| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 73.04 |
| Liaison | Troy Goodnough |
| Submission Date | March 30, 2018 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of Minnesota, Morris
EN-3: Student Life
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Troy
Goodnough Sustainability Director Office of Sustainability |
Does the institution have one or more active student groups focused on sustainability?:
A brief description of active student groups focused on sustainability:
Some examples: The Morris MPIRG (Minnesota Public Interest Research Group) chapter has a Environmental Justice Task Force that focuses on helping students on-campus and off-campus live more sustainably, as well as working towards systemic change. Additionally, the Morris Student Organic Gardening Club is working to bring more local, sustainable food to campus. The Morris Campus Student Association (MCSA) also appoints two sustainability representatives to advance sustainability on campus and within student government. The Morris ACS Chemistry Club works on sustainability-themed outreach and engagement with kids.
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?:
A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:
The campus has a 2.5 acre student-run organic garden. The Organic Gardening Club meets during the school year. In the fall, they harvest, weed, and prepare the garden for winter. During the winter, meetings are focused on planning the next year's garden. In the spring, the club prepares the garden for summer and begins planting. This is coupled with a program called, "Live to Garden," where students are offered housing on campus during the summer in exchange for work in the organic garden.
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)?:
A brief description of the student-run enterprises:
The Morris campus has dedicated an entire building to house a successful student-run recycling program. The campus recycles aluminum, tin, plastic, glass, and electronics waste as well as cardboard, glossy paper, office paper, and news printing. These recycling efforts create employment opportunities for students at the Morris campus.
The website URL where information about the student-run enterprises is available (optional):
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?:
A brief description of the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives:
Students initiated a Green Reinvestment Fund at Morris. Students, faculty and staff are able to initiate projects and utilize funds for sustainability-related projects. For example, in funds from the GRF were used to support the purchase of a composting sifter, which improved the composting process on-campus by removing forks, knives, etc (student-governed). Students may also access "Tech Fee" funds for improving campus sustainability infrastructure. This has included new watering equipment for the Student Organic Garden (student-governed).
The website URL where information about the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives is available (optional):
Does the institution have conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience?:
A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability:
Our campus constantly has events focusing on sustainability.
The Midwest Philosophy Colloquium focused on sustainability in spring 2017.
Each year we have Earth Month activities. One of the highlights of the week is the annual Fashion Trashion show, where students showcase their outfits made by hand out of recycled materials.
Each year, Morris Environmental Studies hosts a scholar-in-residence/speaker series on-campus. The invited scholar gives an invited talk related to sustainability to campus and community.
Each year, the Morris Equity and Diversity office hosts an Elder-in-Residence program. An elder with an American Indian identity is hosted at Morris for several days and shares stories, wisdom and practices with the campus community.
Morris hosts "Cafe Scientifique" for the students and the larger Morris-ares at local coffee shop to discuss sustainabilty- and science-related themes.
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?:
A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations or performances related to sustainability:
Morris is home to the Morrison Gallery. Each year, art installations that reflect the relationships between humans, the environment, and the societies they live in are featured.
Additionally, the Morris Theatre program routinely develops theatre productions that focus on sustainability during the production. (E.g. A Midsummer Nights Dream production in fall 2016)
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?:
A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:
Each year, our Geology club hosts a number of camping and hiking trips to different areas around the country. They are very conscious of any impact they might leave, always making sure to pack out everything they packed in -- and discuss Leave No Trace principles. The Morris MicroAdventure program also brings people outside and discusses these principles.
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)?:
A brief description of the sustainability-related themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:
Morris has made sustainability an important campus theme.
Our mission statement has a goal of preparing students to be environmental stewards.
Freshman must take an "Intellectual Community" course. Several IC courses integrate sustainability-themes into their courses. For example, Science Savvy in Our Modern World, encourages students to think about their relationship to the environment and covers topics like climate change, ozone hole depletion, chemicals in drinking water and offers them Green Tours.
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?:
A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
Students living in the Green Prairie Living Community Residence Hall, and particularly, students involved with the Morris Health Eating collaborate with the the Office of Residential Life to teach sustainable life skills, in particular, cooking skills.
The website URL where information about the sustainable life skills programs is available (optional):
Does the institution offer sustainability-focused student employment opportunities?:
A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:
The Office of Sustainability, Center for Small Towns, Office of Community Engagement, and Facilities Management are several offices that provide sustainability-focused employment opportunities. This includes work that explores: equity/diversity concerns, health eating, farmers market development, composting, community climate engagement, community water knowledge, regional lake health, community-based renewable energy, and more.
The website URL where information about the student employment opportunities is available:
Does the institution have graduation pledges through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions?:
A brief description of the graduation pledges:
The website URL where information about the graduation pledges is available (optional):
Does the institution have other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives?:
A brief description of the other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives:
The Morris campus offers the BISoN program -- for Building Institutional Sustainability Networks program. The program is offered to the entire campus to join and brings together faculty, staff and students to discuss sustainability-related topics and themes. It also provides a sustainability training opportunity for everyone on campus.
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):
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.