| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 70.16 |
| Liaison | Kylee Singh |
| Submission Date | Sept. 19, 2019 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
California Polytechnic State University
EN-3: Student Life
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Kylee
Singh Sustainability Coordinator Energy Utilities and Sustainability |
Does the institution have one or more active student groups focused on sustainability?:
A brief description of active student groups focused on sustainability:
Students at Cal Poly care about sustainability, they take initiative outside the classroom to organize, take action, and make a difference. As of Summer 2019 there are 33 student clubs and organizations at Cal Poly actively involved in a wide variety of sustainability fields and specialties.
Adventure Club
Association of Environmental Professionals
Biomimicry Club
Engineers for a Sustainable World
Environmental Nanothechnology Student Association
Environmental Outreach and Education
Environmental Sciences Club
Fisheries Club, Cal Poly
Forestry Honor Society
Future Fuels
Garden Club, The
Global Brigades
Green and Sustainable Structural Materials
GrowCrew
Hiking and Backpacking Club
Mustang Map Lab
Mycology, Cal Poly
Net Impact
Pi Alpha Xi
Plant Medicine Club
Plant Science Club, Cal Poly
PolyHemp: Cal Poly Industrial Hemp Club
PolyPonics
Rainworks, Cal Poly
Real Food Collaborative
Society of American Foresters
Society of Environmental Engineers
Sprout Up
Student Climate Coalition
Surfrider, Cal Poly
Wildlife Club, Cal Poly
Yoga
Zero Waste
This list can be found here https://clubs.calpoly.edu/clubs-directory
Use the "Club Type" search function to sort into "Environmental" groups.
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:
Organic Farm- A 9 acre production unit in the Horticulture and Crop Science Department that is certified organic by California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) with the primary mission of providing undergraduate students a place to experience hands-on learning in organic and sustainable farming and gardening practices. The farms vegetable production includes dozens of varieties of produce that are marketed in several local direct sales events like farmer’s markets, a campus farm market and to local vendors and restaurants; produce not sold is donated to the campus Food Pantry. The organic farm also serves as a classroom and laboratory to other Cal Poly courses and research programs. Faculty, staff and students jointly manage and steward the farm. The organic farm is supported by the Horticulture and Crop Science Department, the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, and also by grants and private donations. http://aeps.calpoly.edu/cal_poly_organic_farm.html
Real Food Collaborative CSA- Since the fall of 2016, a dedicated group of Cal Poly students - The Real Food Collaborative - has been gathering local and sustainable produce for students and community members and selling quarterly vegetable box subscriptions. https://realfoodcollaborative.squarespace.com/
Food Pantry garden- The 1,200-square-foot Food Pantry Garden, sponsored by Cal Poly’s Campus Health & Wellbeing Department along with the Honors Program and Facilities’ Energy, Utilities, and Sustainability Department is open for any student, staff or faculty member interested in a garden space. The garden will provide the campus community a space to grow vegetables while also allowing the gardeners to donate freshly picked produce to the Cal Poly Food Pantry, supporting food-insecure students.
https://calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases/2019/may/campus_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:
Poly Canyon Ventures is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded and managed by Cal Poly students. PCV provides high-impact Cal Poly student-led startups with funding, consulting, and other resources to help them grow and thrive. PPCV is accelerating cleantech innovation and entrepreneurship at Cal Poly through the Climate Changer's Fund in partnership with SLO Mayor Heidi Harmon and the Cal Poly Department of Energy, Utilities, and Sustainability.
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:
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:
Hosted by Cal Poly’s Energy, Utilities and Sustainability Department, Earth Week is an annual series of events to allow participants to network with sustainability professionals, try new foods and learn the best ways to protect the planet.
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:
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion partnered with Academic Affairs to host the second annual “Inclusion Starts With Me” Teach-In. With an array of topics ranging from “The Day Rihanna Turned Black: Race, Creolity, and Contemporary Popular Culture” to “Building a Community of Active Bystanders to Prevent Sexual Violence,” students had the opportunity to attend more than 25 workshops. One of the interactive workshops was “Art as Activism: ARTIVISM” and featured Papel Picado with the Chicanx/Latinx Faculty & Staff Association, Watercolor with Kennedy Library, Zine Making with the Cross Cultural Centers, Guerrilla Screen-Printing with Elizabeth Folk and the Art Department, Button Making with the Office of University Diversity & Inclusion and Aerosol and Screen-Printing with Self Help Graphics and Arts.
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:
Poly Escapes offers about twenty low-cost trips per quarter with no experience necessary. Trips vary from one-day local journeys to full weekend excursions. Leave No Trace knowledge is a mandated part of Poly Escapes Trip Leader Training. The program implements the LNT principles on over sixty trips of fourteen students annually, including several volunteer based back country environmental maintenance trips.
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:
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 goal of the Green Room Certification is threefold: to serve as a mechanism to continue increasing sustainability awareness, to bring together already sustainable minded students, and to bring in as many non-green students as possible into the community. The lifestyle choices of on campus residents impact their peers, campus, as well as the greater San Luis Obispo community and the Green Room certification aims to teach campus residents tips and tricks to live more sustainable while they live on campus. The program tracks individual residents consumption behaviors through a voluntary scorecard and provides them ratings based on how sustainable they live.
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 Cal Poly Green Campus program, originally established in 2007, was funded by Investor Owned Utilities and administered by the Alliance to Save Energy. Upon termination of utility funding in 2015, Cal Poly took the program in-house. The Green Campus team now works from a student led model with oversight from the Energy, Utilities, and Sustainability department in Facilities. With these resources, Green Campus students are better able to focus on the 2014 CSU Sustainability Policy goals related to energy, water, and Zero Waste, and support of student clubs. Every year the team six positions are open for renewal and offer opportunity to students from all five colleges to apply for a sustainability focused position on campus.
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 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.