Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 65.05
Liaison Ellie Perry
Submission Date Feb. 15, 2023

STARS v2.2

California State University, Dominguez Hills
EN-3: Student Life

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Ellie Perry
Sustainability Manager
Facilities Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Student groups 

Does the institution have an active student group focused on sustainability?:
Yes

Name and a brief description of the active student groups focused on sustainability:
Ecology Club: Provides maintenance and restoration support for native gardens on and off campus.

Earth Science Club: The Earth Science club is to provide an informal environment for undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty who are interested in Earth Sciences, to promote interaction, and expand opportunities for extracurricular learning and experiences. Our goal is to explore, discover, enjoy and further the Earth Sciences through both, active and non-active, functions.

Sustainability Club: We are a club run by interns from the CSUDH Office of Sustainability. Our goal is to educate and empower fellow students on the subjects of:
-Recycling and waste management
-Saving energy and water
-Sustainable landscaping
-Food recovery
Such education is provided through tabling events, classroom discussions, and hands-on projects. Members have the opportunity to work
alongside interns on their sustainability projects that make a big difference on campus. Together, we can go green!

Gardens and farms 

Does the institution have a garden, farm, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery program, or an urban agriculture project 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:
The CSUDH Campus Farm is located next to Physical Plant and is a living laboratory designed to allow students and faculty to experiment with urban farming techniques and address food insecurity issues for disadvantaged communities.

https://www.csudh.edu/sustainability/campus-urban-farm/

Student-run enterprises 

Does the institution have a student-run enterprise that includes sustainability as part of its mission statement or stated purpose?:
No

A brief description of the student-run enterprises:
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Sustainable investment and finance 

Does the institution have a sustainable investment fund, green revolving fund, or sustainable microfinance initiative through which students can develop socially, environmentally and fiscally responsible investment and financial skills?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives:
The annual $5,000 Toro Green Initiatve Fund is designed to encourage student involvement in sustainability projects of their own design. Students are encouraged to submit a project proposal and proposed budget to further sustainability on campus.

Events 

Has the institution hosted a conference, speaker series, symposium, or similar event focused on sustainability during the previous three years that had students as the intended audience?:
Yes

A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia, or similar events focused on sustainability:
CSUDH's annual Earth Day celebration takes place the third Thursday of April and is a campus-wide event. The day is filled with speakers discussing sustainability topics, vendors displaying eco-friendly products and technologies, and student clubs tabling to showcase their sustainability projects.

Cultural arts 

Has the institution hosted a cultural arts event, installation, or performance focused on sustainability with the previous three years that had students as the intended audience?:
Yes

A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations, or performances focused on sustainability:
The Labor, Social & Environmental Justice Fair occurs every April and features art, performances, lectures, films, and more on this topic.

Wilderness and outdoors programs 

Does the institution have a wilderness or outdoors program that follow Leave No Trace principles?:
Yes

A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:
The KIN 180: Fly Fishing in New Zealand study-abroad course was trained via in-person workshop on Leave No Trace principles in Fall 2022.

Sustainability-focused themes 

Has the institution had a sustainability-focused theme chosen for a themed semester, year, or first-year experience during the previous three years?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-focused themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:
The university teaches First-Year Seminars (FYS) which feature a variety of topics including sustainability-related themes.

Sustainable life skills 

Does the institution have a program through which students can learn sustainable life skills?:
Yes

A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
Every September, the Office of Sustainability hosts weekly eco-living workshops for students to learn sustainable life skills. Topics include zero waste living and crafting, sustainable cooking/food choices, green cleaning techniques, etc.

Student employment opportunities 

Does the institution offer sustainability-focused student employment opportunities?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:
There are currently 3 paid sustainability internships through the Office of Sustainability.

Outside organizations also regularly offer sustainability-focused student employment opportunities through the Career Center's student job portal (Handshake) and/or opportunities are publicized through the Office of Sustainability's monthly newsletter.

https://www.csudh.edu/career-center/employers/csudh-handshake-online-job-posting-service/

Graduation pledge

Does the institution have a graduation pledge through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions?:
Yes

A brief description of the graduation pledge(s):
Students can fill out an online green graduation pledge promising to consider social and environmentally responsibility in their daily lives after graduation and/or in their future employment decisions.

In exchange, Facilities Services has committed to putting $1/pledge towards planting new trees on campus. The pledge covers the graduating classes for the next five years (2020-2025) which correlates to the Sustainable Landscape Plan's goal of achieving 25% tree cover on campus by 2025 through tree planting.

www.csudh.edu/sustainability (Take Action)

Optional Fields

A brief description of other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives that do not fall into one of the above categories:
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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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