PROJECT SIN FRONTERAS REPORT 2016
EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
UT RIO GRANDE VALLEY
PROJECT SIN FRONTERAS REPORT
CONTACT INFORMATION The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley 1201 West University Dr. Edinburg, TX 78539 The Office for Sustainability ITTB 1.404R (956) 665-3030 Office (956) 665-2322 Fax Office Hours: 8 am - 12 pm, 1-5 pm www.facebook.com/ UTRGVSustainability/ www.utrgv.edu/sustainability 2
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TABLE OF CONTENTS WELCOME
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INTRODUCTION
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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PIEDMONT PROJECT
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GUIDING PRINCIPLES
ABOUT PROJECT SIN FRONTERAS
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SUSTAINABILITY ACADEMIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE
METHOD
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METHODOLOGY & PROFESSIONAL LEARNING INSTRUCTIONAL COACHING
PARTICIPANTS
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IMPACT
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PSF ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET CENTER FOR SUSTAINABILITY ACROSS CURRICULUM
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CONCLUSION
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CONTRIBUTORS
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WELCOME While the stated goal of education is to provide knowledge both general and specialized, it serves the greater purpose of preparing well-rounded citizens of the world, individuals with not just the knowledge and skills to develop theoretical solutions, but the desire and drive to enact tangible, positive change. To that end, sustainability is rapidly being integrated into education, as it is recognized that an understanding of sustainability allows for a multifaceted approach to problem solving necessary for the success of communities.
Marianella Q. Franklin Chief Sustainability Officer
The word has been used erroneously as a synonym for “green,� but sustainability has very specific goals that go beyond recycling and tree planting. Sustainable systems can go on indefinitely, as we would hope for our societies, environments, and economies; unfortunately, as we have seen historically, this is not the case. Our current practices deplete non-renewable resources with no apparent plan for the future. Students are then set to inherit a batch of problems years in the making, and must be made aware of the economic, environmental, and social forces that drive human impact so future generations can make more nuanced decisions. By conducting ourselves in a manner that is positive for the community and world as a whole, we attain the goal of sustainability. By providing the community with information and resources to enable sustainable practices, we attain the goal of education.
The University of Rio Grande Texas (UTRGV) will continue to uphold its responsibility in this endeavor by promoting the expansion of academic, scholarly, and outreach initiatives that educate students regarding the forces integral to the future success of the Rio Grande Valley. UTRGV makes efforts to infuse sustainability into its curriculum, its community engagement efforts, and its day-to-day operations. In doing so, the University must think and communicate across and beyond traditional disciplines, organizations, and cultural boundaries. The Office for Sustainability (OFS) is leading many of these efforts by working with faculty to gain awareness of conservation, embracing a culture of sustainability, and connecting sustainable operations with the broader academic mission across departments and programs through positive teaching/learning experiences. With this goal in mind, the OFS is excited to collaborate with all of UTRGV’s campuses through its Project Sin Fronteras (PSF) Faculty Development Program. In serving the students by giving them the skills they need to bring sustainable economic development to our region, we prepare them to make global impact. Our faculty and students represent many countries that have similar demographics, climates, issues and concerns to the Rio Grande Valley. The solutions, innovations, and business models they develop can easily be implemented on a global level. Through PSF, faculty from diverse fields, and backgrounds come together, contributing to the cultivation of a trans-disciplinary culture on our campus and preparing 21st century citizens and leaders of tomorrow. The Office for Sustainability invites all faculty to review the initiatives of Project Sin Fronteras and to participate in this program at the next available opportunity. Through careful inclusion in every course, UTRGV can affect an impact that will make a positive change for our region for years to come.
Thank you, Marianella Q. Franklin
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY UTRGV is dedicated to being an intellectual beacon and transformative force for the Rio Grande Valley. Instilling in students, faculty, staff, and community a consciousness that balances their social, environmental, and economic aspirations is integral to the University’s mission. This purposeful observation of forces, and the incorporation of sustainability concepts into university culture, with the creation, dissemination, and application of new areas of academic scholarship, prepares civic and professional leaders who will discover and apply solutions to the environmental and economic challenges of the 21st century. Efforts to manifest positive change must look to the root of the problem through various lenses of expertise, recognizing that a complex system of social and economic conditions drive human activity.
Thus, leadership needs to be geared towards sustainability, a broad concept ideal for understanding the entire scope of human impact, which covers all realms of human/nature interaction.
5,105 TOTAL STUDENT IMPACT
55
TOTAL UTRGV PSF PARTICIPANTS
Recently, interest in infusing sustainable topics into the classroom has spread far beyond faculty in the fields of environmental science. Since the program was initiated, educators from nearly all of UTRGV colleges have participated in Project Sin Fronteras (PSF), an intensive two-day faculty development program with a focus on curriculum integration in reference to sustainability. PSF guides instructors through the organization and use of knowledge as a tool to serve the basic premise of educating for sustainability--the development of an educated citizenry who contribute to a healthy, secure, prosperous, and democratic society. Since its inception, the program has established a common goal for UTRGV curriculum and brought together faculty from all fields, allowing for an exchange of ideas that fosters an enriching collaborative atmosphere on campus. Many faculty, who have gone through the PSF program, have introduced hands-on learning experiences to their classes. Connecting students to problems in their communities gives students a holistic, systemic understanding of sustainability and a sense of civil service.
FY14-15
251
TOTAL CREDIT HOURS
28
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COUNTRIES REPRESENTED
DEPARTMENTS
83
TOTAL SUSTAINABILITY FOCUSED OR RELATED COURSES
9,726
TOTAL INSTRUCTIONAL HOURS
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PIEDMONT PROJECT Project Sin Fronteras is modeled after Emory University’s Piedmont Project, which works to bring the breadth of approaches and expertise into dialogue with sustainability challenges. The Piedmont Project is a competitively-awarded summer experience that aims to provide a deeper understanding of issues in Atlanta and in the university to a cohort of twenty participants a year. The intensive two-day workshop hopes to establish a foundation of confidence and clarity that supports those who are interested in taking steps toward action and inspire students to do likewise.
According to the project’s website, “A 2006 study of the first five years of the Piedmont Project found that most new or renovated courses were still being taught, and 40 percent of faculty reported changing not one course, but two, three, or four. In teaching methods, faculty reported not only adding new readings, but adding new labs, homework, or research projects (44%), developing a new unit or module (64%), or reorienting the course with a new paradigm (34%). The vast majority reported that their teaching methods changed to add more experiential learning, new outdoors exercises, or new ways of engaging students.”
GUIDING PRINCIPLES The Piedmont Project is built on six guiding principles derived from research in campus environmental education, the work of John Dewey, and the 1977 UNESCO Tbilisi Intergovernmental Conference, among others. Built on the model of the Piedmont Project, Project Sin Fronteras adapted the same principles:
1 2 3 4
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Build recognition of the urgent environmental challenges and connected economic and social dimensions, including the opportunities and positive consequences that may flow from addressing these challenges; Bring together a broad range of interdisciplinary expertise;
Develop a spirit of interdisciplinary cooperation based on an openness to working across traditional disciplines and welcome dialogue around a problem orientation;
Help faculty explore the shift in pedagogy from a paradigm of teacher as expert to teacher as facilitator of learning, becoming co-learners with students and with each other;
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Offer opportunities to combine professional research skills with ethical reflection, personal responsibility, and action, raising questions about daily life habits as well as long-term institutional policies;
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Ground the learning experience of the faculty (and through them, their students) in awareness of place, of the specific bioregion of which the university is part, to build concrete arenas of understanding and meaningful experiences that support motivation.
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PSF MISSION Globally, our current environmental situation is one that is in need of intervention--the environmental crisis is a complex system of interconnected problems concerning air and water quality, soil depletion, species and habitat loss, food production and energy supply, all stemming from human activity pushing the earth past its carrying capacity. Efforts to manifest positive change must address these systemic problems and recognize the social conditions that necessitate our use of the environment so steps can be taken to reduce our imprint. Thus, leadership needs to be geared towards sustainability: a broad concept ideal for understanding the entire scope of human impact, which covers the environmental, social, and economic realms of human/nature interaction. However, the need for collective action does not remove the obligation of personal responsibility. On the contrary, collective action is only achieved through the accumulation of many small personal actions, often misperceived as too insignificant to make a difference--but as individual grains of sand make up a desert, each person, program, and profession can do their part to reduce our environmental impact. The field of education has a special role to play in the development of a citizenry which is concerned for and contributes to this goal. The Project Sin Fronteras (PSF) program, modeled after Emory University’s Piedmont Project, is a faculty development program designed to serve as a transformational platform that infuses sustainability concepts and practices into university curriculum. Through these two-day, intensive faculty workshops (offered every semester beginning Fall 2014), sustainable topics and service learning will become standard in higher education in the Rio Grande Valley as the two campuses transition into the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV).
UTRGV recognizes the capacity and desire of its students, faculty, staff, and surrounding community to embrace a culture of sustainability and makes efforts to connect sustainable campus operations with this broader academic mission across departments and programs. Embedding sustainability in higher education ensures the research of theoretical problems by current experts in various disciplines, and provides an opportunity for their students. Applying this research to the exploration of practical avenues for solutions will lead to a sustainable future. Students benefit by engaging in a structured process of critical reflection on the ethical, intellectual, and civic aspects of their experiences while being mentored by faculty. Recent studies have begun to link sustainability curriculum to playing a significant role in student engagement, co-curricular and service learning, and attracting disadvantaged students to STEM fields. Ultimately, the goal of sustainability is reason enough to push for its inclusion into every field: to ensure our future resources are sufficient for the continuity of societies. UTRGV’s adoption of the Guiding Principles call for an institution of higher education that transforms the region in which it resides. This aligns perfectly with the mission of sustainability as a concept: attaining and sustaining happy, healthy societies. Through a strong university/ community partnership, involving handson service learning and community service, UTRGV will become a truly engaged university and enact positive change to the area.
Embedding sustainability in higher education ensures the research of theoretical problems by current experts in various disciplines and provides an opportunity for their students. Applying this research to the exploration of practical avenues for solutions will lead to a sustainable future.
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ABOUT PROJECT SIN FRONTERAS Sustainability problems affect more than a single area of political, professional, economic, or academic expertise, so naturally an inclusive framing is necessary if solutions are to be found for these global problems. Project Sin Fronteras created considerable impact across the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, and within their communities over the last three semesters through bi-annual workshops. These workshops provide participants with information and skills to revise or produce a new course syllabus planning for the inclusion of sustainability. Interest in infusing sustainable topics into the classroom is widespread. Educators from nearly all of UTRGV colleges have participated in PSF, which allows for an exchange of ideas and fosters an enriching, collaborative atmosphere on campus for faculty and staff. PSF alumn Dr. Angel Saavedra Cisneros, a political science professor from the College of Social and Behavioral Science, found the most valuable part of the conference was the understanding he gained of the multifaceted nature of sustainability. He found that introducing sustainable ideas into pedagogical instruction gives us the opportunity to attack realworld, societal problems of our rapidly disappearing environment from many different directions. “Little by little we can make a change in the way people are thinking and acting,” he said, “and in the considerations people take when they make decisions to consume, carry out a project, or even where they invest.” Participants of the workshops are guided through a step-by-step process to redesign syllabi in ways that emphasize sustainability through the use of student
engagement, inquiry, and action. Participants gain an understanding of the core principles of sustainability and how it applies to multiple disciplines, not just the fields directly related to environmental science, through hands-on activities and discussions that aim to encourage well-being and interdependence. PSF does not ask educators to look outside of their field for instructional material or change their intended area of study, but rather works with them to investigate avenues for creative inclusion of the environmental, social, and economic consequences of human/ nature interaction into their curriculum. The goal is for educators to be on the same page when it comes to sustainability, allowing expertise to come together from different disciplines to better help their students solve problems. Many faculty alumni introduce handson learning experiences to their classes. Connecting students to real problems in their communities gives a holistic, systemic understanding of sustainability as it relates to the social, environmental, and economic development. The workshop includes presentations by speakers drawn from the faculty and the community on issues of sustainability, environment, and curriculum. Participants who complete the workshop and commit to teaching their revised syllabi within one academic year of certification receive a $500 stipend. The workshops are made possible through the generous support of the Office of the Executive Vice President (EVP) for Finance and Administration and the Office of the ProvostExecutive Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Project Sin Fronteras Workshops held at the UTRGV campus: • September 19-20, 2014 • February 27-28, 2014 • April 10-11, 2015
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SUSTAINABILITY ACADEMIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE UTRGV has taken steps towards establishing a leadership role in incorporating concepts of sustainability into university culture with the creation, dissemination, and application of new areas of academic scholarship in the emerging field of sustainability. The University Sustainability Council (USC), a permanent standing committee established to develop a framework for the university’s Sustainability Campus Action Plan, serves as a voice for their particular campus constituency with regard to critical sustainability issues. The members of the Council must represent all aspects of sustainability on campus, including economic and social equity as well as environmental issues to ensure that the needs of the entire campus community are met. Formed under the USC, a Sustainability Academic Advisory Committee (SAAC) outlines the issues to be addressed by Project Sin Fronteras and their relation to UTRGV’s strategic plan. The SAAC reports to the Office of the EVP for Finance and Administration and the Office of the Provost-EVP for Academic Affairs, who submit recommendations to the President. Following the suggestions of the SAAC, UTRGV will pursue a multi-campus planning process initiated by legacy institute UTPA and uphold the university’s commitment to sustainability in curriculum.
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Sustainability Academic Advisory Committee FY 14/15 Dr. Amy Hay Associate Professor of History and Philosophy College of Liberal Arts, UTRGV Mr. Joe M. Garza, Jr. MBA, Director of Business Engagement Robert C. Vackar College of Business & Entrepreneurship, UTRGV Dr. Jude Benavidez Associate Professor of Hydrology and Water Resources, College of Science, Mathematics, and Technology, UTRGV Dr. Virgil Pierce Associate Professor, Associate Dean College of Science and Mathematics, UTRGV Dr. Jennie Johnson Associate Professor of Management School of Business, UTRGV Dr. Angel Saavedra Cisneros SAAC Chair, Assistant Professor of Political Science College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, UTRGV Ms. Marianella Q. Franklin Chief Sustainability Officer, UTRGV Ms. Veronica Solis Graduate Research Assistant UTRGV
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METHODOLOGY Project Sin Fronteras (PSF) has developed a strong record of helping participants change not merely what they teach but how they teach. Consequently, alumni of the workshops have reported significant changes in pedagogy. Student participation is essential to sustainability in higher education, and the current generation of students is engaged and eager to make a difference through planning, teamwork, and sacrifice. Providing students with opportunities to contribute directly to causes, raise awareness, and engage in conversation about sustainability is key to instilling those values in students and demands a commitment on the educators’ parts to active and problem-solving pedagogies. New assignments immerse students in investigative and reflective activities with the surrounding natural world and human-constructed environment, often pointing toward innovation and change. The kinds of fundamental changes in course content and method typical of PSF alumni reflect that this commitment is widespread at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. PSF workshops follow the pedagogical approach developed by its first speaker, Susan Santone. Santone’s approach to curriculum integration, “Inquiry as Narrative: A Process for Instructional Design,” guides instructors through the organization and use of knowledge as a tool to serve the basic premise of educating for sustainability: the development of an educated citizenry who contribute to a healthy, secure, prosperous, and democratic society. Santone is qualified to certify PSF attendees, who go through a process, to lead future PSF sessions themselves. A faculty leader, Dr. Amy M. Hay, has received this certification from Santone and has provided the training during the next two PSF sessions.
Santone points out that curriculum is limited by specializations with disciplines. Meeting the demands of sustainability may required breaking from the confines of an individual discipline or specialization. It also effects changes in courses, credits, and program requirements-changing the way educators prepare and organize their curriculum. To that end, Santone differentiates between two pedagogical approaches: inter/multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary approaches. Transdisciplinary, or “across” disciplinary approaches are more involved with issues of social and personal significance. They more often enact real-world change than multidisciplinary teaching methods, and thus better meet the ultimate goal of sustainability--healthy, resilient, and democratic societies. Santone calls for these to become the goals of education as well, not standards or requirements. “Such framing would shift the discussion from integrating sustainability into the curriculum to integrating the curriculum to support the goals of sustainability.” Inter/multidisciplinary approaches cross and combine two or more disciplines in analysis of sustainable situations, but might paint a fractured picture of sustainability in that it is not applied. The demands of each discipline drive instruction in ways that don’t necessarily apply to finding solutions.
Ms. Susan Santone is the founder and Executive Director of Creative Change
Educational Solutions. A former classroom teacher, she specializes in instructional design and training for sustainability, ecological economics, and cultural issues. She is also an adjunct instructor in Teacher Education at Eastern Michigan University, where she taught “Schools in a Diverse and Democratic Society” and “Teaching Ecological Economics.” She earned teacher certificates in social studies, music, and TESOL; and has a Master’s Degree in Intercultural and International Management from the SIT Graduate Institute in Brattleboro, Vermont.
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Learners are driven by questions that emerge through in-depth investigations in a four-stage process of engagement, deep inquiry, decision-making, and positive action. Opening lessons introduce key issues and discussions about cultural contexts. Stages two and three unearth interconnected concepts, lead learners to develop skills to make deeper inquiries into policies and their impacts, and examine solutions. The final stage is about action: setting the stage for positive changes or new beginnings. The workshops offer participants the chance to hear a series of short presentations by PSF alumni who describe the changes they made in their courses and the resulting experiences. This exchange builds a sense of community among participants which extends to the entire campus after the workshop concludes. The presenters demostrate how sustainability can be applied to all fields of study and show off their creativity by explaining new content or techniques they applied to their classes. The range of innovations from diverse fields not only stimulates new ideas for participants, but also validates that the workshop is about creativity in teaching methods, not just course content. The presentations also reinforce trust in the group, because not all innovations are successes. Faculty, at all stages of their careers, are invited to present, to reinforce the colearner model.
One component of the workshop that was very well received by faculty was Santone’s Instructional Design Checklist, a simple tool for the evaluation of a course. This spreadsheet outlines goals with detailed questions such as whether the course promotes open-ended inquiry or authentic connections to learner’s communities. This helps faculty determine to what extent their classes meet these goals, and work on implementing those features that are lacking into their classes. “At the end of the two days, I came out with some very specific ideas that I want to incorporate in my classes that will benefit the students, and make them more aware what the concepts of sustainability are all about, and I think it’s very valuable,” said Dr. Victor Alvarado from UTRGV College of Education & P-16 Integration. He found it invaluable that teacher education will continue to be a major component of PSF. “They are the ones who are educating, preparing the future generations of students, who will make a difference in our environment, our region, our country, and the whole world.”
Dr. Amy Hay, Dr. Amy Hay, is an associate professor of history at UTRGV.
Hay’s research interests focus on medicine and the environment, women and gender, and activism and public policy. She has published articles examining gender, citizenship and religious activism in relation to the Love Canal chemical disaster, a “discovery” of over 22,000 tons of toxic chemicals buried under the homes and schools of Niagara Falls, New York. The University of Rochester Press has sent her book manuscript, Recipe for Disaster: Chemical Wastes, Community Activists, and Public Health at Love Canal, out for external review.
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INSTRUCTIONAL COACHING
Project Sin Fronteras has hosted sustainability-knowledgeable speakers from around the country, including curriculum development specialists and sustainability program organizers. They are individuals who have already participated in similar programs at peer institutions and who lend their expertise to faculty on the second day of the workshop. UTRGV faculty were also invited to give presentations.
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INSTRUCTIONAL COACHING
“This is an initiative that I’m glad is happening right now. I think as faculty and chair of the department, we come out with knowledge to build a more strategic program; that way as we move forward into the new university, we will be more strengthened. It was what I expected in terms of getting a more comprehensive view of what sustainability’s all about.” - Dr. Kai S. Koong, College of Business Administration, CIS, UTRGV
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IMPACT Sustainability can be difficult to quantitatively measure. Environmental practices, performance and social impact cannot be reduced to a dollar figure, and it is impossible to tell how far students will go with the ideas investigated in PSF-reviewed courses. A systemic focus on processes such as diversity, learning, and adaptation are a better representation impact on culture and curriculum than defining financial targets. An undergraduate research student, Denisse Salcedo, was hired by the OFS in December 2014 as an academic assessor to determine how many sustainability (focused or related) courses exist at the university to help determine to what extent sustainability values have been internalized into every aspect of its curriculum. By using the qualitative software Nvivo to review syllabi for sustainability key terms, Salcedo was able to determine the extent to which sustainability was implemented into legacy institute UTPA curriculum post-PSF. Her analysis of data contributed greatly to the univeristy’s report to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability
FY14-15
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UTRGV TOTAL PSF PARTICIPANTS
5,105 TOTAL STUDENT IMPACT
in Higher Education (AASHE). Salcedo’s work additionally contributed to this report of PSF’s effect on the pedagogical approaches of UTRGV faculty, and the broader and institutional impacts and implications of the project. Over the last three semesters, more than 83 new or reshaped courses have resulted directly from PSF, and these courses reach thousands of undergraduate students a year. We tallied student enrollment in the classes of PSF alumni and determined that 5,105 students were impacted. Courses include general education and advanced courses within majors, small seminars, and larger introductory courses. PSF professors uploaded their revised syllabi to be cataloged and made available through ASSIST (Advanced Services for Student Information Supported by Technology) via the UTRGV Office of the Registrar. In addition to these sources, in-person interviews conducted with participants and observations of campus change over the last three semesters formed the basis of this report.
251
TOTAL CREDIT HOURS
28
14
COUNTRIES REPRESENTED
DEPARTMENTS
9,726
TOTAL INSTRUCTIONAL HOURS
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2016 PROJECT SIN FRONTERAS / REPORT
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TOTAL SUSTAINABILITY FOCUSED OR RELATED COURSES
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PEDAGOGICAL INNOVATION Some faculty have said Project Sin Fronteras connects them to deeper questions about university actions as well as their own personal responsibility within their communities. Post-PSF courses varied in degree of integration of sustainability, from assigning a sustainability-related research paper, to development of hands-on service-based learning projects that directly affected the region. The impact of service learning on the students’ lives is incalculable. Working with a faculty mentor, who guides reflection of ethical, intellectual, and civil aspects of their experiences, benefits students’ understanding, engagement, and sense of civil duty. Maria Patterson’s upper level course, Business and Society, is a prime example of service learning. This course studies the impact (both negative and positive)
of business in society and aims to help the student learn appropriate business responses to complex matters related to socio-economic, political, and legal issues. As part of the curriculum for this class, students are expected to complete 20 hours of volunteer work at a non-for-profit organization(s) in our community. Students regularly log over 2,000 hours of combined volunteer service per semester, reaching a wide range of communities in the Rio Grande Valley. PSF has also affected the research direction of some participants, who have published articles, given a professional presentation, or started independent or collaborative projects as a spin-off from the changes in their courses.
“It was excellent, well organized; we were treated so well, there were excellent speakers, and it was a fun experience as well. It was a wonderful opportunity to bring faculty from the university. I’ve been doing some reading on sustainability but now I have an in-depth idea of what it is, and certainly I have an idea of how I can incorporate it into some of my classes.” - Dr. Jennie Johnson Robert C. Vackar, College of Business & Entrepreneurship,UTRGV
“I want to thank the Office of Sustainability of UTRGV for inviting us to participate, and I must confess that the workshop was very appealing, and I appreciated how every instructor was made to feel included and everyone participated. They made us believe we can incorporate sustainability themes into our classes, no matter the area of study. With this information, we can choose from the large bed of environmental problems we have, and apply these concepts to their classes, to try to find solutions.” –Cesar Alfredo Nanni del Valle Universidad de Monterey (UDEM), Nuevo Leon, Mexico
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PSF HIGHLIGHTS ANNUAL AWARDS BANQUET
Developed in 2014, Project Sin Fronteras (PSF) is a transformational platform that infuses sustainability concepts and practices into the UTRGV curriculum and systems. This innovative approach to education for sustainable development provides participants with information, training and skills to produce new or revised sustainability focused or related courses. With its pioneering approach, basic concepts are used to incorporate collaborative, interdisciplinary service learning, connecting student and faculty research and learning with the community. During the past three cohorts, 55 faculty from 11 colleges, among others, have provided more than 300 sustainability courses influencing more than 5,100 UTRGV students. The Office for Sustainability has managed this initiative.
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PSF HIGHLIGHTS
UTRGV Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Havidán Rodríguez gave the welcoming remarks for the university’s first Project Sin Fronteras banquet, hosted by the UTRGV Office of Sustainability on Friday, August 26, 2016, at the Embassy Suites McAllen Convention Center in McAllen. Five professors were recognized for their exceptional efforts to institutionalize sustainable development through academics and research. Those achievements were possible because of the leadership and hard work from the university’s Office for Sustainability, as well as the active engagement and commitment of dozens of UTRGV faculty. The dinner marked a milestone for UTRGV as it develops new strategic goals to increase the welfare of students and the community, while fostering the well-being of the environment and providing quality, affordable education.
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PSF ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS Dr. Alexis Racelis Assistant Professor of Biology Department of Biology, College of Sciences, UTRGV Dr. Racelis is a 2016 honoree of the UT System Regent’s Outstanding Teaching Award, considered to be among the highest and most prestigious in the nation recognizing teaching excellence. In addition, his dedication to sustainability has led to the first sustainable focused masters degree at UTRGV. Dr. Racelis has built UTRGV’s agroecology program through the support of three federal grants. In 2014, Dr. Racelis helped create the first USDA certified organic Agroecology Research and Teaching Garden and Greenhouse at UTRGV in the state of the Texas. UTRGV became a certified member of Tree Campus USA in 2015 by the national Arbor Day Foundation thanks to Dr. Racelis dedicated work in which 32 undergraduate students helped identify nearly 2,000 trees on the UTRGV Edinburg Campus. Dr. Racelis is one of three Principal Investigators for the Subtropical Organic Agriculture Research (SOAR) which is a participatory academic program to fill research needs of farmers in South Texas.
DR. ALEXIS RACELIS
Dr. Racelis receiving the UT System Regent’s Outstanding Teaching Award
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PSF ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS
He built the university’s Agroecology program through the support of three federal grants that he wrote and directs.
He helped create the university’s Agroecology Research and Teaching Garden and Greenhouse; it is the first USDA-certified organic garden in the state of Texas. Students have an opportunity to apply their knowledge in an outdoor laboratory to explore ecology, biology, and agriculture. It is the 1st USDA-certified organic garden in the state of Texas.
His work has helped create an on campus lab, Subtropical Organic Agricultural Research (SOAR), where students can test their learning and connect to their community through organic farming. Dr. Racelis, along with 32 undergraduate students, helped identify, locate, and inventory about 2,000 trees on the UTRGV Edinburg Campus over a period of three years. The students received training from local and state foresters on tree identification, forestry techniques of measuring and grading tress, diagnosing tree health, and tree care. Their work helped the university qualify for 2014 Tree Campus USA.
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PSF ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS Dr. Owen Temby, Assistant Professor of Political Science Department of Political Science, College of Liberal Arts, UTRGV As stressed in PSF, all fields can infuse sustainable practices. One example, is Dr. Owen Temby’s course which allows the students to gain knowledge in the survival and robustness of fragile ecosystems, the livability of urban areas, the ecological sustainability of economic growth, the availability of food and energy, and the health of human populations. Through his contribution to the published article, “Property, Technology, and Environmental Policy: The Politics of Acid Rain in Ontario, 1978-1985,” Dr. Temby and his co-writer, Dr. Ryan O’Connor, received the 2015 Riddell Award from the Ontario Historical Society (OHS). This article focused on the challenges presented by sustainably managing the Great Lakes of North American in a transboundary regulatory setting. In addition, Dr. Temby is one of the six-member team that will participate in a $15.4 million NOAA grant that will enhance research opportunities for students in the School of Earth, Environmental and Marine Science (SEEMS). About 15 graduate and 10 undergraduate students will have the opportunity to participate in studying various aspects of the Gulf of Mexico.
DR. OWEN TEMBY
Featured above, Dr. Temby with his environmental students.
Dr. Temby received the 2015 Riddell Award from the Ontario historical society. This is the second time Temby has been Riddell Awarded, the first was in 2012.
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PSF ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS Maria Leonard
Lecturer
Department of Management, College of Business and Entrepreneurship, UTRGV
MRS. MARIA LEONARD
Under the guidance of Maria Leonard, UTRGV Enactus competed at nationals in St. Louis among 120 other universities across the country. After earning “Regional Champions” and “Rookie of the Year” titles in April, the organization presented their projects before a panel of executives from Fortune 500 companies. The presentation focused on its efforts to tackle poverty and illiteracy issues, especially among undocumented immigrants in the Rio Grande Valley. UTRGV partnered with Proyecto Humano Desarrollo, a community in Penitas, provided nutritional classes, after school tutoring programs and free medical care to this community. In addition, ENACTUS provide financial literacy and academic development workshops to the DACA students and their families as a way to help those who have come to the U.S. seeking a better life. The chapter currently has 22 active members all who actively focused on building projects to improve the socio-economic conditions of those in need around our community.
Enactus raised about $3,000 and helped feed 120 families in six communities throughout the Rio Grande Valley. UTRGV students on Wednesday, Nov. 23, delivered turkeys and Thanksgiving food baskets to families from six Valley communities. The 2016 ENACTUS Presentation is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMPEEYIjLMk
Enactus during Proyecto desarrollo humano https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RRk7Mr8tGA&feature=youtu.be
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PSF ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS Dr. Immanuel Edinbarough
Professor and Director of Engineering Technology Department of Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering and Computer Science, UTRGV Dr. Edinbarough is an excellent example of leading the institutionalization of sustainable development through incorporating supportable solutions in engineering in the classroom. He continuously collaborates with the Engaged Scholars Program to support students and improve the manufacturing process. In addition, he has participated in the Texas Regional Collaborative for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching (TRC) grants, for which he introduced mathematics concepts within the context of green energy. His research focuses on the importance of sustainable manufacturing and incorporating sustainability across manufacturing engineer’s curriculum. Dr. Edinbarough continues to conduct workshops and seminars on various topics including microsystems, nano manufacturing, artificial intelligence, mechatronics, machine vision, remote manufacturing, robotics and automation, renewable energy, environmentally friendly manufacturing, and engineering technology education.
DR. IMMANUEL EDINBAROUGH
Dr. Immanuel Edinbarough feature along side his student, Mario Castillo, who was awarded Siemens 2015 Student Design Contest Winner in October 2015. The award included a certificate and a prize, iPad Mini. Castillo was on a team that made an autonomous mobile robot. “Dr. Edinbarough is such an inspirational professor – he pushes us to do better all the time,” Castillo says. Dr. Edinbarough, has mentored students who have won national competitions with renamed companies and proven that quality education is one of his primary goals. This is the second consecutive year one of Edinbarough’s students has been named a Siemens Student Design Contest Winner. Last year, Michael Barrera, who graduated in December 2015, won with his design of a hydraulic rocket.
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PSF ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS Dr. Mohammed Jasim Uddin, Assistant Professor in Chemistry Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences, UTRGV Dr. Mohammed Jasim Uddin, principal investigator (PI) is leading a team of seven members, on a $125,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense for the 2015-2016 year that will help revolutionize clothing worn by the U.S. military. His research team will focus on multifunctional textile fiber, which can self-cleanse and protect the wearer from UV radiation and toxic environments. In addition to his teaching duties, Dr. Uddin’s dedication to higher education is also evidenced by his participation in the UTRGV High School Research Scholars Program (HIGH Scholars) which allows mentoring of young scholars in STEM research.
DR. MOHAMMED JASIM UDDIN
Dr. Uddin’s dedication to higher education has gone further, and his plan to change the future does not end in his lab. He is part of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s High School Research Scholars Program (HIGH Scholars). This position allows him to mentor young scholars in STEM research.
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Dr. Uddin’s research has revolutionized the development of advanced textile. His work has been recognized not only at UTRGV, but also through the U.S. Department of Defense, which awarded him a $125,000 research grant. His research into multifunctional textile fiber, which can self-cleanse and protect the wearer from UV radiation and toxic environments, will change the way we live in the future. Assisting him in his research include one graduate and four undergraduate students from the chemistry department.
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CONCLUSION Project Sin Fronteras (PSF) addresses the challenge often faced by sustainability programs: finding a middle ground between the wide range of interests and academic goals sustainability can address, and maintaining a unified curriculum that is adaptive to the needs of today’s students. Through Project Sin Fronteras, UTRGV has fostered an atmosphere of creative freedom in which faculty and staff can consider the possibilities for incorporation of sustainability topics into their fields. PSF helps develop an understanding of methods by which sustainability can be embedded into classroom discussion and activity–-including the proposal of new courses to expand UTRGV’s existing course offerings. PSF provides the transformational educational platform that equips professors to bring sustainability directly to students through hands-on assignments, long-term projects, and community learning experiences, all of which prepare students to advance sustainability goals in their future careers by underscoring the importance of ecological, economic, and community planning. Another goal of PSF is to provide a networking opportunity for professors who wish to collaborate on multi- and trans-disciplinary projects. Collaboration across fields is highly beneficial, allowing faculty and student researchers to look at problems through different lenses of understanding to find solutions for complex problems, often directly affecting our region. As professors realize the myriad possibilities for inclusion of sustainable topics into their area of study, and the importance of introducing students of all fields to the idea of working closely with others outside of their major, they may develop ideas for collaborative projects that provide future students with learning experiences that would be otherwise unavailable. As the number of sustainability focused or related courses has increased since PSF’s initiation, it’s clear that these workshops have had an affect on the UTRGV curriculum; however, an evaluation of these courses through a sustainability literacy survey is the first step necessary to determine the next best action to take towards the development of a formal sustainability program. The sustainability literacy survey is one of several initiatives by the Sustainability Academic Advisory committee to bolster the effects of PSF. It would assess the newly-revised courses of the three cohorts of PSF participants who have already implemented PSF’s instruction in terms of successful sustainability
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experiences, and would be administered at the beginning of all courses to help faculty members gauge students’ understanding of sustainability when they come into the course, and again at the conclusion of the course. Through the results of this survey, the Office for Sustainability hopes to assess both qualitative and quantitative data which would showcase the effectiveness with which information was shared with students. In efforts to make registering for sustainability courses more accessible, UTRGV will initiate coding of both PSF and existing sustainability courses into the course catalog. Registration will then make readily apparent which courses present sustainability concepts, so students can make choices in their degree planning that are more in line with their personal values. The coding serves the additional purpose of allowing for measurement and tracking of student impact with respect to retention, student success, intern/extern experiences, and jobrelated placements. Once this coding has been completed and it becomes apparent that sustainability focused or related courses are offered every semester, UTRGV may begin by offering a student certificate in sustainability, which involves the successful completion of a number of sustainability related/focused courses, and is intended to be earned by students of any major alongside their typical coursework. Next steps would be the development of an undergraduate sustainability program by which students could graduate with a major or minor in sustainability studies. Optimistically, a graduate program would follow. UTRGV’s medical school is another avenue by which health can be placed within the context of the biosphere, training medical professionals who understand our region’s special needs. UTRGV’s commitment to sustainability is strong, and though these programs are a work in progress, Project Sin Fronteras has already shown itself to be an integral component to embedding sustainability, not just into the curriculum at UTRGV, but into the lives of its faculty, students, staff, and residents of the surrounding area. As UTRGV moves forward with initiatives such as PSF, it will result in a beautiful and sustainable university campus that provides co-curricular and service learning to a highly engaged student body, and an invaluable example for the region to follow.
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CONTRIBUTORS Dr. Havidán Rodríguez
PROVOST AND EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
Dr. Cynthia Ann Brown DEPUTY PROVOST
Mr. Rick Anderson
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FOR FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION
Ms. Marianella Q. Franklin
CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER/EDITOR Ms. Deborah Fitzwater-Dewey OFFICE FOR SUSTAINABILITY GRANT WRITER/ CO-EDITOR
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Ms. Amanda Carlin
GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT OFFICE FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Ms. Eva Larraga
OFFICE FOR SUSTAINABILITY INTERN GRAPHIC DESIGNER
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The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
1201 West University Dr., Edinburg, TX 78539 The Office for Sustainability ITTB 1.404R (956) 665-3030 Office (956) 665-2322 Fax
www.facebook.com/UTRGVSustainability www.utrgv.edu/sustainability
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