College Begins Year-Round Program;
Freezes Costs for Students Who Participate
Craftsbury Common, VT, January 18, 2010—Independent colleges and universities, already under financial strain due to diminished endowments, are now facing calls from politicians and pundits to cost less and graduate students faster, in three years instead of four.
Given the size and complexity of American higher education institutions that's a little like asking a thousand ship armada to take a sharp turn, then stand on tiptoes. A few colleges are experimenting with allowing a handful of students to take extra courses every semester, up to 19 or 20 instead of the more usual 15. Except for that modest innovation, not much has changed. Until now, when a tiny, environmentally-focused liberal arts college in north central Vermont announced it has developed a different approach.
Beginning in June 2010, Sterling College students will be able to attend college year-round and at a price that will remain frozen for as long as the student remains continuously enrolled.
In inaugurating the "continuous semester" system the Vermont college is breaking new ground in both the cost of higher education and the time it takes to complete an undergraduate degree at a residential college.
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Sterling Professor Anne Morse Receives Educational Award
Craftsbury Common, VT, November 6, 2009— Sterling Faculty Anne Morse was awarded Outstanding Experiential Teacher of the Year at The Association for Experiential Education’s (AEE), 37th Annual International AEE Conference in Montreal, Canada on October 29th, 2009.
Ms. Morse was chosen out of the 1500 members and recognized as, “an individual who demonstrates an active passion for experiential education principles and theories in teaching practice.”
Ms. Morse received the award as a teacher with a genuine interest in drawing out a student’s passion. The award cited Ms. Morse with a tremendous respect for the application of learning as she provides opportunities for students to discover their own meaning rather than her meaning or agenda. Ms. Morse’s interest in social justice was a winning factor along with her yearly special topics course driven by her passion and guided by student’s interest. Topics have included Gender in the US Society, Conflict Management, Justice Paradigms, and Mediation. Students do not sit in the classroom for these courses but get out in the community creating thought provoking posters, planning and leading workshops, and facilitating dialogue sessions.
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Writer and Naturalist Bernd Heinrich to Speak at Sterling
Craftsbury Common, VT, October 5, 2009 —Sterling College and the Galaxy Bookshop present an evening with Bernd Heinrich, professor emeritus of biology at the University of Vermont and a contributor to Scientific American, American Scientist, Audubon and Outside magazines. He is the author of numerous books, including Ravens in Winter, Mind of the Raven, and Winter World. Mr. Heinrich will be talking about and reading from his latest book, Summer World: A Season of Bounty on Tuesday, October 13th at 6:30pm in Sterling’s Simpson Hall.
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Sterling College to Build Green Dorms in 2010
The Cushman Design Group, Inc.
Craftsbury Common, VT, August 12, 2009 —When Sterling College recently set out to design its first new student residency in more than 40 years, where did they start? In the classroom, of course, with a special topics course entitled “Green Dorms” taught by Sterling faculty and a Stowe, VT architectural planner, and funded by a $65,000 grant.
That course ended this past May with the site work determined and three design schemes created by three teams of students.
“At first there was a tendency to be so “green” as to make the place unlivable,” said Sterling’s president Will Wootton. “But over time everyone learned to compromise that desire with a genuine level of green practicality. The notion from the start was build small, tight, and smart and that’s where the class got to in the end.”
Now, with a recent Vermont state grant of $350,000 and the remaining $55,000 Canaday Family Trust grant, in addition to other funds, including some matching money from a Department of Energy grant, a Sterling community building committee will begin working with the Cushman Design Group of Stowe to complete detailed plans and begin construction in March.
The 100-student college is determined that their completed residency will be environmentally on par with but considerably less expensive than other recent green building efforts at New England colleges and universities.
"I don’t doubt that’s the way it will turn out," Wootton said. “For generations, Sterling’s environmental standards have far outpaced the norm. Per person, we use half the water than most institutions use. We have no ice machine in the dining hall, no soda machine, no deep-fat fryer. There hasn’t been a food tray at Sterling in 30 years. We grow and raise about 25 percent of our own organic food.”
Environmental consciousness is ingrained at the tiny college in the center of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, Wootton said. “In academics and in community,” he said, “Sterling puts the “practice” back into “theory and practice. That’s why we started with a class, and I’ll bet somehow we end with one, too.”
For more information contact Kate Camara at
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