My Visit to the SUSTAIN Program at California Polytechnic
I finally visited the SUSTAIN program at Cal Poly. Since I met Linda Vanasupa last summer, I have been wanting to see for myself what they have been doing; Linda insisted on picking the right time, and, given my constraints and hers, that time ended up being last week. I spent time attending faculty meetings, classes, and social events related to the SUSTAIN program.
SUSTAIN’s mission is for its students to “become citizens with both scientific understanding and human capacity to live lives that prioritize energy conservation and efficiency as part of the interrelated web of citizen behaviors that affect our common ability to thrive on the earth.” The program has a definite signature of a community with shared philosophy (deep respect for the human being as a whole person), a shared commitment (sustainable and regenerative life and development), and shared mission (action-based research and development). Overall, SUSTAIN has the complete feel of a grass-roots movement: everyone is in it on a voluntary basis; there is no hierarchy, no control structure, and minimal administrative support (a SUSTAIN graduate hired as a half-time staff).
I started the day on Thursday by attending the faculty meeting. This is the weekly meeting of the faculty involved in SUSTAIN. According to Linda, it is typically attended by those faculty currently “teaching” SUSTAIN classes. The meeting was from 9:00 to 11:00. A dozen faculty were there. The meeting had no predetermined agenda (not unlike our Holacracy meetings), but is much more open and less regimented. It consisted of a check-in that then turned into a lively discussion of very important topics. The check-in lasted about an hour. There was no sequence. All were silent. Faculty who felt ready checked in, bringing themselves present by sharing whatever was on their minds, professional, social, or personal. The progression was very unrushed, accepting, and comfortable.
The check-in transitioned seamlessly into a lively debate about the struggles that one of faculty members was having with student behavior perceived as disruptive. The discussion focused on understanding this perception and on possible ways of resolving it. It took the form of questions to the faculty about the tacit and explicit model they have about the students, norms, and the class, and the discussion was framed in terms of what it means to be open to encountering others who may have different models. It was pointed out that having an open non-authoritative system, such as SUSTAIN, is bound to unearth many of the “model clashes” which also exist in authority-based systems but are oppressed and never expressed or addressed. Encountering these differences, naming them, and welcoming them are an exercise in “unconditional positive regard,” one of the values espoused by SUSTAIN.
Another principle that they kept referring to is the adage “The quality of your relationships results in unprecedented results.” The meaning of this adage was debated, clarifying that “quality” here does not refer to likeability. Instead, it defines what we do in the face of conflicts, among other things. In other words, this is not about being close friends with students or having them “like us.” This raised the issue of syllabi. Does it make sense to have a syllabus constructed by the faculty with no input from the students and then expect the students to abide by it? For me, this was a fascinating discussion and a very unusual faculty meeting, the kind I would not mind attending even if it runs over. Unfortunately we had to leave at 11:00 while the discussion was still ongoing.
Two hours later I was attending a class in material sciences. As it happens, the class took place in the same room and used the same circle-of-chairs setup. This is a flipped class. Students use the course videos outside of class time but come together for discussion. The class started with announcements by three different students of various student chapter and community service events. This was followed by a check-in session. They were asked then to tell me about what they were doing in this class, what they were learning, and how they liked being part of SUSTAIN. I asked them if they had homework and how they were graded. They mentioned that they watch the videos outside of class. One student said, “I spend so much time thinking about this class that overall it takes me more time than any other class.” Some of the activities they did in class include computing their carbon footprint and imagining several scenarios of their lives going forward (20, 30, 50 years) under different conditions. These exercises seem to have made quite an impact on the students. As for grading, they did not seem to know or worry about grades; I had to ask the faculty, and the answer is competency-like.
The same group of students then went to a Physics class. This is a mixed class where not all students are SUSTAIN and the professor was at the morning faculty meeting. The class was a lab about springs. The setting here was a bit more traditional but the class was quite interactive and the students seemed to be very engaged.
For the evening, one of the professors invited all faculty and students for dinner at her house. Everyone knew the place so this was not an isolated event and several current and former students came. Two of the former students mentioned that they changed majors as a result of their SUSTAIN participation. They are now in multi-disciplinary degrees.
The following day we drove to Berkeley to attend the “Breaking Barriers, Building Community” one-day conference hosted at the Berkeley’s Institute for the Study of Societal Issues. At this conference, SUSTAIN faculty member Sarah Ramirez was receiving the 2014 Thomas Yamashita Foundations of Change Prize for her research and community organizing around the health and well-being of Hispanic Communities in the Napa Valley.
Overall, I was very impressed and really humbled by what the SUSTAIN team does. As mentioned, this is a grass-roots effort. As faculty, they have been using their academic freedom to introduce drastic innovations in what they do. Together, they teach courses in innovative ways, team up to combine and integrate material from their courses, and form a close and nurturing community for faculty and students. They still face resistance and challenges but have learned not to take no for an answer. Whenever they were challenged, they studied the bylaws and constitution inside out, learned where the boundaries lie, and have been persistent in pushing them to the limit in a non-confrontational way. They are a great role model and resource for us. And did I mention how beautiful the campus is, surrounded by mountains? And no snow.
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