California State University, Sacramento
AC-5: Immersive Experience

Sac State Sustainability has an ongoing student program focusing on sustainability issues on campus and in the local community. Each semester 1-2 students join the campus sustainability team for an immersive sustainability experience. Students work on improving various sustainability topics/issues based on their areas on interest. Students work with the sustainability team to determine a sustainability issue or focus area that can be improved and has tangible results, then work to achieve the goal in a student driven active learning manner.
Students work with various departments on and off campus in order to achieve project success, acquiring experience in the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability. This program gives students experience and networking opportunities in the field of sustainability, helping define their future career paths. A recent example of this program was students working under the guidance of the Sustainability Team and in partnership with Empowering Possibilities International Charter School (EPIC). Sac State students learned about various sustainability topics, such as composting, or the importance of pollinators, then created and executed educational programs to teach K-12 children about those same topics, and what they can do at home to make a difference. Students worked both on campus and at the Charter school over a series of months. Students not only learned about importance sustainability issues, but also how to teach those issues to elementary school kids. Another example of this student program is showcased in a previous Infrared Faucet Study performed on campus. Under the guidance of the Sustainability Team the student worked with Sac State plumbers, Chicago Faucets and other students over the course of a semester, to perform a comparison on water usage from replacing standard manual faucets with automatic infrared faucets. As a result of the study Sacramento State replaced manual faucets with infrared ones in bathrooms campus wide. The students that participated in the program got to work with and learn about water reduction from an on campus sustainability perspective, but also from a corporate faucet companies perspective.

Students participating in this program receive 3 units of academic credit as part of the formal campus curriculum through their respective college. For example ENVS provides students 3 units of credit for participating in this program through their ENVS 195 course. During the semester participating students meet with an ENVS faculty member to submit project summaries, present topics learned and complete associated assignments that align with their immersive Experience.

An additional program that meets the immersive experience credit is NUFD 110. This course focuses on food production and sustainability. Students weekly lab hours are spent on campus with the sustainability team at either the BAC Yard or Campus Garden. Students learn about topics such as sustainable food production, composting, aquaponics and honey bees in an immersive hands-on way. They also learn about the social, ecological and economic systems that have led to the issues with our current food system. This course provides students with 4 units of credit. Additional information regarding the BAC Yard can be found at the link below.