Field Guide for Admitted Students

Sterling College » Field Guide for Admitted Students

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Submit your Spring and Fall 2022 Application Today! | Read More

1. Confirm Your Enrollment

Reserve your space and send your deposit
2. Complete the Required Forms

Fill out all the required forms
3. How to Get Here, What to Bring & When to Arrive

How to get here, what to bring & when to arrive
4. A Sense of Place: Expedition 1

For students entering in the Fall semester
6. Meet Your Field Guides

Get connected to the people and resources here to help you
7. Policies & Guidelines

Come prepared to thrive!
8. Make the Most of Your Time Here!

Make the most of your time in Vermont

Portal Quicklinks

Begin your journey!

Choose Sterling!

“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” – Audre Lorde

Congratulations. We see the honor and courage in you, and we know that you have what it takes to do the critical work necessary to rebuild humanity’s relationship with the natural world. We believe in your abilities, trust in your creativity and can’t wait to co-create a sustainable future with you on our team.

This Field Guide is the portal we use to guide Admitted Students through the enrollment process. Navigating through this guide will ensure that you provide all the info you need to Sterling so that we can reserve your space and look forward to your arrival!

We’re here for you and so looking forward to your presence in our community and your contributions to our mission of ecological thinking and action.

Are you ready to roll up your sleeves and dig in?

Let's get started!

You are here.

Home Field Guide

Step 1: Confirm You're Coming

Step 2: Required Forms

Step 3: Packing List & Arrival Day

Step 4: A Sense of Place: Expedition 1

Step 5: Helpful Resources

Step 6: Policies & Guidelines

Step 7: Nourish Yourself

Finish Line:You're Ready!

If you follow the path through this Field Guide, we trust that you will get the information, contacts and details that you need to feel ready to arrive here. That said, we’re here – every day – and happy to guide you on this journey! Please feel free to reach out to us for any support you might need as you navigate this process!

Moxie Mehegan

Dean of Admission & Financial Aid
Jimmy Clark

Admission Counselor
Barb Stuart

Director of Financial Aid
Amalia Harris

Director of Admission Services

Congratulations to our December graduates. If their contributions to the Sterling community are any indication of what’s to come, the world will absolutely be better because of them. We are proud of this impressive group. Please join us in congratulating them!

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We don't know about you but we have been feeling especially bombarded this year between Black Friday and Cyber Monday -- both of which exacerbate the consumerism problem we have. Thus, we arrived to today feeling reluctant to participate in this year's #GivingTuesday -- just one more ask.

Then we looked at the Sterling calendar and what the College is holding space for.

Here we were reminded that Senior Symposia is this week where eight seniors will present on topics ranging from Aquatic Hyphomycetes of the Black River Watershed to Aesthetic and Practical Design of a Medicine Chest. This was a needed reflection of the good work our students are doing daily.

Tonight, three outdoor enthusiasts will sit on a youth panel about increasing inclusiveness and accessibility in the outdoors. Please join us at 6:30 on Zoom -- you can message us for the link.

All of this to say, this week is pretty emblematic of the good work the Sterling community embraces everyday and something worth putting our energy behind. Please join us in celebrating an education that empowers the next generation of thought leaders, system changers, and activists.

https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/sterlingcollege

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Sterling students and our Assistant Dean of Community, Kitty Ufford-Chase, marched in support of Migrant Justice's Milk with Dignity campaign to pressure Hannaford to sign the Milk with Dignity agreement. Signing means they would only sell milk that comes from farms that respect farmer worker rights and support decent living and working conditions. The march was held in Portland, Maine, where the Hannaford CEO resides.

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The 2021 Sustainable Campus Index by AASHE highlighted Sterling’s EcoGather education platform as an innovative and high-impact program. According to the report, EcoGather was selected for recognition based on “the level of innovation and overall impact in advancing sustainability, potential for replicability, and the added impacts this would present.”

The Sustainable Campus Index recognizes top-performing sustainable colleges and universities overall and in 17 impact areas, as measured by the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS). Sterling has achieved and maintained a STARS Gold Rating since 2015.

Sterling’s EcoGather platform is a collaborative learning network dedicated to the vitality of ecosystems, communities, and economies that prepares learners at all stages of life to undertake or deepen active changemaking and caretaking work. “EcoGather is currently working with five partners across the world to support agro-ecological transition and equitable, resilient food systems,” according to Nicole Civita, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at Sterling, “as well as offering online coursework to the public which is designed to build communities for learning and transformation as we address the climate crisis.”

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We're #4 overall by the 2021 Sustainable Campus Index from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). Sterling is the only higher education institution in Vermont to rank in the top 10. The Sustainable Campus Index recognizes top-performing sustainable colleges and universities overall and in 17 impact areas, as measured by the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS). Sterling has achieved and maintained a STARS Gold Rating since 2015.

“Congratulations to Sterling for their incredible sustainability accomplishments,” said AASHE’s Executive Director Meghan Fay Zahniser. “Upon reading the innovative and high-impact initiatives within this report, I’m encouraged that the global sustainability transformations that we desperately need is, in fact, happening.”

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Sterling College has been recognized among more than 550 colleges and universities in the 2021 Sustainable Campus Index from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) tying for second for sustainability curriculum. The Sustainable Campus Index recognizes top-performing sustainable colleges and universities overall and in 17 impact areas, as measured by the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS). Sterling has achieved and maintained a STARS Gold Rating since 2015.

This #2 spot reflects Sterling's percentage of courses, programs, and learning outcomes offered to students with a sustainability focus; living laboratory initiatives; immersive experiences; sustainability literacy; and faculty development.

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Sterling College has been recognized among more than 550 colleges and universities as the #1 college for food and dining in the 2021 Sustainable Campus Index from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). The Sustainable Campus Index recognizes top-performing sustainable colleges and universities overall and in 17 impact areas, as measured by the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS). Sterling has achieved and maintained a STARS Gold Rating since 2015.

Credits are given based on a variety of data such as percentage of food and beverage products served that are sustainably or ethically produced, support of local and regional producers, and food and dining initiatives that support sustainable food systems and minimize food waste.

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Gabe Francisco came to the Wendell Berry Farming Program with a lot of baggage: clothes, books, computer stuff, a hand-made, hardwood oxen yolk, and a pair of Swiss Brown oxen named North and Star. He also had, under his belt, a childhood spent on a sixth-generation family farm in a southwestern Michigan town with the Andy-of-Mayberry name of Paw Paw, an award-winning record showing sheep at 4-H competitions, and professional experience as Shakespearean actor and a circus performer. In other words, not your average college junior.

This video was made possible by a generous donation from David Behrend ’60.

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Paul Borntraeger, Wendell Berry Farming Program student, talks about Wendell Berry being an inspiration for his passion of land stewardship. #wendellberryfarmingprogram

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How do we protect our waterways from grazing cattle? A question Wendell Berry Farming Program students of Sterling are working diligently at answering.

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Gabriel Francisco '21 transferred from a larger college setting because he felt like a number in the system. The Wendell Berry Farming Program not only provided Gabe with an education, it fostered a sense of community. We are launching Gabe's full story on Monday but wanted to give you a sneak peek. #wendellberryfarmingprogram

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