Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 58.15
Liaison Lacey Raak
Submission Date Feb. 21, 2021

STARS v2.2

California State University, Monterey Bay
EN-3: Student Life

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Lacey Raak
Sustainability Director
Campus Planning and Development
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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:

Associated Students-Environmental Affairs Committee - A student governed organization the EAC raises awareness of environmental impact issues on campus, the surrounding community, the region and state and shall promote and advocate for sustainable organizational and campus practices and operations. A variety of clubs on campus including the Marine Science Club, Science Club, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Hospitality Club support student learning and engagement focused on sustainability in the community as it relates to those curricular areas of study.
https://csumb.edu/as/eac


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:

East Campus residential housing has a small student led garden in whch students may utilize. Additionally, "sustainability commons" an area of campus dedicated to sustainabililty-focused living learning opportunities. It provides open space for research, greenhouses for propagation of native plants and opportunities for student groups and courses to learn in a "hands-on" manner.


Does the institution have a student-run enterprise that includes sustainability as part of its mission statement or stated purpose?:
Yes

A brief description of the student-run enterprises:

Associated Students Food Pantry - Food insecurity is defined as "being without access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food." The financial burden of a college education has led to an increasing number of students that are food insecure. The Associated Students Food Pantry was implemented in an effort to address this issue at CSUMB. Through this service, we are able to provide students with a bag of nutritious non-perishable foods. The Associated Students strive to make getting an education affordable and accessible. The AS Food Pantry is one of the ways we can accomplish this task. While sustainabiity is not directly addressed within this mission statement the social justice issues addressed within this program fit within our campus definition of sustainability.

Sustainable Hospitality Club - Bring about awareness of sustainability to the local community and CSUMB students. We will educate the community on important environmental issues and what we can do to lessen or prevent our impact. Focus on the hospitality industry - what it entails, why its important to incorporate sustainability.
https://csumb.edu/as/food-pantry


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?:
No

A brief description of the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives:
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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:

The School of Natural Sciences organizes seminars featuring different speakers focusing on different areas of the Natural Sciences. Conservation, environmental issues, and furthering education in natural science fields are some of the topics covered. The environmental and social/economic sustainability factors are integrated in each series.

Sustainable Hospitality has hosted a summit the last two years that brings together industry leaders to discuss best practices in the hospitality industry.

https://csumb.edu/biologychemistry/seminars

https://csumb.edu/hospitality/2nd-monterey-bay-sustainable-hospitality-summit


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:

This includes everything from a sculpture hanging in the Otter Express, a campus dining facility, made entirely of recycled materials to other speakers and art installations. The campus also has a number of Senior Capstone Art projects focused on Sustainability.

https://csumb.edu/sustainability/event-calendar


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:

Through the Student Recreation department they helps the community explore the natural world in an area famous for its beauty, and strategically located for those who wish to dive, surf, sail, climb, hike, bike, and ski all in the same day. Our location offers endless possibilities for exploration with mild weather, year round.We are bordered by miles of public beaches and recreation lands. Our campus connects with 50 miles of hiking, mountain biking, and horse back riding trails in the largest remaining coastal oak woodlands in California. Big Sur's mountains and canyons with their giant old growth redwood trees are our backyard. Out front is a marine sanctuary noted for whale watching, scuba diving and the home to otters, the university mascot. We are the first ever collaborative venture in outdoor recreation and education services between a California State University and the United States Army. This creates an incredibly comprehensive system of services and resources.Almost everything imaginable is available. Currently you can rent hiking and camping equipment as well as bicycles in the Student Center. In the future you will have a ropes course accessible to you along with other outdoor activities.
https://csumb.edu/recreation


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:

This is now an element of our Office of Inclusive Excellence & Sustainability and has been added as an active part of our inclusion and equity efforts.

https://csumb.edu/diversity


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:

There is a Sustainable Otters Living Learning Program in the residence halls which helps students to learn not only the value of sustainable practices, social justice, and innovation - but will better understand the intersections of this knowledge.

https://csumb.edu/housing/project-leading-change-leave-your-mark


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

A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:

The Sustainability Office employs 4-8 students per year that work on sustainability outreach and engagement including developing campaigns for specific topic areas such as water and waste.


Does the institution have a graduation pledge through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions?:
No

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

With Covid, we have drastically reduced our reliance on wet signatue, requiring way less printing of documents. We also do most meetings by zoom, which means agendas are not printed and notes are taken electronically. There is also significantly less printing on campus.

We have instituted grey water irrigation in one of the residence halls that now waters plants outside of the building. https://csumb.edu/news/csumb-included-2020-sustainable-campus-index


Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.