| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 46.90 |
| Liaison | Hannes Gerhardt |
| Submission Date | March 30, 2018 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of West Georgia
EN-3: Student Life
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Hannes
Gerhardt Sustainability Director Department of Geosciences |
Does the institution have one or more active student groups focused on sustainability?:
A brief description of active student groups focused on sustainability:
1. EcoLeaders - An affiliate of National Wildlife Federation, this organization is established for the purpose of increasing participation and contribution of students in sustainability efforts on campus and in the community. A particular focus in on showing leadership in educating fellow students in sustainability issues. This is a student governed organization.
2. Tri Beta Biological Honors Society. This biology club tackles many sustainability themes, even if sustainability is not considered fundamental to their mission. This organization is student governed.
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 Community Garden was established Spring 2014. The garden includes a small greenhouse on-site. We have a passive composting site adjacent to the garden where we dump all our removed leaves and herbaceous plants from the campus.
The campus group EcoLeaders is the driving force behind student participation in the garden. The garden was established in partnership with Tanner Health Systems, Home Depot, and Keep Carroll Beautiful. Food is consumed by students or donated to local soup kitchen. Garden involvement via EcoLeaders is student-governed.
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:
None.
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:
None.
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:
1. Earth Week- This is an annual week long event in the spring that focuses on environmental awareness, focused on students. One of the highlights of the week is a notable speaker that comes to give a talk. In 2017 the speaker was Janisse Ray.
2) 31st Annual Interdisciplinary Conferenece in the Humanities at UWG had the them Nature/Culture/Commerce with many sustainability themed sessions and a key note speaker: Dr. Renée Gosson.
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:
UWG's School of the Arts organizes many events, some of which have a sustainability theme. Students are always a main target for these events. Here are a few from the last three years: Pam Longobardi had an exhibition here, and she's a big environmental artist, works with detritus from the trash flotilla in the South Pacific. Also the documentarian Zack Godshall's film WATER LIKE STONE, about the rising waters in Louisiana was presented with access to the filmmaker. Also the marine biologist James McClintock and poet Adam Vines give a presentation; they co-wrote LOST ANTARTICA.
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:
1. University Recreation's Adventure Trips – Hiking, Kayaking, Bouldering, and Camping events are done each semester. The Outdoor Recreation program is centered around the Leave No Trace principles. The program offers numerous trips a year ranging from backpacking to sea kayaking, climbing to whitewater rafting, and on-campus seminars and clinics that focus on back country skills.
2. Outdoor Recreation also offers a rental program to provide equipment and resources to the university community.
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:
1) There are special STEM to STEAM learning communities that have a focus on sustainability. For instance, the English curriculum that targets the compulsory English composition courses (about 15 sections) have a sustainability theme, in which the main book that they read has a sustainability focus. The students are also exposed to external speakers that discuss sustainability topics.
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:
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:
1) There are currently 3 students working within the Risk Management Department who specifically focus sustainability efforts. Their responsibility is to pick-up materials for recycle / reuse and are mainly restricted to the following:
Cardboard
Plastic and aluminum bottles
Wooden pallets
Printer cartridges
2) A group of students work in landscaping and learn to follow sustainable landscaping practices.
3) The Center for Sustainability has one student employee that helps to conduct sustainability messaging.
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:
None.
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 Geosciences Department has a water quality program that has a student dimension to it in that they organize regular events for students to become more aware of and active in the maintenance of clean local watersheds. Some of the regular activities they engage students in is the fall River Cleanup of the Little Tallapoosa River and the Rake the Lake event in the spring. They also direct students to relevant events sponsored by various watershed and riverkeeper NGOs in the area. All the events are advertised and open to the entire student population.
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.