[Scpg] Santa Fe Community College GEARS UP TO GO GREEN

Tue May 11 10:39:40 PDT 2010

http://www.sustainablesantafeguide.com/

Santa Fe Community College GEARS UP TO GO GREEN

In the fall of 2007, the Santa Fe community overwhelmingly passed a 
bond providing funding for a new Health Science Building and the STC, 
a 38,000-square foot facility at the Santa Fe Community College that 
would serve as Santa Fe's focal point for all environmental trades 
and advanced technologies programs and activities. With classes 
opening in the fall of 2010, the Sustainable Technologies Center will 
realize SFCC President Dr. Sheila Ortega's long-term dream: to 
provide students with hands-on education in high growth, high-tech 
programs for 21st century careers.
SFCCpresident.tif

Above: SFCC President Sheila Ortego at Sustainable Technologies 
Center groundbreaking ceremony.

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

Curriculum development in sustainability has been underway for years 
as part of the College's institution-wide initiative to secure SFCC's 
place as a leader in the greening of post-secondary education in New 
Mexico. The College now has an approved two-year, 60 credit-hour 
Associate of Applied Science in Environmental Technologies degree 
with solar and water concentrations. A stand-alone one-year solar 
certificate is attracting students from around the state. Two other 
certificates now available are Green Building Systems, intended 
primarily for professionals already working in construction-related 
industries and Green Building Construction Skills, incorporating 
technology and sustainability in applied vocational skills for 
students new to the field.

At the end of spring term 2009, a new Biofuels certificate was 
approved and the first classes were held this past fall. This 
science-strong certificate provides students with the skills required 
to work in the industry or create their own biofuels business, 
emphasizing non-food sources such as algae and native plants. The 
development of this program is being funded through the Workforce 
Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED), a Department of 
Labor program. The Biofuel Certificate is intended to become a part 
of a larger Alternative Fuels degree in the future.

Thanks also to funding from WIRED, scholarships are available for 
students to complete one of the green certificates or degrees; they 
also supported a summer program, Training Today's Youth for 
Tomorrow's Jobs, providing at-risk students with 9-credit hours 
toward the 23-hour Green Building Construction Skills certificate 
this past summer while building a Habitat for Humanity home.

STC classes are not only technical in nature. Core to the programs 
are courses focusing on whole systems thinking, environmental ethics, 
law, economics and renewable energies. The Institute for 
Sustainability is overseeing integration of the concept into programs 
curriculum-wide. Another goal for these new green programs is to 
engage students into Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics 
(STEM)-related fields. These new certificates can count for credit in 
other, more transferable programs, such as general engineering.

The new Sustainable Technologies Center will provide much-needed 
space for new programs. Five high-ceilinged 'shop' classrooms will 
house plumbing and integrated construction technologies, a 
photovoltaic/concentrated solar power/solar thermal and small wind 
lab, welding, biofuels and a Green Grid lab. The entire building, 
designed by Lloyd and Associates, will be a learning environment, 
featuring a demonstration park where business and industry can 'plug 
and play' alternative energy sources into the smart grid control 
center. Rooftops will be accessible for students to install, monitor 
and maintain solar and small wind systems. A 3-D 'cave' will enable 
high definition simulation and modeling. Credit and non-credit 
courses will be available to the public at large on topics of 
community interest.

Opportunities abound, as well as challenges. The STC will require 
equipment and resources for which there is currently limited funding. 
Director of the Sustainable Technologies Center Randy Grissom is a 
board member of the New Mexico Green Collaborative, a statewide 
working group that has requested stimulus funding for shovel-ready 
green jobs. "New Mexico is poised to be a leader in renewable 
energies," he believes. "With the STC, Santa Fe can lead state 
efforts in education and training for a green workforce." All of the 
STC programs are currently offered through the School of Business and 
Applied Technologies. SFCC was an original signatory of the American 
College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, and faculty and 
staff are working hard to meet the Climate Commitment requirements 
for the institution.

President Ortega sums up the current efforts, saying, "I am 
enthusiastic about the impact we can have now, and in the future, not 
just to reduce SFCC's carbon footprint but to ready a new workforce 
to meet the monumental challenges we face, as an institution, as a 
nation, as a civilization."

----------
Al Reid is a native Santa Fean and dean at SFCC who's worked at the 
college for 19 years. For more information about the Sustainable 
Technologies Center, call Director Randy Grissom at 428-1641 or email 
randy.grissom at sfccnm.edu

Santa Barbara Permaculture Network
    an educational non-profit since 2000
(805) 962-2571
P.O. Box 92156, Santa Barbara, CA 93190
margie at sbpermaculture.org
www.sbpermaculture.org

"We are like trees, we must create new leaves, in new directions, in 
order to grow." - Anonymous

First Annual Southern California Permaculture Convergence August 2008
http://socalifornia.permacultureconvergence.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.permaculture-guilds.org/pipermail/southern-california-permaculture/attachments/20100511/e2ffcb91/attachment.html>