"I have registered with the SEED Center and already downloaded a large amount of FREE material that is just awesome!  There are lecture notes and lab procedures I can use in my class, Chemistry for a Changing World.  I've been toying with the idea of creating biodiesel fuel here at CLC using our waste oil.  I've only started researching this, but found many schools already doing it.  From SEED I just downloaded an entire lab manual on making biodiesel fuel, a procedure from the Madison Area Technical College!

What a wonderful resource this will be, THANKS!"

Mary Urban

Chemistry Department Chair

College of Lake County (IL)

Welcome  

New SEED Members, October

Bronx Comm College-CUNY

New York, NY

John Wood Comm. College

Quincy, IL

Montgomery County Community College

Blue Bell, PA

If your college is not a member yet, join today, or refer a college to join and begin taking advantage of free resources SEED offers. 

Sustainable Ag., Food & Land:

Food, Farming & Community Resources for Expanding Awareness from Michigan State University Museum

Helpful curricula that builds greater understanding about local food, and the viability and importance of sustainable practices plus essays, and a book and film list on sustainable agriculture.

Transportation & Fuels:

Vehicle Technologies Program - DOE EERE

Comprehensive information on the development of energy efficient and environmentally friendly advanced highway transportation technologies, including hybrid vehicle technology, statistics on energy use, economics, and trends in transportation and more.

Sustainability Snapshot 

Wake Tech Community College (NC), Award-Winning College and Instructors

Wake Technical Community College (WTCC, NC), has recently received acclaim for both it's Green Building successes, and for a faculty member's work that fosters a skilled workforce in sustainable transportation.

Educator Rich Cregar, who teaches Sustainable Transportation, Technologies and Students, was honored at the White House as a "Champion of Change."  He is recognized for his work fostering a skilled workforce in North Carolina through his instruction in sustainable transportation technologies.

Don't Miss...  

Find a comprehensive list of events and announcements on theseedcenter.org.

Announcements:  AASHE Sustainability Across the Curriculum Workshop 

For faculty leaders of all disciplines, develop or enhance programs around sustainability on campuses.

Application deadline 11/11/11

Pennsylvania Creates First-of-its-Kind Campus Energy Efficiency Fund 

Pennsylvania unveiled an innovative financing opportunity that can generate as much as $45 million in improvements at as many as 12 schools through projects creating more than 700 jobs. 

This study evaluates how colleges and universities are preparing society for a changing climate through their education, research, operations, and community engagement activities.

Conferences:  

Association of Career and Technical Education 

St. Louis, Mo.

11/17-19/11

*SEED Presentation 11/18 with St. Louis Community College  

SEED Colleges
in the News 

Discover details on these newsmakers and send us your clean energy and sustainability news, we'll share it with the SEED community.

Contra Costa Community College (CA) and RichmondBUILD win Curriculum Award; training academy graduates have 90% job placement rate. 

New Mexico Community Colleges capture $2M in Green Jobs Funds to expand green training opportunities.    

Northeast Community College (NE) Installs a 100-kilowatt Micon 108 wind turbine that will connect to the Nebraska Public Power District power grid.

Rock Valley College (IL) Receives Governor's Sustainability Award - first Illinois college to earn LEED-Gold certification. 

Salt Lake Community College (UT) wins Utah Green Business Award for leadership and teaching in energy management and green technologies.  

SEED's recent webinar, "Building Quality Workforce Development Programs for Energy Efficiency Jobs" included a discussion of energy efficiency standards being developed by the U.S. Dept. of Energy.  Listen to the recording. 

Next week, IREC will share information about it's accreditations in two webinars:

IREC/ANSI Joint Accreditation 

Thurs., 11/17/11, 3:00 PM EST

Learn more about the new IREC Standard for renewable energy and energy efficiency - weatherization certificate programs and the process and criteria for the joint American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accreditation program.

Issue 10, November 9, 2011 

SEED One-Year Anniversary Marks 

Higher Ed Green Economy Achievements  

Dear Colleagues,

Just over one year ago the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and ecoAmerica launched the Sustainability Education & Economic Development Initiative (SEED). SEED advances sustainability and green workforce development practices at community colleges by sharing innovative models and FREE resources to increase the capacity of college leaders, faculty, and staff to build the green economy. 

We are proud to share AACC's SEED Initiative's achievements in this inaugural year:

* 434 colleges from 43 states representing over 40% of community college students have joined SEED.  These schools have committed to incorporate and share promising practices and curricula into programs, engage faculty, staff, and students, and partner with employers and the community.

* Curated Resource Center debuted with 225 unique curricular materials, industry projections, credentialing information, best practices, and innovative partnership information across 5 sectors.  Today, over 500 unique resources are included.

* Two new Resource Center sectors have recently been added, Transportation & Fuels and Sustainable Agriculture, Food & Land.

* SEED webinars have averaged over 200 attendees, who have learned about credentials, state-level collaboration, and upcoming, alternative fuels and rural green economy initiatives.

* 35 educators engaged in SEED's unique peer-to-peer learning workshop at AACC's Workforce Development Institute.

* Nearly 10,000 unique visitors have explored theseedcenter.org.

* 12 distinctive college success stories opened "Colleges in Action"; today discover the innovative stories of 20 colleges, with more being added each month.

* SEED has been positively cited in national media coverage including The Chronicle of Higher Education, Huffington Post, CNBC, and scores of local and sector media outlets.

* Over 1,000 educators, administrators, and industry partners subscribe to SEED's monthly newsletter.

* A dynamic group of educators has shared hundreds of course listings and curricular materials in SEED's online sharing community, showcasing their green economy efforts and aiding other schools' building programs.

Information sharing between educators and experts is a top priority of SEED.  To enable you all to learn from each other and stay abreast of the latest industry news and trends, SEED is producing an ongoing webinar series and is publishing "Action Plans" with in-depth information.  A regular cadence of news, updates, and success stories is found daily in our Twitter and Facebook channels.  If you haven't followed or "liked" us yet in you own social media accounts, be sure to do so today to catch timely, relevant information as it happens.

Recent significant federal funding to community colleges for clean economy and workforce development initiatives reinforces just how important our green economy workforce development efforts are.  Community colleges are uniquely positioned to be at the nucleus of the green economy growth by both preparing the next workforce and serving as model institutions for new technologies and sustainability advancements.  AACC's SEED initiative looks forward to supporting and recognizing colleges with a Green Genome awards program to debut this year, and stipends for staff and faculty to attend the 2012 SEED pre-conference session at AACC's Workforce Development Institute.

Please, continue to share your successes, concerns, and needs with us.  We are proud of the value we provide to educators.  Tools and programs such as the "Policy Action Plan" were created as a result of your direct feedback.  We look forward to continuing to support colleges in your sustainability and green economy efforts and achievements.

Dr. Jerry Weber

Chair, AACC Sustainability Task Force

President, College of Lake County, IL

SEED Resource Center Expands

Reflects Growing Green Economy Opportunities

SEED is excited to present two new curated Resource

Sust Ag., Foo Transportation & Fuels d & Land

Center  sectors, Transportation & Fuels and Sustainable Ag., Food and Land.  Developed and vetted by industry Technical Advisory Groups (TAG) including members from community colleges, prominent non-profit organizations, and private industry leaders, these new collections contain hundreds of curricular materials, employment industry projections, certifications, innovative practices and more that will help educators develop and enhance quality green jobs training programs and courses.

The growing energy and environmental sectors will play an increasing role in our nation's green economy. Highlighted resources and articles written by leaders in these fields will aid  colleges' efforts to build a national workforce in these sectors.

AACC's SEED Initiative looks forward to supporting colleges with these new resources.  Let us know what you think and if you have resources to share.

Two Upcoming SEED Webinars, Register Now:

 

As market demand evolves and technologies emerge, community colleges will be at the center of the growing alternative fuel green economy segment.   Colleges will succeed in building this workforce by adapting existing automotive, engineering, and related programs.  Learn about future workforce development opportunities from two colleges with cutting-edge hybrid vehicle training initiatives, including effective train-the-trainer efforts open to all. Presented in conjunction with SEED's new Transportation & Fuels resource center sector.

Presenters:

* Chris Quarto,  

   Founder & CEO, Automotive Research & Design, LLC

* Greg Newhouse,  

   Associate Dean, San Diego Miramar College (CA)

* Terrance Webb, Provost, Madison Area Technical College (WI)

* Jeff Minter, Instructor, Madison Area Technical College (WI)

Moderator: Todd Cohen, AACC

Rural Green Economy: Thursday December 8, 2PM EDT

Renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable agriculture offer real, viable economic opportunities for rural regions. Learn how the U.S. Department of Agriculture is supporting these efforts and how community colleges are both preparing a qualified workforce and how their strategic regional partnerships are actually leading to the growth of jobs. Presented in Partnership with Eastern Iowa Community Colleges' Advanced Technology Environmental and Energy Center.  

Presenters:

* Bill Hagy, Director of Alternative Energy Policy, USDA

* Timothy Crowley, President, Northern Maine Community College

* Robin Kohanowich, Sustainable Agriculture Coordinator, Central Piedmont Community College (NC) 

Register for both webinars now.

Lincoln Land Community College (IL)

From Virtual Center to College Wide Sustainability Efforts

Lincoln Land Community College's (LLCC) journey began with a modest investment in a virtual green center which has expanded over time, allowing LLCC to creatively engage college and community stakeholders to fund, support, and expand innovative green workforce training in central Illinois. Read more.

Green Opportunities for Manufacturers &
Entry-Level Workers

Community College of Philadelphia has achieved stunning success by creating pathways to rapid employment in the green manufacturing and construction and weatherization industries. Read more.

WDI 2012 Stipend for SEED Members 

While there is no question that the green economy is still emerging, most agree that training for a variety of green competencies will be needed in sectors from weatherization to manufacturing and up and down supply chains.  

What programs should colleges really be focusing on at this point?  

And using which techniques?

This workshop will highlight innovative models of successful community college green programs. Participants will receive in-depth technical assistance from college leaders on some of the most common challenges including building key industry partnerships, aligning to national certifications, greening existing curricula, and tying job training to overall campus sustainability initiatives.

SEED Members:  Contact us and submit your name to qualify for a stipend to attend the session for FREE.

Join the SEED Green Policy Action Group

Are you interested in staying up-to-date on national and state energy and related green public policies?

Would you benefit from discussions with your college peers about how other colleges  have influenced regional policies that led to stronger green industry job growth?

Join SEED's newly formed action group focused on these issues. 

Launched at this past October AASHE's conference, this community will share best practices and green policy information and will have future opportunities to influence national energy and green-related policy.  We look forward to incorporating these policy discussions into our regular SEED webinars, conferences, and resources.

SEED on the Road:  

Highlighting Successful Colleges

AACC's Todd Cohen and SEED spent much of October on the road sharing SEED's green economy information and resources with a national audience.  We would like to thank the following individuals and colleges who highlighted their innovative green initiatives with us:

* Judy Jozaitis, Julie Bates, and Julie Rourke, Lincoln Land Community College (IL) at the NCCET/NCWE Conference

* Randy Grissom, Santa Fe Community College (NM) at the NCCET/NCWE Conference

* Jerry Weber, College of Lake County (IL) at the STEMTech Conference

* Shelly Jewell and Cheryl Putnam, Connecticut Community College System at the STEMTech Conference

* Linda Petee, Delta College (MI) at the American Association of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) conference

* Valerie Avalone, Monroe Community College (NY), AASHE

* Remmelle Young, Houston Community College (TX), AASHE

* Mary Spilde, Lane Community College (OR) at the Association of Community College Trustees conference

If you would like to share your green economy and sustainability success stories with us in a future presentation or invite SEED to speak at an upcoming event, let us know.