Middlebury College
EN-2: Student Orientation

In the fall of 2013, the orientation and MiddView planning committee and Office of Sustainability Integration collaborated to integrate sustainability practices into orientation activities. For the second year, the student welcome packets included a memory stick with important documents in lieu of papers. This envelope, designed by OSI, featured an environmental theme and invited students to join campus-wide sustainability efforts.

All freshmen were required to participate in a MiddView trip which were designed to to serve as a time for personal inquiry, exploration, and connection with the local community. The three themes included Community Engagement, Vermont Exploration, and Wilderness Exploration. Examples of trips focusing on sustainable practices included Food Systems in Vermont, The History and Ecology of Lake Champlain, Vermont Farm Tours, Sustainable Architecture, and Alternative Energy.

In addition, dining services contributed to the cause by featuring local food and having recycling and composting stations present at events. OSI held its annual Sustainability Fair on the sidewalk outside the Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest. A student-run Sustainability Workshop educated students, particularly international students, about environmental efforts at Middlebury such as recycling.

The Office of Sustainability Integration welcomed the Class of 2016 with a Carbon Neutrality orientation barbeque attended by all freshmen and the college President. The Director of Sustainability, the Campus Sustainability Coordinators, and two alumni involved in the Carbon Neutrality effort at Middlebury spoke and performed a skit about the history and future of Middlebury’s climate commitment.

The Class of 2016 received orientation information in an envelope designed by the Office of Sustainability Integration, which highlighted the Carbon Neutrality message and 'Five Ways to Go Neutral'. In an effort to creatively engage the incoming Class of 2016, the Office of Sustainability Integration worked with a summer intern to develop a graphic novel about the college’s sustainable journey. Every orientation envelope included the comic entitled, ‘Super Sustainability: The Road to Neutral’.

New student orientation includes a ‘Sustainable Scavenger Hunt’ and an optional tour of key locations in Middlebury's sustainability infrastructure. These locations include the Biomass Gasification Facility, the Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest, the Materials Recovery Facility, and the Middlebury College Organic Garden.

A Middlebury Magazine video highlights the Class of 2016's Carbon Neutrality orientation event: http://sites.middlebury.edu/middmag/2012/09/17/welcoming-the-carbon-neutral-class/.