Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 66.21
Liaison Stephen Ellis
Submission Date June 9, 2023

STARS v2.2

Boston University
EN-2: Student Orientation

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.06 / 2.00 Parren Fountain
Engagement Manager
BU Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Are the following students provided an opportunity to participate in orientation activities and programming that prominently include sustainability?:
Yes or No
First-year students Yes
Transfer students Yes
Entering graduate students Yes

Percentage of all entering students that are provided an opportunity to participate in orientation activities and programming that prominently include sustainability:
53

A brief description of how sustainability is included prominently in new student orientation :
Sustainability Ambassadors lead Boston University’s efforts in supporting a culture of sustainability on campus at Orientation. Ambassadors are undergraduate leaders who welcome incoming Terriers at Orientation and provide information about sustainability resources on campus, through a combination of information learned and their own personal experiences. Ambassadors provide education on zero waste practices, ways to get involved on campus, and seek one-on-one connection with students and their loved ones during general orientation events.

The 2020 Pandemic caused the whole undergraduate Orientation program to be quickly shifted to online. With this shift, all our in-person engagement and education opportunities were gone. For 2020, the Ambassador team focused on planning virtual shoulder events for Orientation, called "Continuing Conversations," during which incoming students could meet fellow students, learn about sustainability, ask questions, and play games together.

In addition to Undergraduate Orientation, BU Sustainability also participates in Graduate Orientation programs, which are organized separately through the different schools and colleges. These usually consist of a series of presentations or tabling fairs where our team can share resources for sustainable living on campus and in the Boston area as well as share our Climate Action Plan goals. In 2020 Graduate schools pivoted to online orientation, mostly by sharing resources via their websites. BU Sustainability did extensive outreach and provided content on our programs to 24 graduate school programs, including a special page, video and graphics. Through our efforts, we reached at least 485 students, though our information was likely viewed by more students than that.

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about sustainability in student orientation is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
This represents FY2021 BU metrics.

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.