SCUP with support from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Call for Projects:
The Learning Environment: Lessons in Smart and Sustainable Campuses

NOTE: This call is closed and posted for informational purposes only.

Call for Projects—At a Glance:

WHAT: Colleges and universities in the US that are currently in the initial stages of a project addressing campus environmental issues are invited to propose their project for a specialized workshop and to receive expert advice intended to further their project goals. Student teams welcome!

WHEN: Selected projects will be presented and discussed during special workshop sessions on November 4, 2005, during the Smart and Sustainable Campuses conference scheduled for November 3–4, 2005, at the University of Maryland—College Park.

HOW: Projects will be submitted to the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) via email; read below for project criteria and submission details.

WHO: The special workshop sessions are sponsored by SCUP in conjunction with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Call for Projects Overview

Is your campus currently in the initial phase for a project addressing campus environmental issues?

Could you benefit from some stimulus and expert consultation to take it to the next level of successful execution?

We want to give you that opportunity to optimize the impact of your program. Your success not only makes a difference on your campus and in your community, it creates a template for other campuses to learn from and build on.

Campuses and their surrounding communities offer significant opportunities for demonstrating methods of dealing with growth, reducing negative impacts, and creating sustainable practices in the environment. Examples of these include combined recycling efforts, cooperative purchasing of green products, watershed management, sharing of parking and transportation services, the use of local labor and materials in facilities, and many others.

The projects selected for specialized workshops from this call will need to demonstrate positive environmental effects on the campus and, wherever appropriate, in the surrounding community. Examples of such effects include improved water quality, reduced waste streams, increased energy efficiency, better management of hazardous material, green maintenance, and more sustainable management of non-renewable resources.

Selected projects will be featured in specialized three-hour roundtable workshops conducted on November 4, 2005, during a November 3–4, 2005, conference on Smart and Sustainable Campuses. Representatives from selected project teams will be asked to present a 20-minute PowerPoint overview of their project. A panel of experts will respond with their observations and recommendations and suggest alternative strategies to maximize project benefits. Audience members attending the workshop sessions will also be invited to participate with their recommendations. There will be four-to-six workshop sessions at the conference, each one featuring one campus project. Decisions on selected projects will be made by July 15, 2005, and all project submitters will be notified of the results shortly afterwards.

Call for Projects: Proposal Criteria

Campus project submissions with the following criteria will be considered:

• The call for projects is open to any college or university in the United States.
• Project requirements:
• Employs innovative practices and solutions to address campus environmental issue(s),
• Is currently funded,
• Is currently in the planning phase, with a team assembled, and
• Has targeted issues, a measured baseline, and defined measures of success.
• The project team must be seeking recommendations on how to incorporate proven principles and best practices of smart and sustainable campuses.
• The project must be submitted by the educational institution; at least one member of the submission team must be employed by the college or university.

Benefits to Selected Campus Teams

• Expenses for travel (up to $1,500 per team) for two to three individuals representing your campus project to attend the Smart & Sustainable Campuses conference, November 3–4, 2005, at the University of Maryland—College Park.
• A specialized roundtable workshop of three hours on November 4, 2005, tailored to give expert advice to your specific project and help you take your project to the next level.
• Complimentary registration to the Smart & Sustainable Campuses Conference, November 3–4, 2005, at the University of Maryland—College Park.
• A small funding grant to further your project efforts on your campus.
• An opportunity to present your project's outcomes and lessons at the joint conference, "The Campus of the Future: A Meeting of the Minds", sponsored by SCUP, the Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers (APPA), and the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) in July 2006, in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
• National visibility for your program and new potential opportunities for collaboration.

How to Submit Your Project Proposal

Proposals must not exceed five typed pages (excluding project contacts and budget sheet), single-sided with 12-point type, single-spaced. Please submit the proposal files only in the following formats: .doc, .wpd. .txt, ,xls, .eps, .tif, .gif, and .jpg. You are permitted to include images, drawings, and schematics, provided they are within your five-page submission.

Project proposals must include this information: (please use the online proposal template for actual submission)

• Project Title
• Project Overview—a short paragraph that describes your ongoing project and your goal (maximum of 150 words, which will be published).
• Provide three keywords that identify the nature of your project.
• How does your project demonstrate positive environmental effects on the campus and, if appropriate, in the surrounding community?
• What kind of technical assistance would help you take your project to the next level of execution?
• What results would you expect; how would your sustainability project be furthered through this opportunity?
• Describe how you would measure the results from this opportunity.
• How will you share the results of this project on your campus and in your community?
• How would you apply a small grant (estimated to be minimum of $300, potentially more) to further your campus efforts?

The following should also be submitted, but do not count toward the five (5) page proposal limit:

• Include the budget that you currently have for this project (budget template provided).
• Names and titles of everybody on your campus project team.
• Names and full contact information (title, address, telephone, fax, and email address) for the two to three individuals who would represent your project at the conference, if selected.

Project Submission Templates
Please use these templates (MSWord document), which are provided for your project submission:

1. Project Proposal (not to exceed five typewritten pages)
2. Budget Worksheet
3. Project Team Members

Proposals must be received by Friday, June 17, 2005, midnight eastern. Please email them to:

epa.submission@scup.org.

How Project Proposals Will Be Reviewed

Project proposals will be reviewed by a team of SCUP members with knowledge and expertise in higher education sustainability, along with other experts who have collaborated with SCUP on previous programs and representatives from other groups promoting sustainability issues in higher education.

About the Society for College and University Planning

The Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) is a community which provides its members with the knowledge and resources to achieve institutional planning goals. SCUP is committed to furthering the opportunities for colleges and universities to learn about and employ sustainable practices on their campus—from the built environment, to operational best practices, and infusing sustainability throughout the curriculum. Toward that end, the association has produced a special issue on sustainability and sustainable practices in SCUP's journal, Planning for Higher Education; helped create a regular Campus Sustainability Day in October; produced a live telecast sustainability forum; produced three live webcasts focused on sustainability, and been recognized as an expert resource for campuses on smart growth and sustainable practices.

This year's Campus Sustainability Day is scheduled for Wednesday, October 26, 2005. SCUP will offer a webcast addressing the latest trends in sustainability initiatives in higher education. For more information on a variety of resources and the developing Campus Sustainability Day program, please visit: http://www.scup.org/csd/3/.

About the Smart & Sustainable Campuses Conference / November 3–4, 2005

This fall's exciting conference will assemble college and university leaders in areas of campus planning and development, finance and business, facilities management, and procurement, as well as the decision makers in the towns where the institutions reside. Participants will discuss a wide range of challenges associated with achieving smart and sustainable campuses with the aim of sharing innovations and solutions, as well as providing guidance to colleges and universities to find their own workable solutions.

Team leaders from selected projects will attend this conference, however it is open to everyone. Information will be available soon at http://www.epa.gov/sectors. There is also a call for proposals for educational sessions, which will be presented concurrently on the first day of the conference. That call for session proposals is open until July 15, 2005, available soon at http://www.epa.gov/sectors/.

Conference co-sponsors are: the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), SCUP, NACUBO, APPA, and the University of Maryland—College Park.

Questions?

Please call 734.998.6966, or email profdev@scup.org for questions regarding this program or your submission.

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