Developing a Pre-Orientation Program on Sustainability at Smith College Katya Erlij EVS 300 Smith College 5/10/07It can be a challenge to get students involved on campus when they know so little about their college’s actions. Therefore, the creation of a pre-orientation program that would take place over a four-day period would allow for the environmental movement on campus to be introduced to new students from the start, hopefully instigating a spark for social action. In 2005, an EVS 300 student named Emilee Mooney did a project titled, “Getting on the Same Page”. She interviewed numerous students, faculty and staff of Smith. The faculty and staff had all had some participation in the environmental movement on the Smith campus. She surveyed 150 random students about specific environmental issues on and off campus. She found that the top three, on-campus issues that students were concerned with is food waste/disposal, paper waste and water waste. However, when asked what they believed Smith’s environmental concerns were and what they thought they should be, the majority of students didn’t know what they were neither did they have any idea of what they should be. This basic acknowledgement of not knowing what the environmental priorities are of Smith, is an extremely important issue that needs to be addressed. A pre-orientation program would not only raise awareness among present Smith College students, but would target incoming students about the importance of environmental awareness at Smith. The following report will develop and explore the necessity and importance of developing a pre-orientation program on sustainability at Smith. A pre-orientation program developed specifically for incoming students. For recent high school graduates, entering a completely new environment can be quite challenging. From making new friends to adjusting to a new home, it can be overwhelming. The goal of a pre-orientation program is to make the transition smoother.Therefore at Smith college there are pre-orientation programs, which allow incoming students to get an introduction to Smith on a specific level and meet other new students. Already existing pre-orientation programs include Bridge and First Link. Bridge draws students interested in leadership training and First Link introduces students to the community service program at Smith. There is even a pre-orientation program that takes you backpacking for 3 days to get to know the local environment and other new students interested in spending time outdoors. However, there is no program that concentrates on the environmental aspects of the Smith community and college. Therefore, I propose to develop a program so that all incoming students who are interested in the environment and sustainability learn about Smith’s initiatives. This early involvement will increase the student body push to take a part in the movement for more sustainable measures. It is most important to introduce this program from the very beginning of the new student’s Smith career so that those interested get inspired and active from the start. Once the new students are educated on Smith’s current environmental actions, they can develop them and do even more. This will allow students to get even more involved in their new community and introduce them to other new students who are interested in the same field of study. The principle goals in developing and executing this pre-orientation program are to promote education, traceability, transparency and social action. Education is a major principle of the environmental movement. Without environmental education we will never be able to “recognize that formal education needs to be seen as an integral and contributing part of a broader movement of social learning towards sustainability, including media, family, community and workplace learning” (Sterling, 86). Education,being a basic necessity in the lives of all, needs to integrate the environment into its curriculum. Without environmental education, we face the chance of losing any relationship we have with the environment. Without education, no one will care to save the trees outside, when they are in the way of development. We learn almost everything from schooling and its surroundings. Without including the environment in primary education, we will lose the natural environment, which we pretty much already take for granted. Traceability is a concept that is not apparent to many but following is pertinent in understanding one’s impact on one’s surroundings. Traceability is following a product’s origin to its end. It is important to not only understand, but also take a part in learning about traceability gives one a clear view of the cycle of production. How long does it take for a plastic bowl to be made? How long does it take to decompose? How long is it re-used before thrown away? Questions like these are all important to understand so that the basic cycle of environmental effects can be traced as well. Traceability is a prominent component to environmental understanding and therefore it is a necessary goal for the pre-orientation program. Transparency is something very important to understanding traceability and the way the college environment works. At Smith there is a hierarchy already established hierarchy, for the administration has power over the student body and faculty. However the student body maintains power due to their monetary contribution and the fact that they are choosing to attend Smith College. The administration does have a lot of power in making rules and regulations that principally concern Smith students. Transparency attempts to break down this barrier. Transparency does not break down the hierarchy, forit is important to have all the players involved so that both students and administrators learn to understand each other’s needs and wants. It is hard to address at Smith College because many times it is difficult for the students to understand why the administration does a certain thing. Therefore it is important that in the pre-orientation program the goal of transparency is addressed and discussed among the students and administrators to be able to work on goals together in a positive form. Specifically, the environmental movement needs to be discussed among the many players so that it is clear what is a priority and what action can be achieved. The final goal, social action