Environmental Studies Program receives $500,000 grant

The HSBC in the Community (USA) Inc. Corporation awarded the Environmental Studies Program (ESP) at Ithaca College a three-year $500,000 grant at the beginning of the 2008 school year. Ithaca College was chosen to receive the grant because the Environmental Studies Program has a national reputation for results in the areas of the environment and sustainability,

The grant is going to be put towards scholarships for incoming students, expansion of local, regional and national outreach efforts, a scholar-in-residence program to bring in influential speakers, an outreach program towards local K-12 schools involving the Ithaca College natural lands, an internship and research fund, as well as the development of a new sustainability major and minor. 

In order to make the decision of what the money is being put towards, there is a Steering Committee of seven people that choose.  Though there is no main priority, the grant is on a budget to be equally distributed to accomplish all of the aforementioned goals.

Susan Allen-Gil, the Environmental Studies Department Head, said that the grant “is going to elevate our academic profile nationally by attracting role model students and giving them access to a variety of excellent experiences regardless of their income.”

That being said, this grant will hopefully be able to solve the problems within the Environmental Studies Program.  Susan Allen-Gil states that, “without faculty positions dedicated to the Program, we are very limited in the contact time we can have with students, the electives we can offer, and the breadth of material we can cover, and the effort we can put into any activity.”

Allen-Gil provided information about the outreach programs that are going into effect.  The outreach efforts include expanding the Finger Lakes Project Workshop to accommodate more participants and prolong the workshop from a half-day to two days.  The ESP is in the process of setting up the outreach programs by setting dates and choosing guest speakers, in addition to recruiting international attendees.  Allen-Gil noted that the Sustainability Certificate Program is also in development.

Look out for more updates on how the grant is being put to use and the improvements that have been made within the Program as well as with the outreach efforts.

Caitlin Noerenberg