California State University, Fullerton
EN-3: Student Life

ASI Committee on Environmental Sustainability (CES): Sponsored by the Associated Students, Inc., CES involves students in an ongoing effort to create a more sustainable campus and to advocate for sustainable efforts like reducing plastic bottle usage or eating local food products. Some of the sustainable events for spring semester will take place as part of the campus’ overall Earth Week events and activities. Sustainability initiatives are incorporated into the Committee's outreach and engagement strategy on an annual basis. CSUF Students Recycle: CSUF Student's Recycle is a volunteer-based club. It is a great opportunity to improve the environment by recycling used bottles and cans with the proceeds being used to purchase food for local soup kitchens. It builds leadership skills and improves character, and allows the development of lasting friendships. It is a great way to establish references for future aspirations, to establish strong communication skills, and to expand awareness of our service to the community. Environmental Studies Students Association (ESSA): Provides opportunities for association and interaction among students, employers, faculty, and administration at CSUF. The ESSA is also interested in uniting people who enjoy learning about and discussing current environmental issues in order to work together to solve these issues. Activities include social gatherings, clean-up opportunities, hikes, and much more. Society of Environmental Engineers: The purpose of this chapter shall be to unite students with interest in discipline of Environmental Engineering in order to enhance social, academic and professional opportunities. Our goals are to expose students with real word scenarios by having guest speakers, field trips to different facilities, and community service. Our main goal is to challenge students individually and as a team by participating in research and design projects, and regional competitions. Numerous student organizations focus on the social pillars of sustainability by fostering activities that contribute to cultural and social awareness and competency, support diversity, or provide services within the campus and surrounding communities. Such examples include, but are not limited to: hiking and outdoors clubs, bicycling clubs, clubs that promote childhood literacy, mentoring programs, advocating for political action or social justice, and providing support to a diverse student body.

The Fullerton Arboretum has an organic farm and orchard where students can gain farming/ gardening experience. The farm is approximately a quarter of an acre. Arboretum staff cultivates seasonal vegetables and herbs on the farm year round. An organic orchard is also cultivated with over 200 fruit trees. This property is operated by the non-profit organization Friends of the Arboretum in a City-University-Organization collaboration effort, and provides a living laboratory for students, faculty, staff, and the public. This property features approximately 10 unique areas of plant collections, plant propagation and ecological educational facilities, plant sales, and local agriculture. As a non-profit, the Fullerton Arboretum offers many student volunteer opportunities and educational tours of the facility. Roots 'n' Shoots: Roots and Shoots is a world wide environmental and humanitarian program founded by Dr. Jane Goodall to help promote youth (all) to invest in their local community. The CSUF chapter of Roots 'n' Shoots participates and designs many activities that promote positivity in the local area. U-Acre: U-ACRE, The Urban Agriculture Community-based Research Experience (U-ACRE) program at California State University Fullerton provides: hands-on community-based research experience for undergraduates; community outreach in areas of urban agriculture, and food security; a replicable model of urban agriculture as a tool to increase food security; knowledge and skill sets for jobs and careers in STEM and NIFA-related fields. Community-based research foci include: implementing and evaluating sustainable urban agriculture projects to increase community food security and influence dietary patterns of children; understanding food choices and dietary intake through childhood and in the context of food insecurity; understanding how agriculture can be integrated into the urban ecosystem leading to sustainable practices, conservation of natural resources and biodiversity. The structure of the program begins with a 5-week intensive trans-disciplinary program of study during the summer session, followed by junior year community-based research experience working with a U-ACRE faculty mentor on an established research project, and culminates in a year of analysis and senior thesis. For more information on U-ACRE, please visit: http://sustainability.fullerton.edu/U-ACRE/

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2nd Annual Symposium (April 2014): The Sustainability Symposium provides an opportunity for CSUF faculty, students, and staff to give sustainability-related presentations, posters and exhibits. Sustainability is a very broad topic covering most academic disciplines and jobs. In fact, in the first two years of the event, presentations have come from 30 different departments/ units on campus. Sustainability involves living within the regenerative capacity of the planet and affects the quality of our experience here and now. http://facilities.fullerton.edu/subject/engineering_sustainability/climate_leed/SustainabilitySymposium.asp Social Justice Summit (April 2014): The Social Justice Summit offers the opportunity to share strategies, learn from community leaders, and become an active participant in the democratic process through community service, civic engagement, advocacy, and social justice. Each Spring Semester, Students ACT hosts the annual Social Justice Summit, bringing together hundreds of students, faculty/staff, and community members. The Summit provides an avenue for individuals to discover and become conscious of societal disparities and overall global oppression, and how they can take Action toward change. http://www.fullerton.edu/volunteer/summit/ Powersave Green Career Panel (November 2014): Featured sustainability professionals from on-campus Facilities Operations Sustainability Programs Manager, on-campus Facilities Operations Sustainability Waste Management Specialist, and Southern California Edison Regional Representative http://sustainability.fullerton.edu/powersave/ . All Points of the Compass, featured CA Water Resources Panel (November 2014): The symposium will feature posters and presentations showcasing a wide range of research by CSU Fullerton Geography undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and alumni. We are excited to announce that this year’s keynote presentation will discuss water issues in the West, as a panel of distinguished experts examines the past, present, and future of water in California. http://geography.fullerton.edu/geog/AllPoints2014.asp CSU Chancellor’s Office CPDC, Sustainable Campus Track, Planning Committee Chaired by CSU Fullerton’s Facilities Operations Director (October 2014): The Sustainable Campus is an institution that recognizes and accepts its responsibility for its impact on the environment through conscious and effective action in all areas of influence. As such, this track will explore specific subject areas influenced by the business operations to assess best sustainable practices. This can range from focusing on personal responsibilities as well as taking on the daunting challenge of reducing our carbon footprint and adjusting to a warmer climate. In terms of planning and outcomes, the breadth of sustainable engagement will have a marked impact on student success. Featured topics included “Institutionalization: A holistic approach to campus management”; “Procurement and Waste Management: From Cradle to Grave”; “Climate Action Planning”; and “Water Conservation: What Makes Cents?”. http://www.calstate.edu/CPDC/FPM_Conference/2014/sessions/sustainable-university.shtml

Sustainability Symposium Visual Art installation: Featured during the 2nd Annual Sustainability Symposium (April 2014). In collaboration with the Earth Week events, on-and off-campus presentations on various topics relating to sustainability, encouraging sustainable living in a harmonious, as opposed to destructive, relationship with the world around us. CSU Fullerton Visual Art students created pieces that addressed issues of sustainability that they cared about. This blog post hosts the impressive artworks, along with descriptions by the students who created them.

GE Pathway, Sustainability Track: The Sustainability pathway is one of four pathways in the Pathway to Success required for all incoming freshmen for Fall Semester 2014. The Sustainability Pathway provides students with the opportunity to explore how social, economic, and environmental issues have interacted to result in the global conditions that are seen today and challenges that students may confront in the future. The Pathway to Success offers a unique opportunity for first-time freshman to construct a more intentional focus in the selection of first-year courses. Students will have the opportunity to complete 9-15 units of thematic coursework throughout your first two semesters. Students will benefit from the thematic content of their preferred Pathway and improve their marketability in the workforce. Other opportunities include: developing a direct path for graduation; avoiding unnecessary coursework that may delay their graduation plan; working closely with dedicated faculty; experiencing learning beyond the four walls of the classroom by participating in co-curricular events; optimizing the semester schedule with saved seats for students in all the required Pathway courses. Freshmen Programs University-100, iSustain course: The iSustain learning community is an academic year-long experience (fall and spring semesters) which explores sustainability from community, environmental, economic and social perspectives. By participating in this learning community students receive assistance with charting an academic and career path. Students engage in sustainability through various lenses (i.e. environmental, social, and economic). The students are provided support from freshman-friendly faculty, advisers, professional staff and peer mentors; as well as other department services in order to stay on-track in their coursework and graduate on time. Students learn information literacy and library research skills, and participate in service-learning projects with their peers. All students are mentored by one of the program’s upper-division team of students, and many become peer mentors as they progress through the first-year experience. For more information, please visit: http://www.fullerton.edu/freshmanprograms/perspective/learningcommunities/isustain.asp

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Facilities Operations, Sustainability and Engineering Interns: Facilities Operations Sustainability and Engineering Unit recruits and employs students on a semester-basis to learn about and work on various sustainability-focused projects for the campus. Projects include the STARS data collection and development of the campus report, the utilities enterprise data collection and analysis, sustainable waste management program support and auditing, and other various campuswide audits. Community outreach and engagement events and opportunities are also dovetailed into these internships, incorporating educational components and communication skills. For more information, please visit: http://facilities.fullerton.edu/subject/engineering_sustainability/climate_leed/Default.asp Powersave Interns: PowerSave Campus is a student-driven energy efficiency education program that promotes careers in the field, generates actual energy savings, increases awareness of the importance of energy efficiency, and encourages academic infusion of sustainability concepts. Our projects range from energy audits and assessments, residential and laboratory energy competitions, intern-led and faculty sponsored academic courses, green career fairs, and energy efficiency technology retrofits. CSUF PowerSave Campus interns work closely with faculty, staff, administrators and other students to engage them in their projects, spearheading educational campaigns that involve the entire campus community. Powersave prioritizes projects that educate the campus community on energy efficiency, achieves energy savings, and encourages the next generation of energy efficiency professionals through: outreach and education, academic infusion, measurable energy savings, green workforce development. CSUF PowerSave Campus promotes energy efficiency outreach through educational campaigns. These include but are not limited to green festivals, tabling events, educational posters, and monthly campus newsletters about program activities. We build pathways to green careers through trainings, mentorships, internships, volunteer opportunities, and project-based learning. Infusing energy and energy efficiency concepts into academic curricula is a key component of the program. In addition, the program measures energy savings through research into and implementation of energy efficiency best practices, educational campaigns, and facilitation of retrofits. PowerSave Campus has intern teams on 16 different University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) campuses in California. CSUF PowerSave Campus' team is made up of 6 student interns/project coordinators. For more information, please visit: http://sustainability.fullerton.edu/powersave/interns.asp Center for Sustainability: The Center for Sustainability was established at CSUF in 2009 and is a campus focal point for sustainability-centered activities. These include facilitating the development and inclusion of sustainability-centered topics in the university's curriculum, supporting external grant-getting by faculty members and other members of the university community, encouraging interaction among faculty members from different disciplines, reaching out to members of the greater community interested in sustainability, providing leadership in efforts to make the campus more sustainable, and coordinating sustainability-related activities on campus. Typically, student internships are available and recruited for on an academic year basis. For more information, please visit: http://sustainability.fullerton.edu/aboutcs/

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