MORRISVILLE, NY—Morrisville State has been honored again for its trees.
The college received 2014 Tree Campus USA® recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management.
Tree Campus USA® is a national program created in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation, and sponsored by Toyota, to honor colleges and universities for effective campus forest management and engaging staff and students in conservation goals. Morrisville State achieved the title by meeting Tree Campus USA’s five standards, which include maintaining a tree advisory committee and a campus tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for its campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance and conducting a student service-learning project.
Tree Campus USA® is a national recognition for what Morrisville State students, faculty and staff have been doing for years, learning about trees as they plant and care for them on the campus and in local communities. The campus also received the prestigious recognition in 2013.
Students utilize Morrisville State’s trees for hands-on learning experiences including pruning, climbing, identifying, inventorying, as well as planting them.
Members of Morrisville State’s campus tree advisory committee spend months developing a campus tree-care plan which includes policies for planting, care and removal, as well as plans for tree protection and preservation. Future goals include creating a campus-wide arboretum and increasing the biodiversity of trees.
“Trees, on a well-maintained campus, are a living plant collection, which makes the campus itself an arboretum, said Aida Khalil, associate professor in the Plant Sciences Department and member of the campus tree advisory committee. “Aside from the scale and character they lend to our MSC landscape, our campus trees are valuable for their environmental and educational benefits.”
Campus plans for Arbor Day this year include planting two trees, one native and one ornamental. Both will be chosen based on their usefulness for horticulture and natural resources classes and will add to the diversity of species already on campus. The trees will be planted by students and community members. Additionally, native tree seedlings will also be given away.
The Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota have helped campuses throughout the country plant thousands of trees, and Tree Campus USA® colleges and universities invested more than $26 million in campus forest management last year.
Morrisville State’s curricula are enriched with applied learning and pave the way for opportunity at both the Morrisville and Norwich campuses. An action-oriented, interactive learning lab, the college is a national leader in technology and has been lauded for its exemplary, innovative and effective community service programs.
In addition to being named to the 2014 President’s Higher Community Education Service Honor Roll, the college was recognized by U.S. News and World Report as an institution in the top tier of the Best Regional Colleges list and ranked second among regional colleges nationwide for outperforming its anticipated graduation rate.