‘Tis Spring, and an old(er) man’s fancy turns to thoughts of ... possible policy changes for the coming academic year.
G. Rendell
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April 7, 2008
'Tis Spring, and an old(er) man's fancy turns to thoughts of ... possible policy changes for the coming academic year.
First in line, Greenback U should totally ban the use of incandescent bulbs on campus. It's just a first step, and a small one, but it can have significant effect in both residence halls and (to a lesser extent) office buildings. We've banned halogen bulbs in residence halls for years. How hard can this be? And why ever wouldn't we?
Has your school already done this?
April 4, 2008
It's April 4, about two weeks into what the calendarists recognize as Spring. The snow is gone everywhere but on the north slopes, and we're deep into mud season. The Canada geese arrived, in significant numbers, more than a month ago, yet the standing water (ponds, lakes) is still pretty much frozen over. March forgot the part about "going out like a lamb" -- strong frontal systems, with gale-force winds (or so it seems) go through once or twice a week, at least.
April 3, 2008
A friend of mine, at SUNY's School of Environmental Science and Forestry, forwarded me this email, which apparently went out to every student:
March 31, 2008
Sometimes, it's what you don't plan that goes well.
Earth Hour, an event which originated only last year on the other side of the world (Sydney, Australia), and which has gotten some promotion from the World Wildlife Fund, was something which came upon us sustainability administrators almost unheralded.
March 29, 2008
Paycheck envy aside, I'm glad I'm not a university president. Long hours, too many constituencies bringing too many competing priorities, little chance of establishing consensus criteria for success (crisis situations aside), and employees who are unmanageable and (often) proud of it.
From time to time, though, university presidents do get a chance to say something important. Larry Edward Penley, president of Colorado State, recently did so in these pages.
March 25, 2008
First the announcement: the RSS feed is fixed. Those of you who aren't into RSS don't care, but some of the rest may find their life now easier (or at least more automatic).
Now the accounting:
The Chronicle has published a searchable database of this year's Congressional earmarks to colleges and universities. Their accompanying article speaks of 2300+projects, 920 institutions, and $2.25 billion.
March 21, 2008
More emails go by, some asking whether schools have disallowed first-year students from bringing cars, and what the results have been. (Yes, and mixed.) Other items announce the construction of new campus housing, much of it aimed at older undergraduates — mostly low-rise, apartment-style. (Particularly appropriate given the trend towards older undergraduates nationwide.)
March 20, 2008
According to emails that have come across my screen, students from Seattle, WA to Cambridge, MA are organizing to ban bottled water from their campuses. The idea of going back to tap water bucks a major social trend in the US (and a number of mega-dollar marketing campaigns), so it’s not likely of complete success the first time it’s introduced on a particular campus.
