Notes from 2/8 meeting with students.
Several students arrived early and were eager to discuss campus recycling. Lee Ann provided background on campus recycling efforts and issues of recycling contamination, funding and that we are working towards getting a grant to assist with financial issues.
There were roundtable introductions and Mary reported that she had just come from the President's Advisory Group and they are very satisfied with our progress, they want to help us and hear from us. She encouraged the students to make good use of the political will we've now built on campus.
One of the students, who had helped with the table for the student fair, shared that many of the students he talked with are asking "What can I do?"
Mary explained that there's a lot that we can do, both collectively and individually, from the smaller, individual decisions such as driving less to the bigger, political and global scale activities. She assured the group that she has a long list of ideas for them to draw from but that also, this is their student group and that while the faculty and staff of Green Efforts are here to help them navigate the campus processes, we don't want to direct their activities.
Due to time constraints, the Green Efforts members encouraged the students to start by focusing on the basics of getting the club started on campus; specifically, they need to select leaders, determine by-laws, and choose a name. As Mary needed the group's name for the Innovation award due later that day, the group brainstormed names and will be the GCC Environmental Club.
Kim encouraged them to try to have an event sometime this semester. She shared the idea of co-sponsoring, along with STEM, the bio-diesel documentary. Mary also suggested that they consider asking Erik Magnuson of Environment Arizona to come back and speak.
The group had a number of questions about how to promote the club on campus. In response, Ariel explained that flyers need to be approved by Student Life and added that first-year students should see her for more information about GCC Unplugged (often referred to as [GoalQuest]) a social networking site available to first year students, it provides opportunities to promote the club and its events.
The next meeting for the Environmental Club, will be Friday, the 15th at 1 p.m. Kim will check on the availability of the Student Club room at the Student Union and will get the information out to the students who have signed up for the club.
Note: SU123B has since been confirmed as the location for Friday's meeting.
