Students Prompt CCC Board to go Green

                Prompted by a student-led initiative, the Carteret Community College Board of Trustees Tuesday (Jan. 8) voted to sign a commitment to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases produced by the college and its activities by developing a comprehensive plan that looks at things that can be done to reduce those emissions and create a sustainable environmentally friendly operation.
The vote comes at the request of the college’s student government association and science club, who made a presentation to the board during its January board meeting.
The commitment is part of a comprehensive plan being promoted by the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, a group organized to exercise leadership in communities nationwide by modeling ways to minimize global warming emissions, and by providing the knowledge and the educated graduates to achieve climate neutrality. 
The initiative will look at ways the college can increase its recycling effort, promote car-pooling and ride sharing strategies, and other ways the college might reduce its emission of greenhouse gases.
“We are already doing some of things recommended,” said Bill Henderson, board member. “We’re meeting what this recommends as a guideline.”
The college has a record of being environmentally friendly. Two of the college’s newest classroom and laboratory facilities were designed to be energy efficient earning them recognition by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a national building council for innovative standards and measures for environmentally sustainable construction.
Over the past couple of years, the college also completed a shoreline sustainability project using grants from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund and other agencies. The project not only uses the natural energy of Bogue Sound, and natural materials like oyster shells for a living sill, but it also creates a natural vegetative buffer and reduces the amount of stormwater entering directly into the sound.
“We salute the students who have taken the initiative to bring this to the board’s attention,” said Vernon Hill, chairman of the Board of Trustees.   “Our efforts to increase the sustainability of Carteret Community College will be pursued with the best interests of our citizens in mind. Education is a central part of this initiative, and we will continue to look for ways we can save money and energy, and reduce emissions in the process.”
A recent survey of CCC employees revealed that nearly 70 percent believe that it is important that the college work to reduce the amount of pollution emitted by its energy use. 
                Tara Hansen, president of the college’s Student Government Association and an ex-officio member of the Board of Trustees said that the SGA has declared January as Global Warming Awareness Month. The student group has organized a number of activities including a Polar Plunge for 11 a.m., Friday, Jan. 18, in front of the Center for Marine Sciences and Technology building on Bogue Sound, and a college-wide event “Focus the Nation,” which will include five to 10 minutes of discussion in every class to talk about possible sustainability solutions in America.
“There’s a lot of discussion recently about how Carteret County can use wind and solar power to augment current energy consumption,” said Dusty Slaughter, president of the college’s Science Club. “It’s only fitting that our community college work to increase the amount of education in this area so that we might make sound decisions on the future direction of our efforts.”
In other action, the CCC Board of Trustees voted to hire MBAJ Architecture to update the college’s long-range facilities plan, which will look at the infrastructure requirements for the college over the next five to 10 years.
The Board’s Curriculum Committee also made a motion to approve two certificate programs in Marine Service and Composite Boat Manufacturing. The certificates will enable students to show prospective employers they have completed a specified list of courses in the Boat Manufacturing and Service curriculum. In particular, students will be able to earn a certificate in marine plumbing, electrical and diesel installation as part of the program.