-GSI program

Uko Zylstra attended the following:

Consumption, Population & the Environment, Nov. 9-11, 1995 in Weston, MA, sponsored by PEW and BTI

Science, Christianity, and the Urbanization of Planet Earth, July 26-29, 1996 in Toronto, CANADA, sponsored by the ASA

Randall Vandragt attended a conference on restoration ecology.