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Utterback: Campus Efforts at Change a Mixed Bag
Story by Megan Trasport
Many changes have occurred since 2000 when Jim Utterback began working at Mars Hill College, and he said many of these changes have included discussions about sustainability.
As assistant professor of business, he said he believes it is the instructor’s job to raise awareness in their students of these issues as the world changes.
Utterback said he thinks one problem society is facing is that it thinks in the short term rather than long term. He said people have a tendency to want the quick fix and thereby fail to think about how today's choices will impact the future.
He thinks Mars Hill College is doing a better job with sustainability than it has done in the past, but he said it still needs to work at it.
When asked in a recent interview about how MHC is moving forward, Utterback said he saw much more passion about similar issues in the 1960s when he was in college than he does now at Mars Hill.
He said there are people on campus that care about becoming a more sustainable school, but there is no outrage among students.
He said “it’s a mixed bag” as far as who cares about what. There are some instructors and students who are very involved and very passionate about the idea of sustainability, and then there are others who are involved and passionate about others things.
Utterback said he thinks it’s healthy for an educational institution such as Mars Hill to have diversity and likes that the faculty are open-minded.
Some changes that have occurred recently, such as the new Ferguson Math and Science Center as well as an emphasis on sustainability in MHC’s curriculum, have encouraged students, faculty and staff to be more aware of their impact on the world.
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