all undertaken with a keen eye to the College’s carbon foot- print. Skidmore hired its first campus sustainability coordi- nator in 2008 through a pilot grant, and today the job is per- manent; two additional grant-funded fellows are on board as well. The office’s portfolio includes strengthening campus stewardship of the 300-acre North Woods, advising the stu- dent-run organic garden that supplies over half a ton of pro- duce to the dining hall each year, and running lively annual programs like the Skidmore Unplugged residence-hall energy conservation contest. More than 30 on-campus internships focus on sustainability, and more than 50 professors teach- ing sustainability-related courses use the campus as a teaching tool. Dan Rodecker, director of facilities
serts government professor Beau Breslin, dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs. “Over the past decade, we’ve been making curricular changes that better prepare students to transition into the next stages of their lives.”
services, says 40% of the campus is now geothermally heated and cooled, and the old, 60% efficient heating plant has been updated to 90% effi- cient boilers. With Skidmore’s creative use of geothermal (lauded by the Association for the Advancement of Sustain- ability in Higher Education) and other efficiencies, Rodecker estimates that the new residences and the 56,000-square- foot Zankel were added with virtually no increase in campus energy consumption. He and Vice President for Finance and Administration Mike West credit the Glotzbach administra- tion’s vision and commitment: “Bringing in a sustainability coordinator, supporting facility upgrades and new ideas, ad- vocating for conservation by the whole community—these all came from Phil with the support of trustees,” West says.
A curriculum revitalized
“A liberal education is one that opens the mind and frees the soul—something Skidmore does particularly well,” as-
“A LIBERAL EDUCATION IS ONE THAT OPENS THE MIND AND FREES THE SOUL— SOMETHING SKIDMORE DOES PARTICULARLY WELL.”
The First-Year Experience, a 2005 innovation, helps freshmen start strong in academic engagement with faculty mentors and peers. FYE’s Scribner Seminars immediately im- merse new students in small-group studies of their choice that are amplified with study-skills workshops and field trips. Seminar members are housed close together, and the same professors mentor their students through their sophomore year. The FYE summer reading is now a well-estab- lished academic tradition that involves first-years with upperclassmen in year- long discussions and events about a book, film, or music selection. The im-
portance of the FYE was quickly visible as freshman reten- tion rates rose and are now 93%.
Engagement at the intersections of knowledge, Breslin says, is the key to an effective 21st-century education—and to Skidmore’s very identity. “Our style of integrating our strengths in the arts, the humanities, preprofessional pro- grams, and increasingly the sciences is what makes us dis- tinctive.” Over the past decade, interdisciplinary programs have blossomed into some of the most popular majors. In 2012 Skidmore became the first US college to offer a minor in intergroup relations, synthesizing race and dialogue courses with work in sociology and other fields. Another new addition, the minor in arts administration, combines Skidmore’s traditional vigor in arts and business courses with independent real-world experiences.
g
WITH MORE STUDENTS ENGAGING IN LAB SCIENCES, A NEW SCIENCE BUILDING IS IN THE PLANS.
FALL 2013 SCOPE 15
GARY GOLD
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