CGCC’s nominee for Innovation of the Year, “Food and Green Waste Recycling Program: An Ongoing Collaborative Project Model for Sustaining Student Learning, Success, and Creativity through Experiential Learning,” continues CGCC’s longstanding commitment to sustainability, and it brings together a coalition of faculty, administrators, and support staff with the goal of elevating experiential learning. One of the best features of this project is its multidisciplinary approach. Students in diverse fields of study are engaged in critical thinking, problem-solving and hands-on experimentation.
Adjunct and full-time faculty are connecting with leaders in college facility operations, food service, marketing and media to optimize the student learning experience and to model the value of cooperative planning and project management spanning a complex, hierarchical educational organization. CGCC won the 2019 Maricopa Community College Innovation of the Year Award for the Waste Food Digester project. One project is selected each from all of the colleges in the district, and the winner receives the Dr. Paul M. Pair Innovation of the Year Award of $2,000 for future innovation.