Gardenside

Sustainability Living Learning Community

 

Applications for 2026-2027 Will OPen in APril.

What is Gardenside?

Gardenside is a sustainability living learning community created through a Sustainability Office and Residential Life partnership. Residents are required to take a graded 1-credit corresponding Campus Sustainability course, offered by the Sustainability Office. The class is designed to cultivate an understanding of fundamental sustainability concepts, foster community among residents, and provide an opportunity for service-based experiential learning. Along with mini-lectures and discussions of academic readings, classes include tours and hands-on “work days” in the North Woods, Community Garden, and on-campus compost site. Students will also examine building systems and personal behaviors with a sustainability lens as related to their lived experience in the residence hall and on campus. A few additional activities and events may be offered during the year, outside of the class, such as sustainable crafts or a community meal.

Where is Gardenside?

Gardenside housing (named for its proximity to the Skidmore Community Garden) is located on the first floor of Wiecking Hall. The class will meet weekly in the Wiecking basement common room and on-campus for hands-on field work.

Who Is in Gardenside?

Gardenside is one of the special interest housing options offered through Residential Life. For Fall 2026, the program will accept 17 first-year residents. Residents are chosen through a special application and selection process (separate from the Residential Life special interest housing application).

When is the class?

In Fall 2026, the Gardenside Campus Sustainability class will be offered on Wednesdays from 2:30-4:30 pm. Gardenside residents must plan their schedules so as not to conflict with the class time.

Why should someone apply?

Gardenside brings together a group of sustainability-minded students and offers unique and experiential learning opportunities. Residents will become more literate in sustainability and systems-thinking, learn about campus sustainability projects, examine personal and collective consumption, and contribute to student-run programs, all while building a shared sense of community.

How can I apply?

The application process for 2026-207 will open in April.

Please note that if you are selected for Gardenside and you have been placed in a conflicting Scribner Seminar, you will be asked to choose your preference (Scribner Seminar or Gardenside). As you are selecting your preferences for the Scribner Seminar, keep in mind that the following four Scribner Seminars conflict with the Gardenside class time: Human Dillemmas (Mosby), Earth Elegies (Parke Harrison), Cataloguing the Everyday Landscape (Haedrich), and The Intersection of Social Identity and Sports (Harper).

If you have any questions or are interested in hearing more about the class, contact Tarah Rowse, Director of Sustainability, at trowse@skidmore.edu.