Campus As A Classroom

Student Innovation. Campus Collaboration. Sustainable Impact.

Campus As A Classroom provides experiential learning opportunities for students that support the university’s sustainability goals while fostering collaboration between students, faculty and staff. The program is coordinated by the University Sustainability Office and includes three pathways: Internships, Courses and Student-Led Projects.

Internships

The internship program provides on-campus, real-world learning opportunities about sustainability. The paid internships are for the academic year (fall and spring semesters) and pair students with operations-focused projects that improve campus sustainability.

The internship experience includes the opportunity to:

Learn From Experts

Each project is proposed and led by a university employee with expertise in the project topic to facilitate student learning and project success.

Make An Impact

Students work independently on their assigned project with an opportunity to present findings and recommendations to stakeholders.

Campus As A Classroom Fall 2023 cohort photo, group of students showing wolfies hand gesture in front of a red wall

Grow Together

A year-long cohort experience allows students to develop professional skills and grow in their understanding of sustainability.

The Campus As A Classroom application opens each summer. Sign up to be notified when applications open.

Campus As A Classroom interns apply classroom knowledge and develop meaningful skills in a hands-on environment while making an impact at NC State. In addition to working on their assigned projects, students are part of a year-long cohort. Through this cohort, interns participate in monthly meetings with fellow interns and complete supplementary workshop modules intended to enhance students’ knowledge and skills in the areas of sustainability principles, project management and professional development.

Internship Requirements

Attend all monthly cohort meetings
Complete supplementary workshop modules
Remain communicative and open-minded with all teammates and project advisor(s)
Maintain accountability for duties and responsibilities

Attend kick-off retreat in the fall semester
Dedicate 5 -6 hours per week for intern work and assignments
Complete timesheets on a weekly basis
Present project findings and results at the end of the academic year

Compensation

Students are paid bi-weekly as hourly employees through the PackPortal System, which requires students to enter their hours directly on a weekly basis. As a paid employee of the university, interns are required to complete an I-9 Form and to be onboarded into the NCSU payroll system. Interns will be required to provide 1) a current resume with appropriate address, 2) a passport or picture ID and Social Security Card, and 3) a NCSU ID number.

Academic Credit

Some degree programs require an external learning experience. Students selected for participation in the Campus As A Classroom internship program are encouraged to initiate opportunities for relevant academic course credit through their college or school.

Timeline

Internships are for one academic year starting in the fall semester. Interns will not be required to work over any university breaks. Note that you will be asked to upload a resume as part of the application form. If you are selected for an interview, you will be contacted by email.

Student applications are accepted each summer. Sign up to be notified when applications open.

Any questions regarding the application or program can be directed to Jessica Bast at jmbast@ncsu.edu.

University employees are encouraged to participate in Campus as a Classroom by submitting proposals for on-campus sustainability projects that could benefit from having a student intern. Those who submit proposals should expect to act as the intern supervisor. In doing so, you can facilitate meaningful professional development and educational opportunities for students while taking advantage of an internal support network of faculty and staff across campus.

Submitting a Project

Prior to submitting a project proposal, please review our project guidelines and expectations document to ensure your project aligns with the program. You may submit your project application prior to identifying your funding source, and the Sustainability Office can offer support in applying through the various funding sources above. However, your project will not be eligible to be accepted as part of Campus as a Classroom until funding is finalized.

Project applications will be accepted from December 1, 2022-May 31, 2023.

Click here for Project Proposal Application

Supervisor Requirements

Participate in the student interview and selection process (late June-late-July), which will be facilitated by the University Sustainability Office
Meet with the intern(s) at least once a week
Approve students’ timesheets on a weekly basis
Provide general project oversight and resources when necessary
Set clear project expectations at the beginning of the academic year

Funding

Because Campus as a Classroom internships are paid, those interested in submitting project proposals must also identify funding. In order to determine the amount needed for student compensation, project supervisors must first decide if their project will require either undergraduate or graduate-level students. Undergraduate students should be paid $13/hour, while graduate students should be compensated $15/hour.

Campus as a Classroom interns work 5 hours/week on their project and 1 hour/week on readings and activities associated with the cohort experience. Since students do not work over university holidays and breaks, they will work approximately 27 weeks throughout the academic year. Based on the 6-hour/week model, partners should request $2,106 for an undergraduate student and $2,430 for a graduate student for one academic year. Partners may request that students work more than 6 hours/week, however, this will require an adjustment for any funding requests.

Depending on the funding source pursued, the financial details above will be required when you complete the various funding application. Below are the funding avenues with more details and application instructions for each option:

Funding Option	Description	Application Instructions	Application Deadline
Sustainability Fund	Partners must submit a detailed application to NC State’s Sustainability Fund. Those who apply through the Sustainability Fund will NOT need to complete a separate Campus as a Classroom project application. Applying through the Fund allows partners to also request funds to pay for additional resources associated with the project beyond student compensation.	When applying, mark “Yes” next to the Campus as a Classroom option on the “Application Information” section of the application. Specify the desired number of internships under the “Personnel” area of the “Project Budget & Justification” section of the application, but create separate line items if requesting more than one internship.	March 5, 2023. You will be notified in April 2023 if funding is granted.
Provost’s Professional Experience Program (PEP)	Partners must submit a detailed job description for the work that the student intern(s) would complete. PEP is also limited to undergraduate students, so projects that require a graduate student should not pursue PEP. PEP will fund 75% of the position, while your department must cover the remaining 25%.	In the job description, indicate that you are submitting for a year-long position AND that you are interested in having the position be part of Campus as a Classroom program.	May 31, 2023. You will be notified in June if funding is granted.
Federal Work Study (FWS)	Partners must apply to be a work study location. Your selection of students will be limited to those who have qualified for FWS. FWS will cover 75% of student compensation, while your department must cover the remaining 25%.	N/A	Applications can be submitted and approved on a rolling basis.
Department Funding	This funding avenue requires no application to an external funding source. Internal funding also allows partners to compensate students in the event that their student(s) must work more than 6 hours/week.	N/A	N/A

For any questions regarding the proposal, please contact Jessica Bast at jmbast@ncsu.edu.

Meet The Students

Courses

In addition to internships, on-campus student sustainability projects can begin in the classroom through a variety of courses. Most frequently, such projects are completed by students in capstone and senior design courses and are led by an NC State faculty or staff member. While the Sustainability Office does not oversee every project, it works to archive this interdisciplinary work at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

If you have a sustainability project idea, you can submit a proposal to the appropriate department. If you are a faculty member interested in adding a sustainability project to your course, reach out to the University Sustainability Office.

Request A Presentation

Student-Led Projects

Students with ideas for sustainability-related research or other projects on campus are encouraged to contact the University Sustainability Office. Depending on the project’s focus and scope, funding opportunities may be available through campus initiatives such as the NC State Sustainability Fund or an Office of Undergraduate Research Award.

Request CAMPUS UTILITY DATA

Project Database

Browse the list of current and past projects that are part of the Campus As A Classroom initiative since it launched in Fall 2021. The database includes both internship projects, as well as student involvement as part of university coursework.

Year	Project or Course	Department(s)	Focus Area	Student(s)	Project Description
Fall 2022	ISE 498 Senior Design Project	Transportation and the University Sustainability Office	Transportation	Mallory Padgett, Nick Berinson, and Colin Lawler	NC State's Wolfline provides free public transportation for the university community, helping to reduce single occupancy vehicle use. Through research and modeling, students recommended changes to current bus routes for improved efficiency and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Fall 2022	GIS 590 Geospatial Information Science Master's Project	Office of the University Architect and the University Sustainability Office	Transportation	Patrick Williams	To support wider adoption of electric vehicles, charging stations will need to be strategically installed throughout campus. The student created a GIS model identifying optimal locations for EV charging stations based on a variety of factors like proximity to electrical meters, parking lot size and number of users.
Fall 2022	GIS 590 Geospatial Information Science Master's Project	Office of the University Architect and Grounds	Land	Ashley Belwolff	The student created GIS-based mobile application solutions that improve management and maintenance of campus trees by allowing for adding or updating existing trees to a shared geospatial database and documenting routine workflows such as tree inspections, damage or loss.
Fall 2022 - Spring 2023	ECE 484 & 485 (Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Design I & II)	Energy Management and the University Sustainability Office	Energy	Senior Design	Students are completing a solar site evaluation and design, battery storage evaluation and design, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure site assessment for the Sullivan Complex on campus.
Fall 2021 - Spring 2022	Climate Data and Reporting Internship	University Sustainability Office	Climate	Matt Slaughter and Tyler Inthavong	Students helped collect data for NC State's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory and the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS) report. Students also completed separate research projects that analyzed NC State's current performance and opportunities to improve.
Fall 2021 - Spring 2022	Sustainability Certifications Internship	University Sustainability Office	Engagement	Chandler Parrish	This project focused on updating the Sustainable Events, Sustainable Student Organizations, and Sustainable Workplace Certification programs, which encourage and celebrate sustainability behaviors on campus.
Fall 2021 - Spring 2022	Campus Sustainability Map Internship	University Sustainability Office	Engagement	Chris Oates	This project transitioned the online campus sustainability map to the ArcGIS platform for improved interactivity and accuracy. The project also included creating a StoryMap, which allows for more visual and narrative details of the campus sustainability map.
Fall 2021 - Spring 2022	Grounds and Waste Sustainability Analysis Internship	Grounds and Buildings Services	Waste, Transportation	Ann Winstead	This project in Waste Reduction and Recycling (WRR) and Grounds Services included continuation of a compost accessibility project to increase student use of compost bins in residence halls, as well as research on the benefits and feasibility of purchasing more electric grounds equipment.
Fall 2021 - Spring 2022	Sustainable Wolfpack Internship	Athletics	Engagement	Claire Henson	The student coordinated a Sustainable Wolfpack game for each sport, including engaging fans in sustainability-themed trivia and relays, as well as creating sustainability announcement and videos. The student also created and managed content on the Sustainable Wolfpack website.
Fall 2021 - Spring 2022	Utilities and Engineering Project Support Internship	Utilities and Engineering	Energy	Lauren Teague	The project created a spreadsheet that tracked electricity costs and energy inputs and outputs from the Centennial Central Utility Plant (CCUP) to support decision making and CCUP optimization in order to reduce energy use and cost.
Fall 2021 - Spring 2022	Electric Vehicle Application Study Internship	University Sustainability Office	Transportation	Lauren McLaughlin	This project resulted in a report that explores the opportunities and benefits of electric vehicles in the university fleet, specifically regarding cost and greenhouse gas emissions.
Fall 2021 - Spring 2022	Energy Management Project Support Internship	Energy Management	Energy	Samuel Korvie	This project supports Energy Management in its goal to reduce campus energy use intensity by 40% from the 2002 baseline. Projects include data collection, data analysis, the UTL Rebate Freezer Program, the Fume Hood Rebate Program, and the "turn it off" initiative.
Fall 2021 - Spring 2022	Microbial Helpers Internship	Biological Sciences	Waste	Rahul Sharma and Gwen Dallmann	Students worked with Dr. Carlos Goller to collect samples from NC State's compost facility, measuring the microbial composition of compost piles in order to continually improve the compost process.
Fall 2022 - Spring 2023	Sustainability Projects Internship	University Sustainability Office	Climate	Sarah Jacobs	This project supports efforts to complete NC State’s fiscal year 2022 greenhouse gas emissions inventory. Additionally, the project includes developing a Storymap that highlights sustainability features of the university's Raleigh campuses.
Fall 2022 - Spring 2023	Sustainable Fleet Internship	University Sustainability Office	Transportation	Chase McCrary and Madison Foley	Students are completing an analysis to determine various strategies to make NC State vehicle fleet more sustainable.
Fall 2022 - Spring 2023	Communications and Outreach Internship	University Sustainability Office	Engagement	Nicholas Cooke	This project promotes sustainability and boosts engagement within the campus community using social media, events, interactive tools and programs.
Fall 2022 - Spring 2023	Energy Management Project Support Internship	Energy Management	Energy	Kelsey Hudson	This project supports Energy Management in its goal to reduce campus energy use intensity by 40% from the 2002 baseline. Projects include data collection, data analysis, the UTL Rebate Freezer Program, the Fume Hood Rebate Program, and the "turn it off" initiative.
Fall 2022 - Spring 2023	Sustainable Composting and Outreach Program (SCoOP) Internship	Biological Sciences	Waste	Rahul Sharma, Grace Sullivan, Drew Lingerfelt, Christina Conrad, Bridget Monahan, Ariana Paul, and Abbie Seidle	Students worked with Dr. Carlos Goller to collect samples from NC State's compost facility, measuring the microbial composition of compost piles. The team explores how the microbial communities evolve as the compost changes, determining how to optimize growth of good microbes.
Fall 2022 - Spring 2023	Campus Tree Education Internship	Forestry and Environmental Resources	Land	Nicole Rosales-Garcia	This project supports the creation of a user-friendly app that will host multiple self-guided tours of the more than 100 tree species on NC State’s main campus that identified with high-quality arboretum tags in spring 2021. The student is also evaluating each tree’s condition, conducting research and completing a proposal that outlines the tree's selection for a tour app.
Fall 2022 - Spring 2023	Sustainable Wolfpack Internship	Athletics	Engagement	Claire Henson	This project coordinates one Sustainable Wolfpack game for each sport and implemented a project to transition gameday logistics to a paperless process through the use of tablets.
Fall 2022 - Spring 2023	Ground Nesting Bee Habitat Preservation Internship	Entomology and Plant Pathology	Land	Max O'Connor, Jared Spurlin and Esme Chiara	Students are designing and implementing a small space design to preserve the breeding habitat of a large colony of native, ground-nesting bees on campus.
Fall 2022 - Spring 2023	Agroecology Education Farm Outreach Internship	NC State Agroecology Education Farm	Food	Peytom Rudman and Madison Lawley	Students lead and facilitate a variety of events, projects, and workshops that improve sustainability and increase student engagement with and at the Agroecology Education Farm.
Spring 2023	GIS 590 Geospatial Information Science Master's Project	Office of the University Architect and the University Sustainability Office	Land	Caroline Wood	The student created two surveys using ESRI's Survey 123 feature to allow Facilities employees and community members to evaluation, record, and monitor the health of on-campus pollinator habitats.
Spring 2023	ISE 498 Senior Design Project	Waste Reduction and Recycling	Waste	Amrutha Amarnath, Andy Guo, Davis Hoover, Josh Sine, and John Carol Wharton	Students evaluated waste pick-up routes and provided recommendations to improve efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Spring 2023	ET 460 Practice of Environmental Technology	Environmental Health and Safety and the University Sustainability Office	Climate	11 students	The project focused on developing an internal assessment protocol to check records, processes, and procedures required of the campus Title V permit and identify continual improvement opportunities in the air program.
Summer and Fall 2022	Student-Led Research Project	Transportation	Climate	Sid Lohia	This project explored the environmental effects of reflective asphalt covers, working with NC State Transportation to use a campus parking lot for research testing.
Fall 2022 - Spring 2023	Student-Led Research Project	N/A	Energy	N/A	Teams will design and model a distributed energy system for NC State’s Centennial Campus as part of this National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) student competition.