Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 73.03
Liaison Mark Lichtenstein
Submission Date June 7, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry
EN-3: Student Life

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Laura Crandall
Director of Student Involvement & Leadership
Student Affairs
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have one or more active student groups focused on sustainability?:
Yes

A brief description of active student groups focused on sustainability:

ESF has over 25 different environmentally-focused clubs on campus. The clubs that have the most focus on campus sustainability include:

Green Campus Initiative (GCI): The main goals of GCI are to:

-Implement and manage green and sustainable initiatives on campus,
-Monitor and reduce waste of all campus operations and activities,
-Practice what we teach and learn in our classes at ESF,
-Provide hands-on sustainability training and learning opportunities, and
-Foster a culture of sustainability awareness & action in the campus and local community.

Divest ESF:

- Create awareness on campus of the global campaign for fossil fuel divestment, and
- The club successfully convinced ESF and ESF's College Foundation to commit to divest in November 2015. Victory FB post: https://www.facebook.com/FossilFree/photos/a.138666382951057.33384.133389796812049/545117052305986/?type=3&theater

ESF-SU Food Recovery Network:

- The Food Recovery Network at Syracuse University and SUNY ESF seeks to redistribute donated dining hall food to local charitable organization. https://www.facebook.com/FRNatESFandSU/timeline
- The Food Recovery Network and SUNY ESF and SU is student run volunteer organization at the crossroads of social justice and waste reduction. They work with dining halls on both campuses and charitable organizations throughout the city to recover prepared but unused food from dining halls and donate it to charitable organizations and people in need.


The website URL where information about the student groups is available (optional):
Does the institution have gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects where students are able to gain experience in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems?:
Yes

A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:

Students in the Green Campus Initiative were given space for an organic garden. The student leaders organize work sessions to teach other interested students about the gardening techniques. There is also a spring plant sale, of the surplus plants grown in the older campus greenhouses by the students.
https://www.facebook.com/GCIESF/?fref=nf


The website URL where information about the gardens, farms or agriculture projects is available (optional):
Does the institution have student-run enterprises that include sustainability as part of their mission statements or stated purposes (e.g. cafés through which students gain sustainable business skills)?:
No

A brief description of the student-run enterprises:

N/A


The website URL where information about the student-run enterprises is available (optional):
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Does the institution have sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives through which students can develop socially, environmentally and fiscally responsible investment and financial skills?:
No

A brief description of the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives:

N/A


The website URL where information about the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives is available (optional):
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Does the institution have conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience?:
Yes

A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability:

There are many. Here are a few examples:

New York State Green Building Conference -- ESF partners with the U.S. Green Building Council New York Upstate Chapter to host the New York State Green Building conference. The New York State Green Building Conference’s mission is to promote, educate and support green building design, construction and processes.

ESF Women’s Caucus -- The ESF Women's Caucus was formed by a group of ESF students, staff, and faculty who wanted an opportunity to work and socialize with other women. The first meeting convened November 17, 1994, as a brown-bag lunch discussion. The Caucus aims to raise consciousness about women's concerns, work for change to improve the climate for women at ESF, and create a community that is a respectful forum for diverse ideas. The goals are to increase the number of women students and faculty at ESF, find ways for women to better communicate and coordinate or sponsor activities that benefit them, and improve services for ESF families. Any woman student (undergraduate or graduate), staff member or faculty member, including any woman that is at ESF part-time, can join the Women's Caucus. The Women’s Caucus facilitates numerous environmental lectures on the ESF campus each semester.

Green Infrastructure Symposium -- This program provides the opportunity to learn about the green infrastructure technologies at work in Central New York along with current technology design, applications and policies.

Moonlighting -- This is a series of informal discussions, debates and interviews hosted by Dr. Quentin Wheeler, President of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. For centuries, the university has been the place where freedom of speech and thought are cherished, but also where ideas and assertions are freely challenged through open, respectful discourse that knows no disciplinary boundaries. Moonlighting is intended to foster such discourse and create an enjoyable, intellectually stimulating evening.

Others --

Earth Lecture Series
Dale Travis Lecture Series
Spirit and Essence Banquet in recognition of diversity and inclusion (student led)


The website URL where information about the conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability is available (optional):
Does the institution have cultural arts events, installations or performances related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience?:
Yes

A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations or performances related to sustainability:

1- Every year, students in the Department of Landscape Architecture host two events on campus. The first event is the annual Parking Day which they transform a parking spot(s) into a different space for the day. The second event is the annual Festival of Places in which the landscape architecture students who studied abroad for one semester build different cultural displays for a week and educate students on the culture, experiences, and landscaping.

2- Another event ESF hosts is a week long celebration of Earth Day, called Earth Week. During this week ESF hosts many events that include a theme of sustainability, culture, and performances from within the ESF community.

3- ESF's Baobab Society Club
This group has three goals:
-Promote a culturally conscious community,
-Providing education and support for its members, and
-Facilitating interaction with the greater Syracuse community.
Past Baobab sponsored events include:
Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos)
Insomniac Event: Miyazaki Madness
Spirit of Essence Banquet
Co-sponsorship with "Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign"
Co-sponsorship with Pride Union's Totally Fabulous Drag Show
Dwali: Hindu Festival of Lights


The website URL where information about the cultural arts events, installations or performances is available (optional):
Does the institution have wilderness or outdoors programs (e.g. that organize hiking, backpacking, kayaking, or other outings for students) that follow Leave No Trace principles?:
Yes

A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:

The Bob Marshall Club was named for Adirondack educator and preservationist, Bob Marshall. This is an organization of students who are concerned about the future of natural wilderness areas, especially the Adirondack Mountains. This "outing club" enjoys numerous hiking and exploration trips and follows a “Leave No Trace” protocol.


The website URL where information about the wilderness or outdoors programs is available (optional):
Does the institution have sustainability-related themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences (e.g. choosing a sustainability-related book for common reading)?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-related themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:

ESF requires all incoming first year students to read a book related to the environment. In past years, students were required to read:

2014 Earth Themed First-Year Experience and Lecture Series
2013 Water Themed First-year Experience and Lecture Series
2012 Being Caribou by Karsten Heuer
2011 eaarth by Bill McKibben
2010 Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
2009 The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
2008 Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
2007 Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
2006 Recovering the Sacred by Winona LaDuke
2005 The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan
2004 Enough by Bill McKibben

The required summer reading is used by the “Writing and the Environment” (a first year student course) instructors as well as the professors who teach Biology and Chemistry. The themes of the yearly book are incorporated into lectures, discussions, and assignments.


The website URL where information about the sustainability-related themes is available (optional):
Does the institution have programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills?:
Yes

A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:

Many of ESF's student clubs organize workshops year-round on sustainable life skills, including the Green Campus Initiative, the Plant Propagation Club, Primitive Pursuits Club, and Cycling Connections.

For Spring Break 2016, ESF's Student Affairs Office (through ESF's Community Service Coordinator) held a week-long Tiny-Home construction workshop, and built a home for the homeless. The service project was organized in partnership with A Tiny Home for Good Inc ( http://www.atinyhomeforgood.org/).

In 2015 ESF's Sustainability Office began hosting foraging workshops "Foraging Fridays" (intersection of local food systems and biodiversity awareness and conservation), and the program will expanded in the coming years.

ESF has one residence hall (Centennial Hall) that has achieved LEED Gold certification and includes an EcoReps program
https://www.facebook.com/SUNYESFEcoReps/


The website URL where information about the sustainable life skills programs is available (optional):
Does the institution offer sustainability-focused student employment opportunities?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:

EcoReps are employed at Centennial hall.

Numerous work study students, GA's, and interns have worked for the Office of Sustainability.

There are various Community Service work study tutors in the local community helping with science education.


The website URL where information about the student employment opportunities is available:
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Does the institution have graduation pledges through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions?:
No

A brief description of the graduation pledges:

N/A


The website URL where information about the graduation pledges is available (optional):
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Does the institution have other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives?:
Yes

A brief description of the other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives:

ESF has over 25 clubs with the spirit of sustainability in their mission. This makes the College's student organizations very unique, filled with truly dedicated student leaders with passion towards the environment.

Every year a large coaltion of ESF students (from many different clubs) organize Earth Week. See events calendar from 2015: http://www.esf.edu/earthweek/


The website URL where information about other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives is available (optional):
Estimated percentage of students (full-time and part-time) that participate annually in sustainability-focused co-curricular education and outreach programs (0-100):
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.