The new year will bring new opportunities when recruiting begins for more than 100 undergraduate students a year to participate in a program devoted to sustainable living and education.

The Sustainable Living Experience pilot program, which introduces programming and learning opportunities during the first year of college, will expand to become the Michigan Sustainability Community.

First-year students living in the Michigan Sustainability Community deepen sustainability knowledge through required coursework, hands-on activities and social events.

Administered by the U-M College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LSA), the residential and academic learning program is open to students from all schools and colleges and acts as a gateway to the broad sustainability opportunities available on campus. The Program in the Environment (PitE) will manage the curriculum. 

Students will live in the Oxford Houses on Central Campus, already home to an innovative student-run sustainable mushroom farm, and soon to be the site of a student-led sustainable flower-growing farm.

MSC is possible in part due to the leadership of School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) Dean Jonathan Overpeck and former LSA Dean Anne Curzan, both of whom provided early support during the program’s pilot phase. Student Life, Housing, the Provost’s Office, and Office of the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer collaborated with LSA, SEAS and PitE to create this opportunity for students of all disciplines.

Read more in the University Record.