UMBC's ACM student chapter will hold a meeting at Noon on Wednesday, March 9 in ITE201 to discuss chapter activities and hold elections for the chapter's executive committee.

ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, is the the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society. It provides members with resources that advance computing both as a science and a profession. UMBC's chapter meetings are open to all undergraduate and graduate students of any major.

The main goal of the March meeting is to have a round-table discussion about where to take the chapter. It was created to bring students together to discuss interesting and relevant topics and share experiences. Come and share your opinions on the subjects that you would like to hear about in the coming semesters that will make the chapter exciting and relevant.

While you do not need to join ACM to be a part of the local chapter, the annual membership dues for students is only $19, heavily discounted from the non-student rate. See the ACM site for more information on student membership and its benefits.

The election will be held by ballot and the winner determined by plurality, i.e. the person with the most votes. According to the chapter bylaws, only members who are also members of the National ACM are eligible to vote, so bring some proof of your National ACM membership (membership card, print out of current information, etc.) if you want to vote.

If you have any questions, you can send them to the acmofficers at lists.umbc.edu.

My friend and I decided to visit a new-to-Arbutus restaurant! I love kabobs so I knew this would be the place for me!

The menu at Kebob & Curry

I was also happy that this place had halal meat! I could try a meat dish instead of having to stick with a veggie platter.

The prices were pretty standard for most of the places I have been to.

I decided to go with the Lamb Biryani.

Lamb Biryani

Lamb Biryani

Big portion! I was only able to eat 1/3 of that!

We also got the Chicken Kabob to share- they were not as spicy as we were expecting!

Chicken Kabob

Best part was the fast service and the free drinks!

Thanks Kabob and Curry! I love that I can hop right over from school and get some Indian food- if I don’t feel like driving the 15 mins home to my mom’s kitchen!

By now, we hope that you've noticed that the AASHE site has undergone a transformation. In January, we relaunched the AASHE website with a major reorganization of content and a new design.

So far, we have received a lot of positive responses to the new website. Although there are many factors at play when determining the success of a web project, we think that the following made the biggest difference in the success of this project: our design partner - ATEN Design Group, the methods we used to involve stakeholders throughout the process, and our continued use of the Drupal content management system.

Design Partner: ATEN Design Group

AASHE started working with ATEN Design Group, a web strategy, design, and development company based in Denver, last summer. We were really impressed with ATEN's experience working with nonprofits and their openness to an inclusive process. One of the great features of the new design is that it is extremely flexible and extensible. Common design patterns are used throughout the site and can be easily reused in the future. For more information about the unique role design played in this project and ATEN's innovative use of javascript, please check out their blog post about our project.

ATEN was a great partner throughout the redesign process. Ken, the primary designer on the project, did a wonderful job incorporating feedback from stakeholders into his designs and showing us ways to improve the design and development process on our end. ATEN also introduced us to Basecamp, which we are now using for other AASHE projects.

The Redesign Process

One of our major concerns before we started even looking for a design company to work with on the redesign was making sure that all AASHE stakeholders had the opportunity to participate in the redesign process. We believe that our continued commitment to an inclusive process made a big difference in the success of this project.

Internally, it had been clear for some time that the AASHE website could be considered cluttered and outdated. The AASHE navigation and homepage content had remained relatively consistent since 2007. However, as an organization, AASHE’s major programs have evolved and its membership has grown considerably. We wanted to make sure that all of our programs were represented on the new site and that content was easier to find. In addition, we wanted to make sure that it was a lot easier for our members to browse the AASHE Resource Center. We also wanted to be sure to feature the more interactive parts of our website, the forums and blog.

Before we started looking for a redesign partner, a group of AASHE staff put together a charter document that outlined the objectives of the redesign project. At AASHE, we use a charter template before beginning most projects that we are publicly sharing for the first time here. The template is based on recommendations from The Principles of Project Management.

Our primary goal was to redesign the functionality and look of the AASHE homepage and provide redesigned templates for other website pages in a way that:

• Clearly communicated to those unfamiliar with AASHE what AASHE does and what its main programs are
• Looked professional, clean, uncluttered, and meets the standards of peer organizations
• Let users navigate to popular parts of the site in one click from the homepage
• Highlighted all of the AASHE programs without overwhelming users with information
• Clearly communicated how to join AASHE
• Provided a clear path to sign up for the AASHE Conference and STARS

As part of our charter document, we also developed a plan for involving staff, board, members and others throughout the design process. In particular we identified key decision points throughout the redesign process and then planned for gathering input from our stakeholders at these points.

These decision points included:

• choosing members, staff, and non-members to interview during the discovery process
• reviewing and approving wireframes
• reviewing and providing feedback on first and second-round designs
• approving the final designs
• evaluating the site before launch

We collected most of our feedback through Google forms where we were able to ask targeted questions that were designed to assess whether the project would meet the objectives outlined above. A smaller team of AASHE staff selected to represent each of the AASHE programs and a board member were responsible for prioritizing feedback and determining whether we were ready to move onto the next decision point.

Whenever possible throughout the process, we tried to make research-based design decisions. For example, our navigation was developed after ATEN carefully analyzed the results of a card-sorting exercise. In addition, we decided to reorganize sections of the site after conducting usability tests with users familiar and unfamiliar with AASHE. ATEN conducted in-person usability tests at their offices in Denver. Later in the process, we used Feedback Army to answer quick usability questions about the new site.

We believe that by integrating user testing and research throughout the process, we were able to avoid some of the natural conflict that arises during a redesign process and also develop a better new site.

Drupal

The AASHE site has been powered by Drupal since 2009. Drupal is an open source content management system that was created and is continuously improved by developers, designers, and others around the world. Switching to Drupal in 2009 has allowed AASHE to tap into an amazing array of resources. There are thousands of Drupal sites out there, including the White House website. As a result of using Drupal, AASHE can quickly roll out interactive features like the Bulletin database, forums, wiki, and blog, without having to spend hours and hours doing custom programming. We also benefit from having thousands of people around the world testing Drupal modules and reporting bug fixes and security issues. Whenever possible, we try to report bugs and submit improvements to Drupal core and contributed code so that we can be part of the effort to make Drupal even better.

As part of the redesign, we realized that there were also times when we were overriding code Drupal functionality for aesthetic but not necessarily user-research backed reasons. During this process, we internally set a principle that we should only override Drupal core and contributed module functionality when doing so is in line with AASHE's mission, vision, and goals and will not present an undue burden to maintain over the next few years. As a result of this decision, we were able to eliminate a lot of confusing, difficult to maintain, code.

During the development process, we also realized that we weren't taking advantage of some of the new, very useful modules like Context, Menu Block, and Less. During the migration process, we extensively used Node Export and Migrate, as well as some custom scripts. As part of the development process, we also were able to eliminate a lot of modules that were no longer in use.

Additionally, as part of our site development, we switch from using Subversion for tracking code changes to Mercurial. Now, all AASHE web projects use Mercurial for version control. For those not familiar with version control, it's a method of allowing developers to work together on a project, share their code, and easily merge, revert, and add to shared code.

Finally, as part of the development process, we switched from using a WYSIWYG editor, CKEditor, to a markdown editor, BUEditor. Transitioning to Markdown has not been easy but we think that the switch will benefit AASHE in the long-run. The major advantages of using Markdown instead of a WYIWYG editor is that it is easier to standardize the display of text on the website and to separate content from presentation. The switch also allows us to avoid creating a lot of "bad HTML," a common problem with WYSIWYG editors. For more information about the benefits of Markdown over WYSIWYG editors, please review this blog post by ATEN.

Summary

We are in the process of doing more user testing to evaluate how well the new design meet the objectives established for this project. As a result, you may see slight changes to the AASHE website over the next few months. In addition, with ATEN's help, we are working of updating the design of our newsletters to reflect the new website design.

We are encouraged by the initial response to the website, and committed to continuing to use an inclusive process and Drupal for future projects. If you have questions about this web project or the site development process, please feel free to contact us at webmaster@aashe.org or post a comment below.

Below is the second installment of a four-blog mini-series, reposted from the Sustainability Education blog of Living Routes Director Daniel Greenberg. Stay tuned for the next two installments, which will be published in the AASHE blog over the next two weeks.

How can studying abroad help develop “global citizens” – leaders who have a sense of belonging and responsibility both with the peoples of the Earth and with the Earth itself?

In my last post about program design and management I shared about my work with the Forum on Education Abroad's Subcommittee on Sustainability Standards and how we offered revisions to their Standards of Good Practice and Code of Ethics documents in four areas:

1. Program Design and Management
2. Student Learning
3. Staff Training and Office Management
4. Promotion

In this second of a four-blog mini-series, I will flesh out ways we can support students learning about sustainability while studying abroad, using Living Routes (the organization I direct) as a case study. The question we asked was:

"How [can a study abroad] organization foster faculty, staff and student awareness, of the impact of its program and its students on the natural and social environment and actively encourage its program staff and students to minimize behaviors that will negatively impact this environment?"

Here are five suggestions we came up with:

1) Encourage and support overseas faculty and staff awareness of local environmental issues (e.g. water, energy, food).

Challenge faculty to develop a project, assignment, or discussion that connects a topic in their curriculum with some aspect of sustainability (e.g. indigenous wisdom, life cycles, diversity, limits to growth). Stay alert to opportunities for student engagement with international eco-initiatives such as the 10/10/10 Global Work Party or eARTh Exhibit put on by 350.org or 48GoGreen’s International Online Eco-Film Competition. I will share such opportunities when I find them (a good reason to subscribe to this blog, hint, hint).

Other resources to get you started include Middlebury College’s Going Green Guide for Schools Abroad Directors, Abroad View’s Go Green Resources, and Transitions Abroad’s Responsible Travel Handbook. You might also encourage your staff and directors to listen to this interview with environmentalist and writer Bill McKibben about traveling, studying abroad, and activism.

Living Routes programs are all about sustainable community development so awareness of local and global environmental issues is a prerequisite for all staff and faculty. We set up RSS feeds and Google Alerts and share relevant resources with each other. While occasionally criticized by “old-school” academics, we also tend to hire M.A.s with diverse backgrounds in the sciences, arts and humanities and the social sciences as we believe in an integrated and transdisciplinary pedagogy (and Ph.D.s are often so specialized, it is difficult for them to bridge disciplines).

2) Orient students to the local and global environmental and social impacts of their program participation.

… Not to make them feel guilty, but to help them understand these interconnections and further appreciate this opportunity to travel and study in a foreign land. Suggest they read Astrid Jirka’s article on Sustainable Travel and Study Abroad or adapt Middlebury’s list of Sustainability Resources for Students Studying Abroad.

There are zillions of good resources to help students understand and measure their carbon footprints and this will likely be the topic of a future blog post. Living Routes asks students to upload their itineraries and estimated ground travel onto a GoogleDoc spreadsheet that automatically estimates their individual and collective carbon footprints. We use this information to educate students about their environmental impacts and pursue our Carbon Conscious strategy.

3) Make students aware of contrasting cultural norms and practices and their corresponding environmental impacts.

Given that the U.S. has one of the largest ecological footprints of any country, students can study just about anywhere and lower their impacts simply by adopting local cultural norms and practices such as conserving water, air drying clothes or (God forbid!) doing away with toilet paper.

Some articles Living Routes has used to support students awareness of their “cultural baggage” include Richard Slimbach’s "[Mindful Traveler]"(http://www.livingroutes.org/students/india/program_readings/Mindful_Trav...), Peggy McIntosh’s famous "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" and the Ethical Traveler’s "Thirteen Tips for the Accidental Ambassador."

4) Provide student opportunities to reduce and/or offset their impacts.

Once measured, it is important to explore ways to reduce and/or mitigate student’s environmental impacts. While also worthy of a blog post, a good place to start is the Green Passport, which invites students to commit to specific eco-actions while studying abroad and to connect virtually with other students who have taken a similar pledge. Costa Rican Trails also has a good list of environmental Tips for Travelers.

Several years ago, I developed a Carbon Commitment Calculator, which we have used to encourage Living Routes’ students to make lifestyle changes that reduce their carbon footprint. Then, I found Climate Culture, which takes this concept to a whole new level, including the ability to create “avatars” and virtual worlds that evolve as you become “greener." You can set up groups for students to work together to reduce their programs’ impacts.

While our emphasis should always be on reducing emissions, we’ll never get them to zero. So, what should we do about these remaining emissions? Living Routes has developed a fund, which we continually add to based on each program’s emissions (at $15/mT CO2e). We use this fund to support ecovillage-based carbon mitigation projects. Examples include solar energy (PV systems, solar cookers, solar thermal systems, solar refrigeration, etc.), afforestation/reforestation, biogas, wind power, and Earth-building.

5) Provide opportunities for students to pursue meaningful and socially responsible engagement with the local community.

Encourage students to walk, bike or take public transportation and to shop locally. Arrange opportunities for students to live (and spend time!) with local host families to help them understand and integrate into the local culture.

Service learning provides further opportunities for students to engage with and give back to their local host communities. They get to work on real-life problems, apply what they’ve been learning, and become active local citizens. The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse is an excellent resource on this topic and I intend to write a future blog post on criteria that Living Routes has developed to make sure such opportunities are as sustainable as possible.

These are just a few ways to bring sustainability more into the curriculum and daily lives of students while studying abroad, but it is by no means an exhaustive list. Please add your ideas, suggestions and questions in the comments so we can further develop this topic together. Thanks!