March’s Sustainable College is the College of Community and Public Service, which boasts eight sustainability-related courses and three major sustainability events: the showing of the YERT documentary, a presentation by Ken Robinson and Recyclemania!

Offering more than 20 bachelor’s degrees and four master’s degrees, CCPS is one of Grand Valley State University’s three largest colleges. CCPS endeavors “to educate students for professional careers through excellent teaching, learning, scholarship and service that promote just and democratic communities, and ethical and effective leadership,” according to its mission statement.

CCPS is home to four academic departments and schools: the School of Criminal Justice; the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management; the School of Public, Nonprofit, and Health Administration; and the School of Social Work. It also hosts two non-academic departments: the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy and the Office for Community Engagement.

CCPS’s commitment to sustainability is evident in things both big and small, in everything from the Recyclemania! event to its meetings. At the most recent CCPS meeting, the faculty and staff of the college made their lunch a zero-waste event. The dean of CCPS, George Grant, Jr., and the senior programmer at the Johnson Center’s Community Research Institute, TJ Maciak, aided the effort to send pizza boxes from the lunch to compost.

“Composting is a vital resource offered by Grand Valley State University in an effort to divert food material and waste from landfill,” according to the March Sustainable College webpage. “On the main floor of DeVos C, there are multiple compost bins with clear labeling about what can be composted and recycled, as well as what should go in the landfill.”

The sustainable events CCPS hosts have made an impact on the campus community so far.
“The YERT event was extremely successful,” said Jenny Jordan, a graduate assistant with the Sustainable Community Development Initiative.

Sir Ken Robinson, an internationally recognized leader in the development of education, creativity, and innovation, as well as the author of “The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything,” will give two presentations on Wednesday, March 27. The first will cover his book and will take place at 9 a.m. on the Pew campus in the Charles W. LooseMoore Auditorium of the Richard DeVos Center, with a breakfast before it, beginning at 8:15 a.m. This event is sponsored by the Business Ethics Center and the Seidman College of Business Alumni Association. The evening event, sponsored by the Business Ethics Center and the Frederik Meijer Lecture Series will be held at 7 p.m. in the Fieldhouse Arena of Allendale Campus, on the topic of “Leading A Culture of Innovation.” Tickets are required for entry.

CCPS also hosts Recyclemania!, which is a friendly competition among colleges and universities to promote a proactive effort to reduce waste. Recyclemania! lasts for 10 days and involves several different contests to see which institution can collect the largest amount of recyclables per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables, the least amount of trash per capita or the highest recycling rate. This will be GVSU’s sixth Recyclemania! Competition.

For more information on GVSU’s Sustainable Colleges, visit: http://www.gvsu.edu/css.
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