Sustainable Development Goals
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an international call to action to end poverty, protect natural resources, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. The 17 SDGs are integrated: they recognize that action in one area will affect outcomes in others, and that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability if we are to have a prosperous future on a livable planet. While these goals are generally aimed at encouraging action at the national and international level, any progress at the national level is a product of action at the community and institutional levels.
As defined by the UN, sustainability encompasses economic, social, and environmental priorities. This holistic definition of sustainability necessitates an institution-wide embrace, extending the focus beyond the classroom and into all aspects of the college. On this page, you can explore Tompkins Cortland Community College’s alignment with UN SDGs. Here, you can learn about what we’re already doing both in and out of the classroom and discover how you can get involved in this effort.
Latest Progress
Latest Progress
- • Over 90% of TC3 students receive financial aid to support their education.
- • Tompkins Cortland Foundation awards approximately $500,000 annually in scholarships.
- • TC3 BIZ develops workforce programs to help students succeed.
Academic Connections
The college offers a mix of academic options, including certificates, microcredentials, A.A.S. and A.S. degrees. Certificates and microcredentials are designed, in collaboration with area employers, to improve the skillset and subsequent earning potential of the workforce in Tompkins and Cortland Counties. These programs allows students to upgrade their skills without taking on significant debt, and to realize an immediate return on investment when they can apply in-demand skills at their jobs. A.A.S degree prepare students to enter the workforce in positions that require higher education but not a bachelor’s degree. Three examples of A.A.S degrees that have an excellent return on investment are: Computer Information Systems, Construction and Environmental Technology, and Nursing. A.S. degrees are designed to help students with plans to attend 4-year institutions get a jump start on their education while restricting costs.
How to Get Involved
- • Attend career and transfer resource fairs!
- • Join a career-focused clubs like the Hospitality and Restaurant Association and Sport Management Club
Latest Progress
- • The Panther Pantry offers free food and kitchen supplies to members of our campus community and beyond.
- • TC3 Farm provides subsidized CSA for community members.
Academic Connections
How to Get Involved
- • Student jobs at the Panther Pantry and the college’s cafeteria and fireside café are available each semester.
Latest Progress
- • TC3 promotes health through various services like counseling, recovery and prevention programs, the Panther Pantry and stress reduction activities in the Best Life Lounge.
Academic Connections
- • Chemical Dependency Counseling
- • Human Services
- • Liberal Arts and Sciences: Social Science
- • Microcredentials
- • Nursing
- • Recreation: Exercise Science
- • Recreation: Leadership
How to get involved
- • Attend Stress Less events on campus!
- • Visit the Best Life Lounge
- • Engage in programming by the Recovery Center
- • Work out in the college’s gym!
Latest Progress
- • Co-requisite support classes available in a variety of college level writing and math courses
- • Academic Advising available from both Student Success advisors and full-time faculty with program-specific expertise
Academic Programs
- • Access to a variety of microcredentials
- • Programs in Early Childhood Education and Liberal Arts: Teacher Education Transfer
How to get involved
- • Take advantage of our tutoring services in a variety of subjects.
Latest Progress
- • TC3 offers gender-inclusive housing and reproductive health services, including
emergency contraception. - • Annual events like International Women’s Day promote gender equality
Academic Connections
- • Women and Gender Studies
- • DEISJ courses
- • COIL/VINE courses
- • Study abroad
How to Get Involved
- • Gender and Sexuality Alliance
- • Violence Prevention Group
Latest Progress
- • Our wetland complex helps filter run-off from our main building, ensuring clean groundwater recharge, which is the main source of drinking water for the Village of Dryden.
- • Filtered water stations reduce plastic bottle use by over 58,000 plastic water bottles.
- • Our facilities department maintains riparian buffer zones to protect Egypt Creek from erosion and water pollution.
Academic Connections
- • Applied Science and Technology
- • Biology
- • Construction and Environmental Technology
- • Environmental Studies
How to Get Involved
- • Use water sustainably and responsibly.
- • Eat less meat: Meat, especially beef, has a huge water footprint.
- • Join a volunteer water monitoring effort like the Community Science Institute.
Latest Progress
- • Solar farm provides renewable energy for our campus.
- • Installation of many LEDs, replacing high-wattage lighting.
Academic Connections
- • Applied Science and Technology
- • Construction and Environmental Technology
- • Economics classes
- • Environmental Studies
How to Get Involved
- • Turn off lights when leaving your classroom.
- • Explore the possibility forof converting your home to solar power, installing heat pumps, etc.
- • Take advantage of federal and state incentives for making your home more energy efficient or converting to renewable energy..
Latest Progress
- • TC3 offers 14 microcredential programs.
- • Accessibility services are provided along the social justice model of academic adjustments.
Academic Connections
- • The college offers more than 17 A.A.S. programs, 11 certificates, and 12 microcredentials, all of which increase economic opportunity for our student body by improving workforce readiness.
- • Career counselors visit classes regularly to work with students on their job searches and career readiness.
How to get involved
- • Attend the Oven Fresh Job fair to meet with representatives from area employers.
- • Apply for an on-campus job.
- • Visit the Career and Transfer Counselors in Room 101 to get personalized advice.
- • Enroll in one of our many internship programs that improve job readiness in A.A.S. degree programs.
Latest Progress
- • TC3 participates in the PEAKS leadership program with other area community colleges.
- • The college offers career counseling and helps connect students to internships and local employers.
- • TC3 creates and maintains workforce development programs.
- • College print initiative helps to reduce paper waste.
Academic Connections
- • Applied Science and Technology
- • Construction and Environmental Technology
- • Entrepreneurship
- • Environmental Studies
How to Get Involved
- • National Society for Leadership and Success- student group
- • Non-Traditional Student organization
Latest Progress
- • Access & Equity Office ensures equal access to academic offerings.
- • The EOP program helps underserved populations.
- • The Panther Food Pantry provides food, clothing, and household items to members of the community.
- • The Childcare Center provides affordable daycare to members of our community.
Academic Connections
- • Business
- • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Social Justice courses
- • Women and Gender Studies
- • Environmental Studies
How to Get Involved
- • Non-Traditional Student organization
- • Gender and Sexuality Alliance
Latest Progress
- • TC3 offers sustainable academic programs.
Academic Connections
- • Applied Science and Technology
- • Constructions and Environmental Technology
- • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Social Justice courses
- • Entrepreneurship
- • Environmental Studies
- • Sustainable Farming and Food Systems
How to Get Involved
- • TC3 Votes
- • Student Government Association
Latest Progress
- • TC3 print initiatives help to reduce paper waste.
- • The TC3 farm, which offers the Sustainable Farming & Food Systems degree, engages in the donation of excess food as well as the use of composting bins.
- • The Panther Pantry and Community Closet.
Academic Connections
- • Anthropology courses
- • Environmental Studies
- • Economics courses
- • History courses
- • Sustainable Farming and Food Systems
How to get involved
- • Join our Sustainability Club
Latest Progress
- • ALL IN CAMPUS DEMOCRACY Challenge
Academic Connections
- • Biology
- • Construction and Environmental Technology
- • Economics classes
- • Environmental Studies
How to get involved
- • Join our Sustainability Club
Latest Progress
- • TC3 makes use of wetlands, a small pond, and streams on our campus for education.
- • Our campus wetlands were created to mitigate the loss of wetland habitat after the construction of our athletic building.
- • Our forested riparian areas help maintain healthy stream habitat and mitigate the impact of intensive agriculture upstream from our campus.
Academic Connections
- • Applied Science and Technology
- • Biology
- • Construction and Environmental Technology
- • Environmental Studies
How to get involved
- • Volunteer with your local watershed protection group.
- • Support small, local farms, which tend to minimize their impacts on local streams and lakes.
Latest Progress
- • TC3 makes use of our campus forests for class projects emphasizing sustainable forestry, natural history, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity conservation.
- • The TC3 Farm cultivates over 120 varieties of vegetables and provides food to TC3 faculty, staff, and students as well as the wider community through a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).
- • Environmental Studies students routinely survey the biodiversity on campus.
- • TC3 participates in a monitoring efforts for the Spotted Lanternfly.
Academic Connections
- • Biology
- • Construction and Environmental Technology
- • Environmental Studies
- • Sustainable Farming and Food Systems
How to get involved
- • Participate in annual campus bioblitz.
- • Hike around campus or play a round of disc golf to appreciate our campus’ natural beauty.
- • Participate in campus tree plantings.
Latest Progress
- • Creation and Implementation of the 2022-2027 Strategic Equity, Diversity, Justice, and Inclusion (EDJI) plan.
- • Our Global Initiatives program helps to create strong citizens of the world through study abroad programs, J-1 visitor experiences, and other opportunities for those looking to study in the United States.
- • BIZ creates handbooks for employers about inclusive hiring practices, encourages the hiring of neurodiverse and other inclusive populations, and covers the cost of election workers at the Cortland satellite campus polling place.
- • The All In Democracy Voting Initiative helps our students exercise their right to vote.
Academic Connections
- • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Social Justice classes
- • Economics classes
- • Environmental Studies
- • History classes
- • Political Science classes
- • Sociology classes
How to get involved
- • Students can join the Student Government Association
- • Serve as the Staff or Faculty voice in Senate membership
Latest Progress
- • Our Board of Trustees works with representatives across many divisions of the school, including student representatives, to incorporate all stakeholder viewpoints in strategic planning.
- • The TC3 Foundation oversees outside funding that supports a variety of TC3 programming and opportunities, as well as scholarships available to students from a diverse set of financial patrons.
Academic Connections
- • The College has numerous Learning Communities and partnerships, including co-requisite courses to support student success in writing and math, Study Abroad opportunities in a variety of countries, and student internships with area employers to provide pre-professional job training.
- • TC3s Curriculum Committee and Assessment Committee work to provide rigorous oversight over our course offerings, Institutional Learning Goals, and program outcomes.
How to get involved
- • Step into our GetConnected Fair at the beginning of each semester to learn more about and join our various clubs and activities, find out about our college supports, and discover where you might provide your voice to our campus.
- • Want to learn more? Check out our Student Activities page to explore our groups and find where you belong!