In 2014, Colby-Sawyer College received a $160,750. two-year grant from the Davis Educational Foundation. The grant was created by the late Stanton Walker Davis and his wife, Elisabeth, upon his retirement as chair of Shaw’s Supermarkets. The grant supports innovations by faculty and staff that improve educational outcomes while decreasing costs.
Chair of the Davis Educational Foundation Steering Committee, Lisa Tedeschi, chief of staff and director of Strategic Planning at Colby-Sawyer, says the grant supports “faculty and staff-initiated research projects focused on identifying new models and practices for higher education.”
The committee received 19 project proposals in September 2014 and selected three to continue to the next phase of research and feasibility testing to ensure they met the goals of the grant’s mission. “Throughout the process, the teams have updated college leadership on their work and research,” says Tedeschi. “They have also presented the proposals to the Board of Trustees, to an advisory group of alumni, and to faculty and staff.”
In August, the committee green-lighted two of the three projects for implementation: a student-focused college store and a community-based living laboratory in Franklin.
A College Store, For and By Colby-Sawyer
David H. Winton Endowed Teaching Chair and Professor of Social Sciences and Education Randy Hanson says the idea for a college store is born of a desire to do something that really matters to students and creates a cost savings for the college. He and Assistant Professor of Business Administration Beth Crockford considered a common student complaint: the cost of college textbooks. They brainstormed ways to alleviate cost and ease the purchasing process which, Professor Hanson says, “led us to think more broadly about the bookstore. Our basic conclusion was, ‘Well, the bookstore is a great resource the college isn’t utilizing.’”
When their proposal was accepted, Associate Professor of Business Administration Jody Murphy and Associate Dean of Students and Director of Citizenship Education Robin Davis of Andover joined the team.
Professor Hanson said the group was inspired by the courses The Science of Maple Sugaring and Brewing Science, which involve students in hands-on learning. As a result, they designed the course MDS 250 Designing a Campus Store, in which students plan the store’s look, layout, location, and inventory. Professor Hanson said the project took on an urgency when, after seeing the store proposal, senior staff decided to cancel the contract with the corporation that currently runs the campus bookstore. Colby-Sawyer takes over the store this January, and the students in MDS 250 will get the opportunity to implement a real store as opposed to a theoretical one.
“We’re trying to turn our bookstore into a classroom that generates revenue that can be used to help students and stay true to the values of the college,” says Professor Hanson.
Franklin Falls: Hands-on Learning in NH’s Smallest City
The nearby city of Franklin is in the midst of reinventing itself with the help of Colby-Sawyer College and the Davis Educational Foundation. By expanding a collaborative relationship with Franklin, students maximize their experiential learning as they make the city more sustainable.
In forming the Franklin Falls proposal, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies and Sustainability Coordinator Jen White ’90 of Andover said the team – composed of Director of Baird Health and Counseling Pam Spear, Associate Professor of Fine and Performing Arts Hilary Walrod, Associate Professor and Chair of Environmental Studies Laura Alexander ’98, and Professor Harvey Pine of Andover – wanted to create an experience where students could take the business strategies and water conservation methods learned in a classroom and turn them into action. As a result, students will have strong examples of work experience when they graduate and seek employment.
A challenge for the group is time conservation. Franklin is about 30 minutes from New London, making it impractical for students to drive to Franklin for one class. What if, Professor White and her colleagues asked, there were a degree program focused on the Franklin project? The idea of a community-based sustainability major took hold and grew around the idea that it would allow students to spend intensive terms and even entire semesters in Franklin.
If the three-year major is approved, it would be a unique major on the national stage, create revenue for the college, and allow students an extra year of possible earnings. The proposed major is going through the approval process, but Professor White says that in the meantime there is much to do with existing courses. “There are lots of opportunities to give students engaged learning experiences and the opportunity to develop real-life skills on the ground,” says Professor White.
Next Steps
Now in its second year, the Davis Educational Foundation Steering Committee is focused on further embedding a campus-wide culture of shared responsibility for problem-solving and systemic change. The committee will continue to implement the student-focused campus store and Franklin Falls sustainability initiative while also monitoring the research phase of a new project.
“Our second year of Davis Educational Foundation grant work is underway and is continuing the extraordinary lead of the first-year teams,” said Tedeschi. “We are excited and ready to see where it leads us.”