News & Media

Five Colleges of Ohio Recognized for Environmental Health, Safety Initiatives

Barbara Wiehe. (Photo courtesy of Barbara Wiehe)

DELAWARE, OHIO – The Five Colleges of Ohio consortium – which includes Ohio Wesleyan University – is being recognized in a new report by the Ohio EPA’s Office of Environmental Education highlighting “outstanding” grant projects to improve environmental health and safety.

In 2011, the Five Colleges group received two Ohio Environmental Education Fund (OEFF) grants totaling nearly $100,000 to promote pollution prevention and environmental management system initiatives. The success of the Five Colleges – Ohio Wesleyan University, Denison University, Kenyon College, Oberlin College, and The College of Wooster – in meeting the objectives is outlined in the new “Outstanding Grant Projects 2012” report.

Barbara Wiehe, Ohio Wesleyan’s environmental health and safety manager, said the grant projects helped to promote environmental awareness and action among the campus community.

“The grants were a wonderful means to focus our environmental health and safety efforts on pollution education and prevention from an EPA standpoint,” says Wiehe, who also manages OWU’s Moore Greenhouse. “The collaboration of the Ohio Five environmental health and safety programs was a rewarding experience and has advanced our safety program tremendously here at OWU.”

The first project, “Pollution Prevention on the College Campus: A Consortial Approach to Education and Training,” received $50,000 in state funds to support training sessions in pollution prevention with faculty and staff at the five Ohio colleges and universities. Training included security, chemical hygiene, emergency spill responses, and hazardous material management. Additionally, the schools’ environmental health and safety managers created and disseminated educational manuals, launched a website, and reported on the project at a state safety conference.

The second project, “A Collaborative College Environmental Management System Initiative,” received $49,894 to allow the consortium to implement comprehensive environmental management systems. A two-day advanced training in environmental auditing, a one-week peer‐assisted campus assessment, and a daylong workshop for staff provided capstone experiences for the participating environmental health and safety officers.

The Five Colleges of Ohio was formed in 1995 to coordinate operating functions and administrative services, develop collaborative academic programs and resource sharing, and enhance quality while reducing individual and collective operating and capital costs. The Ohio Five’s environmental health and safety group is one of the consortium’s longest standing and most active roundtables.

Read more about the state’s 2012 outstanding environmental education projects.

Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier small, private universities. Ohio Wesleyan offers more than 90 undergraduate majors, sequences, and courses of study, and 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. OWU combines an internationally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities that connect classroom theory with real-world practice. Located in Delaware, Ohio, OWU’s 1,850 students represent 41 states and 45 countries. The university is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the 2012 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with distinction, and included on the “best colleges” lists of U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. Learn more at www.owu.edu.