Read the full AY2017-18 Annual Report here.
AY2017-18 was Serve-Learn-Sustain’s third year in operation. During our first two years, we focused on engaging faculty and students across campus in \SLS courses and activities; developing a clear and widely accepted framework for sustainable communities education; developing new partnerships with a diverse set of stakeholders both on campus and off; and establishing and strengthening our administrative, programmatic, and staffing infrastructure. In Year 3, we focused on streamlining and honing these initiatives – and our efforts continued to pay off, as we offered over 140 affiliated courses, including courses in every college, as well as summer courses, GT1000, capstone projects, and study abroad, with total enrollment exceeding 6,000 students.
With our primary program – Affiliated Courses – now well established and running smoothly, we turned our attention to engaging deeply with faculty, students, and partners. We worked closely with affiliated faculty to more closely align their courses with our SLS framework, and developed programs for students to have in-depth and sustained learning experiences with SLS over the course of their GT careers.
All of SLS’ work has been influenced by our distinct approach to sustainable communities, which you can read about in our new “Welcome to SLS” presentation on the SLS website.
Even though we are still a new Center, it is becoming increasingly clear that we are having significant impact on campus and off. While it is too soon to report on the results of our classroom assessment efforts, students tell us regularly about these impacts: choosing to come to Tech because of SLS; switching majors and thinking in new ways about their career and life interests after taking SLS classes; presenting on SLS-related work at national conferences; receiving prestigious fellowships related to sustainability; and graduating and accepting jobs building on their SLS studies. Faculty similarly report that SLS is changing the way they teach (see Student and Faculty Quotes.) And, as we discuss at the end of this report, this past year was our most impactful year to date influencing the broader sustainability field through our leadership in Atlanta and nationally.
We are now excitedly jumping into year four! We look forward to new partnerships, discoveries and accomplishments in the year to come. Thanks to all of you who do the hard, and fun, work with us along the way!
With gratitude,
