Co-curricular
Highlight: Free Sustainable Energy Innovation Course online with Dr. Klotz!
Starting Fall 2012 one of our best co-curricular opportunities to learn about sustainability is being launched at a computer near you! Anyone, anywhere in the world can enroll in this course for an informative and interactive course that aims to find solutions to our complex, interrelated energy and climate challenges. Participants work in small groups on a project to design an approach for more sustainable energy. This highly-rated course has already led to multiple real-world projects that are reducing energy use and carbon footprints. Participation ranges from a certificate to class credit.
Did you hear about the artificial intelligence course that was offered for free online and engaged over 100,000 students from around the world in just one semester? Let's do the same thing with energy innovation for campus carbon neutrality. Email Dr. Leidy Klotz or go to this link to find out more and sign up.
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Activities outside of the formal classroom setting are often the most memorable part of students’ college experience. Action items in this section expand service and civic engagement activities related to sustainability. To make these co-curricular experiences even more meaningful, they are integrated into other aspects of campus life. For example, they may be part of introductory level courses within majors, other leadership and global citizenry workshops, or campus-wide service programs. This will help ensure that faculty and staff are actively involved in and can assess the experience, especially as it relates to the student learning objectives for sustainability. The entire campus community benefits from the learning and insight from such experiences.
Co-curricular learning about sustainability is being addressed through many facets. Some highlights include:
- Offer Creative Inquiry projects related to sustainability, where teams undertake intensive, discovery-oriented approaches to learning (Search Creative Inquiry projects).
- Offer service opportunities for undergraduate students. (Learn more about civic engagement opportunities).
- Establish a sustainability-focused Living-Learning Community, LIEF: Leading and Innovating for our Environment and Future. This community creates a unique experiential learning opportunity for community members to deepen their understanding of social, economic and environmental sustainability.
- Members learn to become agents of change and leaders for intergenerational equity and to drive sustainability efforts on the Clemson campus.
Support student organizations. Many of the most significant sustainability efforts at Clemson have been initiated by student organizations, including:
- Students for Environmental Action. Since 1990, Students for Environmental Action (SEA) has been working on environmental and sustainability issues. SEA challenges students to enrich their education with active, hands-on involvement in sustainability.
- Solid Green is about taking pride in Clemson’s campus, taking responsibility for keeping it clean and taking action to help sustain the environment for a better future. The goals of Solid Green are to raise awareness of littering on campus, recycling, energy and water conservation and other environmental issues; to promote clean-up activities and other events and to support student groups that promote environmental awareness.
The Dirt to Food’s mission is to advance a culture of health and sustainability by connecting community members and creating opportunities to experience fresh, locally grown food. Our goal is to create a vibrant local food system that provides the structure needed for members of our community to make healthier and more sustainable food choices.- Beyond Coal was founded in the spring of 2010 as a local chapter of the Sierra Student Coalition by Larissa Clarke, Rose Kinane, and Beth Avera. Beyond Coal worked with Clemson University to develop a plan to make a quick, safe transition away from using coal on campus. Clemson stopped using coal a year later, and as a result Beyond Coal was renamed to Beyond Carbon.
- Clemson Student Chapter of the Wildlife Society.
- Tigers for Tigers.
- USGBC Youth Student Chapter.
- Entomology Club.
- C.A.T. Citizen Action Team.
- Clemson Student Chapter of the Society of American Foresters.
- Organize and publicize sustainability events including:
- The annual National Teach-In on sustainability.
- Earth Day and Earth Week, which are held during the spring semester to celebrate Clemson’s sustainability efforts.
- Farm Aid, which is an annual benefit festival put on by SEA to support Clemson’s Student Organic Farm.