| Overall Rating | Reporter - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | |
| Liaison | Jenny Isler |
| Submission Date | March 1, 2018 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Clark University
EN-3: Student Life
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
Reporter |
Jenny
Isler Director of Sustainability Physical Plant / Facilities |
Does the institution have one or more active student groups focused on sustainability?:
A brief description of active student groups focused on sustainability:
ALL of the below are student governed. Note that only officially recognized clubs are on the LINK website but there are quite an additional number of non-student council recognized active groups, including Divest Clark, Blue Ocean, SAVVY, etc.
Environmental Action Council (formerly Clark Eco-Reps); previously described. Currently advancing a Zero Waste goal for Clark and successfully "zero-wasted" orientation as well as Spree Day
Clark Eco-Liaisons; previously described. Doing dorm vs dorm energy and recycling contests
Clark Sustainability Collaborative; a joint voice and resource for all of the sustainability-oriented student groups on campus, with delegates from other active green clubs & groups. CSC facilitates EarthWeek every year and CollabLabs every month.
Net Impact Clark Chapter; graduate green business student group. There is also a new undergraduate Net Impact chapter.
Student Sustainability Fund; a council offshoot, accepts and reviews competitive applications for student-led campus-based projects that will impact the University's footprint in energy, water, waste and other sustainability areas; the SSF then awards winning teams up to $20,000 to enact their project and helps to guide them through the installation or project management.
Cycles of Change; the bike-share and sustainable transportation club maintains all bikes, manages the bike share program, leads group rides, and promotes sustainable transportation lifestyle.
Outing Club; leading leave no trace trips, retreats and activities and doing wilderness clean up events
Arboretum Advocates; promoting, improving and protecting Clark's Hadwen Arboretum; hosting local school kids on environmental education programs and welcoming classes to the outdoor space
Food Truth; advancing Clark's Real Food Challenge goals and educating the community about sustainable food systems. Co-hosting popular Sustainable Suppers each semester
Clark Composts! ; increasing our capacity to compost by raising awareness and also fundraising for additional compost bins across campus - most recently in the Fitness Ctr.
Take Back the Tap; promoting sustainable water consumption and advocating against prepackaged water while working to increase the number of water bottle filling stations on campus. In 2 yrs over half a million plastic bottles diverted!
Green Office Auditors; sharing sustainability tips with office staff as they perform multi-step green office audits, make recommendations, and award participants a chart in 'green wheel' format. Three departments have been completed!
Clark Green Athletes; bringing sustainability consciousness to Athletics teams, gym, fitness center with practices such as reusable towels, water bottles, green clinics, etc.; the Green Athletes this year ran food waste audits in the cafeteria to gather data and educate on reducing food waste and eating a healthy, balanced diet
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:
This is student governed. The Clark Community Garden consists of raised beds, a 2-bin compost system, and a border of berry bushes. It is gardened using sustainable practices and organically. Seedlings are raised by students or purchased from the local YouthGrow farm. It is open to the community and supported by the Clark Herban Gardeners, a student governed club. Some of the produce grown in the garden is used in the dining hall; some of it is for sale at the Local Root Co-Op, a student business venture that sells local and organic produce farmer's market-style on campus, some of it is eaten by gardeners. Over 20 different crops are produced. Herban Gardeners meet weekly throughout the year, and in addition to planting and maintaining the Community Garden host informational events, movies, garden gatherings and organic agriculture-themed activities during the academic year.
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:
Clark Community Thrift Store; dedicated to reducing consumption, diverting reusable items from landfill and improving the economic sustainability of the Main South and Clark Communities.
The Local Root; a farmers market and mobile food delivery service that re-sells fruit, veg and value-add products from local farmers and producers across the campus and community while educating about the benefits of locally grown food
https://www.facebook.com/thelocalroot/
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:
This is student governed. Student Sustainability Fund; a division of the Student Council which competitively awards $20,000 of student fees to support and manage student-led sustainability projects and programs. The Student Sustainability Fund is a resource for the advancement of sustainable infrastructure and practices within the Clark community.
The SSF allocates money to fund projects that will maximize the quantifiable impact of each student dollar, will be visible to and impact a great number of students, and will help to establish Clark University as a leader in sustainable practices. Projects will be balanced in areas relating to environmental and energy responsibilities as well as economic, social, and educational areas.
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:
The annual Climate Teach In and New Earth Conversation cancel classes for the day while faculty from all departments lead lectures, workshops and panels on issues of sustainability, environmental justice, climate change, etc. There are several speakers through the day, as well as opening and closing councils for open discussion. This goes from 9 am until 10 pm. While students are not required to attend, over 80% do. Its pretty awesome.See the url below. NOTE: THIS IS THE ONLY EVENT I HAD ROOM TO PUT IN THE URL BELOW, but there are plenty of other things going on:
The Higgins School for Humanities has hosted Difficult Dialogs, a semester long series of speakers and symposium, with a focus on climate change and agency.
The George Perkins Marsh Institute, following its mission to explore what should be man's relation with nature, holds a speaker series each semester with prominent speakers addressing global issues of sustainability.
The Sustainable Suppers always feature a speaker on food systems and food policy.
The CSC hosted Atiya Martin to speak on the intersection of sustainability and social justice as a keystone for community resilience mapping in April 2017.
The President's lecture series and the Geller Endowed lecture series feature speakers on climate change, environmental issues, and societal sustainability, such as Naomi Klein, Kenneth Kimmel, Jane Lubchenco.
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:
There are so many...most of the visual arts exhibits include re-purposed/recycled items. Most of the performing arts/theater stage sets do too. Recently, "Seeds of Doubt", a play about climate change written by Clark faculty member was debuted here. There is also stArt on the Street, which is sponsored by Clark but shuts down 6 city blocks for local artists to perform and local crafts people to sell their work.
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:
The Outing Club supports hikes, camping trips, canoeing, trail maintenance, rock climbing and other outdoor activities open to all students.
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 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 Clark Recycling Crew; a student-led team who advocate and educate about recycling; they also work Monday-Friday to pick up recyclables form across campus, source-separate them at the Recycling Center, and track all campus recyclables. They innovate to find ways to reduce our waste, such as partnering with local organizations to recycle Styrofoam or helping local schools access resources such as cardboard for art projects. The Recycling Crew won MassRecycles top award from 2012-2014, WasteWise first place in 2013-2016, and the EPA regional Best Performance award in 2015.
The Community Thrift Store and The Local Root employ students as Team Leaders and Associates; the former has a focus on reducing consumption, alleviating landfill and empowering the Main South communkity, while the latter resells locally grown produce and locally made products, promoting local farmers, producers and strong local economy.
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 Sustainability Hub, co-sponsored with National Grid, employs students as Ambassadors to the community about sustainability, energy conservation, and the smart grid. The Institute for Energy & sustainability, located at Clark and in downtown, is a green business incubator at which students are welcome and which employs students for conferences and events.
Community Engagement Office provides opportunities for students to volunteer and be involved in environmental, social and economic justice issues in the community.
Liberal Education & Effective Practice (LEEP), Clark's unique approach to expanding the liberal arts education to include real life skills, supports juniors in summer-log projects of their own design or sponsored by alumni; many of them address issues of sustainability.
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.