Accessible descriptions for CALL Spotlights Gallery
Reimagining the honors college service-learning course as a community-engaged sustainability living laboratory infographic. Virginia Tech Climate Action Commitment Goals: Goal 10. Tags: Learning, VTCAC, FacultyStudentPartners. Project Summary and Rationale: This grant will rejuvenate the UH 3204: Honors Service Learning course post-COVID-19 and transform it into a lasting academic-community partnership. Core partnership includes Dr. Budowle, the VT Office of Sustainability, and the Office of Energy Management. Focus on Goal 10 of the VTCAC, aiming to integrate climate action into the university's educational mission through the CALL project. The course utilizes diverse pedagogical approaches for rigorous learning and community engagement: Project-based learning tackling real-world challenges. Community-engaged learning focusing on specific needs. Emphasis on sustainability education featuring long-term thinking, stakeholder collaboration, systems-thinking, and change agent skills. Includes practical activities like field trips, team projects, and student-led discussions to enhance learning and application. Project Outcomes: Dr. Budowle led key listening sessions in 2023 and 2024 to shape projects and set partnership goals. Developed and refined project descriptions for student teams in Fall 2023 and Spring 2024. Created a robust framework to support CALL's teaching, research, and service initiatives. Key projects included benchmarking, a communications plan, and aligning university priorities. Utilized session feedback and student reflections to guide improvements in service learning. Strengthened collaboration with the Office of Sustainability for ongoing educational partnerships. Figure 1: Stephen leading HSL tour at VT operational plant Figure 2: Students and staff stand among tulips at Homefield Farm during a service learning field trip. Figure 3: Honors Service Learning students and Rachael Budowle (at left) pose for a photo at Homefield Farm. CAC Goal 10: "Integrate the Climate Action Commitment into Virginia Tech's educational mission through the Climate Action Living Laboratory beginning in 2021."
Sustainability volunteer management system infographic. Virginia Tech Climate Action Commitment Goals: Goal 6, 7, 10, 12. Tags: Sustainability, Volunteer, Service-learning. Project Summary and Rationale: The VT Office of Sustainability frequently hosts events but struggles with volunteer recruitment and retention. This challenge has resulted in a low 1.09/5.00 AASHE STARS rating for Virginia Tech. This rating highlights the need for improvements to meet their CAC Goal 10. A volunteer management system was created to increase engagement and enhance the sustainability ratings of campus engagement. The team identified the types of events hosted by the Office of Sustainability throughout the year. They established a set of criteria necessary for creating a successful volunteer management system. The team contacted various volunteer organizations to learn about their volunteer management systems. They researched volunteer management platforms, identifying six relevant systems. These systems were evaluated based on criteria from mentors and compared against each other. Project Outcomes: Galaxy Digital meets all mentor-set criteria and is recommended for further use. We recommend Galaxy Digital for further implementation. A mock-up version of Galaxy Digital was created to showcase its capabilities. Our mock-ups and advertisement language provide templates for future implementation. Successful use of this platform could improve volunteer recruitment and retention for the Office of Sustainability. The approach could also be applied to other campus organizations. Enhanced volunteer recruitment could help Virginia Tech achieve its CAC goals. This could lead to a higher AASHE STARS Rating. Table 1: Summary of communication with other entities. Figure 1: Event description page, where volunteers can navigate to the event they wish to participate in and sign-up. Figure 2: The efficient organization of each Office of Sustainability event. CAC Goal 12: "Diminish barriers to sustainable behaviors through institutional change, education, and social marketing.”
Food/dining emissions protocol infographic. Virginia Tech Climate Action Commitment Goals: Goal 1, Goal 12 Tags: Greenhouse Gas Emissions, University Dining, Sustainability. Project Summary and Rationale: To achieve the CAC goal of achieving a carbon-neutral campus by 2030, Virginia Tech releases annual greenhouse gas emissions reports. However, the 2019 report states that "all recommended scope elements are included in this assessment except for dining/food emissions". The purpose of this project is to pilot a process for determining emissions from VT food and dining outlets. The 2 datasets used in the project include poultry use within all on-campus dining and one week at West End dining center. Complications with original VT data included unclear and ambiguous case notions and failure to input items in pounds, per SIMAP requirements. The project group decided to pivot and use data from Homefield Farm that was entirely in pounds so that we could calculate emissions properly Finally, students reached out to other institutions to identify ways in which they have dealt with issues of varying food units: Project Outcomes: The project process helped us identify strategies for Virginia Tech to improve by efficiently and accurately calculating emissions moving forward: VT Dining services should include pounds per item on all of their food purchasing spreadsheets to make calculating Scope 3 emissions achievable. Dining centers could alternatively collect weight data for food items during one week of the academic year to provide an estimate for data analysis. Incorporating UPCs into the VT datasets would make it easier to look up items on the FDA's website and ensure that the weight data is accurate VT should attend meetings like those hosted by the University of North Carolina to learn about how to better streamline emissions calculations. West End Dining Data Virginia Tech Poultry Data. Figure 1: Percentage of West End data in pounds Figure 2: Percentage of poultry data in pounds. CAC Goal 12: "Diminish barriers to sustainable behaviors through institutional change, education, and social marketing."
Sustainability projects through rhizome LLC and AAD 1214: Acting Locally. VT Climate Action Commitment Goals 1, 7, 8, 10, 12, and 13. A picture of Heritage Park natural play space and a 3d model prop designed in project 1. The Rhizome LLC logo. Project Summary and rationale: The Rhizome LLC and AAD 1214 class both focus on various sustainability projects that were chosen by Dr. Hamming after collaborating with various faculty and staff to address areas of need. Project 1: a group of students worked with campus arborist Jamie King to design and propose a prop to support an outward growing limb on the Alwood oak tree. Project 2: A proposal of a multi-phase replacement of annual planting with perennial pollinator-friendly species in the visitor center. Project 3: a sustainable fashion show that highlights upcycled, recycled, and thrifted materials and utilizes an informational video to inform the audience on the detrimental environmental impact of fast fashion. Project 4: Activities involving Heritage Park Youth Engagement for Toddlers including guided questions, observation prompts, and games. Project 5: student worked with sustainability coordinator Emily Williams to propose a polit for composting in the CID form. Project 6: A design for a community garden in Blacksburg in partnership with Live Work Eat Grow. Project outcomes: Project 1: The prop prevents the tree limb from steering off. Project 2: The proposal helps make the Bee Campus Commitment central to VT’s sustainability efforts. Project 3: The fashion show and video aim to highlight the immense waste and harmful emissions produced through fast consumerism. Project 4: The activities aimed to educate children on the environment around them and foster an interest and appreciation for the environment at such a critical age. Project 5: The plan for the compost bins involves hiring “compost managers” who empty the bins once full, ultimately reducing waste and benefiting the environment. Project 6: The Garden would encourage good stewardship of the natural space selected in town.
Student food security equity outreach and listening sessions infographic. Virginia Tech Climate Action Commitment Goals: Goal 10 and Goal 12 Tags: Listening Session, Food Security, Equity. Project Summary and Rationale: Over a third of Virginia Tech students face food insecurity, defined as limited or uncertain access to nutritionally adequate and safe foods. Among many demographics, Black, Hispanic, and First-Generation students disproportionately experience food insecurity. The Market of Virginia Tech offers free and culturally appropriate groceries and other food access initiatives without proof of need. However, many students within these demographic categories do not use them. The goal was to identify barriers preventing affected students from accessing The Market and promote food equity through demographic analysis and listening sessions. This approach replicated a study conducted at University of Wyoming and began with a pilot listening session involving The Market student employees and UH3204: Honors Service Learning peers to refine format and questions. Project Outcomes: Hosted pilot listening session to test and improve our current process for future use with target demographics. Created a presentation and flyer for to provide students information on the Market during the session and write down responses to discussion questions. Nine students from UH3204 and The Market attended the listening session. Lack of awareness cited as key reason many students are not utilizing the Market. Conducted research to identify organizations that serve demographics underutilizing the market. Compiled contact information in a spreadsheet for future outreach efforts. Created an email template for our mentor, Isabelle Largen, to send to potential partner organizations that work with demographics underutilizing the market. Figure 1: Front Page of Flyer, Figure 2: Back Page of Flyer, Figure 3: The Market of Virginia Tech. CAC Goal 10: Integrate the Climate Action Commitment into Virginia Tech's educational mission through the Climate Action Living Laboratory beginning in 2021.
Food Access Outreach Videos infographic. Virginia Tech Climate Action Commitment Goals 10 and 12. Tags: Sustainability, Equity, Food Access, Food Security, Food Justice. Project Summary And Rationale: Led by Isabelle Largen, assistant director of Food Access Initiatives at VT. Inspired by a 2019 study revealing significant food insecurity among VT students, especially minority and low-income groups. VT launched The Market in 2020 to provide groceries, sustained by donations, but programs remain underutilized due to insufficient outreach and stigma. Food insecurity affects 41% of students at four-year institutions, impacting academics and stress levels. Created professional videos to raise awareness of VT’s food access programs, including The Enrolled Market and Open Market Hours. Goals: Increase student resource use, reduce stigma, and encourage donor support. Process: Researched best practices, storyboarded, scripted, filmed, and edited videos. Ensured alignment with The Market’s values of dignity and respect. Project outcomes: Created three videos highlighting food access initiatives by the Market of Virginia Tech. Addressed outreach issues for student experiencing food insecurity. Encouraged potential donors to support these initiatives. Videos are designed to be informative and inviting. Aims to normalize resource use and foster donor engagement. Supports students’ academic and personal success by reducing food insecurity. Alights with VT’s CAC goal to reduce barriers to sustainable behaviors through institutional change, education. Promotes economic accessibility and social equity in college. CAC goal 12: “Diminish barriers to sustainable behaviors through institutional change, education, and social marketing.” Table 1 is a summary of three videos – the overview video, enrolled market video, and open market video - and their primary goals. These goals informed the approach to storyboarding, scripting, and filming of the final videos. There is a picture of students filming the market video and one of fresh produce inside the Market of Virginia Tech.