Moraine Valley is proud to have a Center for Sustainability, which was made possible in part by the Illinois Green Economy Network (IGEN). IGEN is an initiative that unites the state's 48 community colleges in a joint effort to stimulate the green economy through a strategic provision of green workforce training, market transformation and community outreach.
The college's commitment to sustainability is a multifaceted effort:
Green Campus - Guides the college's operational and structural procedures and policies between the environment, our people and future prosperity.
Green Careers - Supports green jobs training, awareness of green businesses in the local area, and building the capacity for the community to create a local green economy.
Green Curriculum - Supports infusing sustainability across curriculum creating a larger population of the workforce that understands sustainability and how it relates to their work and lives.
Green Communities - Serves as a resource to Moraine Valley students, staff, faculty, business members and residents.
A Leader in Sustainability
Sustainability efforts at Moraine Valley began in the mid-1970s when the college, understanding the importance of natural resource preservation, set aside 40 acres of its campus to be preserved as a nature study area to use as a living learning lab. Throughout the years, faculty encouraged environmental awareness through recycling and Earth Day celebrations.
Our sustainability timeline shows historical activities and proactive leadership. This led to a formal adoption of a Board of Trustees Statement of Sustainability Commitment, the foundation of a Center for Sustainability, opening in 2010 of our Southwest Education Center in Tinley Park, our first U.S. Green Building Council LEED Certified building, obtaining a Gold Level status to the Illinois Campus Sustainability Compact, and the Presidential commitment to campus carbon neutrality by signing Second Nature's Climate Commitment.
Sustainability Efforts
- Installation of Bring Your Own Bottle Hydration Stations
- Establishment of the campus garden from which a harvest was donated to a local food pantry.
- Recipient of the LEED platinum designation for its Southwest Education Center in Tinley Park
- Establishment of a sustainability task force with the signing of the Illinois Campus Sustainability Compact
- Achieved Gold, the highest level, in the Illinois Campus Sustainability Compact
- Gained Tree Campus USA status in 2010, and maintained the credential
- Creation of awareness for the International Day of Climate Action
- President Jenkins pledged to make the campus carbon neutral by 2042, by signing Second Nature Action Plan.
MVLA: Sustainability Scholars Program
Moraine Valley Community College offers award winning faculty professional development program to infuse sustainability-related content throughout and across disciplines. The college’s Center for Sustainability provides support by coordinating initiatives/activities, establishing a resource library, making connections to student organizations, bringing sustainability education to the greater community, and seeking/managing external funding to support the faculty committing to the program.
