Campus as Landscape

Rather than imposing our built and managed spaces on the land, our Landscaping Crew maintains our 100 acres of central campus as landscape, meaning we provide habitat for pollinators, birds, and other critters, minimize our use of chemical controls, and preserve the ecology of our mountain home. While this may mean a little more sweat equity, we’re not the only ones who think it’s well worth the effort:

Certified Wildlife Habitat (National Wildlife Foundation)
Native Plant Habitat (North Carolina National Parks Service)
Certified Monarch Butterfly Waystation (Monarch Watch)
Tree Campus USA (Arbor Foundation)
Bee Campus USA (Bee City USA)

One of the largest work crews, the Landscaping Crew ensures the beauty, safety, and ecology of central campus is maintained. Whether they’re plowing snow, climbing trees to remove dead limbs, planting milkweed, or mowing lawns, our Landscaping Crew is there to answer the call.

Some of the most rewarding things about working on Landscaping are working outside with a wonderful variety of people and getting to see the fruits of our collective labor every time I walk through campus. Plus I get to play with all kinds of cool tools and machinery!
Nolan Thompson

I enjoy that I get to learn skills that I never would have learned from taking classes; everyday I get hands on experience with real world job skills. I have learned how to design landscapes and put them in place. It’s amazing watching it go from the paper to in the ground!
Sarah Woody

One thing I love about landscaping crew is that I can walk around campus and see how much nicer it looks after we have finished working. I have learned the value of working hard and being part of a community.
Ryan Segall

Supervisor Spotlight

John Odell

John Odell has been a Landscaping Supervisor at WWC since 2015. He worked as a professional landscaper for six years in various parts of the country and most recently operated his own business controlling invasive plants and restoring native vegetation on public and private land. John received a BS in Forestry from Northern Arizona University, worked six years as a wildland firefighter, and six years as a natural resources manager for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. He lives on a 17-acre homestead with his wife, two children, and their many chickens.

Learning Outcomes

You’ll spend years working alongside your peers and mentored by supervisors. Part of the experience of work at Warren Wilson is guided critical reflection, which helps ensure that you achieve both your own educational goals as well as our Common Learning Outcomes. These intentional learning outcomes distinguish our work program, giving it focus and relevancy that set it apart from federal work study or your average part-time job. Specifically, our Common Learning Outcomes are:

Dependability: reliability, accountability, and the ability to successfully manage your time
Integrity: trustworthiness and respect for transparent honesty
Initiative: self-control, the ability to evaluate situations, and motivation to carry out responsibilities
Analytical Thinking: working with available resources to creatively address issues and solve problems
Communication: the ability to convey information effectively and build community with others
Collaboration: collaborate with peers to achieve common goals
Appreciation of the Value of All Work: an understanding of your place in the working world, and a respect for the dignity of all work

Learning and Performance Goals

In addition to our Common Learning Outcomes, each crew in the Work Program identifies crew-specific goals for learning and performance. These are reviewed with you each semester. The Learning and Performance Goals outline skills and abilities the supervisor will teach during the semester.