| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 65.69 |
| Liaison | John Pumilio |
| Submission Date | July 23, 2014 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Colgate University
EN-3: Student Life
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
John
Pumilio Director of Sustainability Sustainability Office |
Does the institution have one or more co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives that fall into the following categories?:
| Yes or No | |
| Active student groups focused on sustainability | Yes |
| Gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, or urban agriculture projects where students are able to gain experience in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems | Yes |
| Student-run enterprises that include sustainability as part of their mission statements or stated purposes | Yes |
| Sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives through which students can develop socially, environmentally and fiscally responsible investment and financial skills | Yes |
| Conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience | Yes |
| Cultural arts events, installations or performances related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience | No |
| Wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles | Yes |
| Sustainability-related themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences | No |
| Programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills | Yes |
| Sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution | Yes |
| Graduation pledges through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions | No |
| Other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives | No |
The name and a brief description of each student group focused on sustainability:
Students for Environmental Action is a student group that promotes green initiatives at Colgate. Their mission is to educate and energize students about recycling, waste reduction, energy consumption reduction, and greater community issues. They plan activities such as a film series. Students for Environmental Action is Colgate's oldest environmental student group, but is far from the only sustainability-focused student groups.
Green Earth Gang's mission is to promote environmental awareness among children ages 8-10 in local schools through experiential and interactive activities.
Green Thumbs manages and promotes the Colgate Community Garden in order to provide local, student produced, organic produce to the student community.
Green Gates seeks to be volunteer service oriented through serving both the Colgate campus and the community in supporting sustainability efforts, eco-conscious actions and environmental awareness.
The Clean Water Coalition adopts a section of the local Chenango Canal. The group works to sponsor campus events to inform others about water pollution and raise money to build wells in Africa.
Hamilton Outdoor Group, or HOG, teaches Hamilton middle schoolers outdoor skills and an environmental ethic that will encourage a positive outdoor experience.
The website URL where information about student groups is available:
A brief description of gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and urban agriculture projects where students are able to gain experience in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems:
The Colgate Community Garden was launched in June 2010. Researched, funded, planted, and harvested by students, the garden now provides fresh vegetables and herbs to the campus dining services provider for all students to enjoy. Produce from the half-acre garden, located near the Newell student apartments, also has been donated to the local food cupboard and sold at the village of Hamilton farmers market.
The idea for the garden concept came when students from the ENST 480 class completed a feasibility report as a class project in 2009.
The website URL where information about the organic agriculture and/or sustainable food systems projects and initiatives is available:
A brief description of student-run enterprises that include sustainability as part of their mission statements or stated purposes:
After participating in Colgate's Thought Into Action (http://www.colgate.edu/distinctly-colgate/entrepreneurial-spirit) project, Colgate seniors Ryan Smith ’13 and Brendan Karson '13 started Eco-campus, LLC. They source and deliver sustainable office products to campus, such as paper made from recovered sugarcane fiber which would have otherwise ended up in landfills.
EcoCampus is having a positive impact on the campus carbon footprint, as use of the eco-friendly paper has prevented the release of 20.59 tons of carbon emissions, the production of 155,553 gallons of waste-water, the creation of 13,363 pounds of solid waste, and the use of 2,660 gallons of oil.
Gate Swap is another student endeavor that is helping with our waste reduction and educational priorities. Gate Swap is an online program that allows Colgate community members to swap items that they no longer need or want.
The website URL where information about the student-run enterprise(s) is available:
A brief description of the sustainable investment or finance initiatives:
Erin Fett '14 and Brendan Karson '13 established a new student group that explores the opportunities for reinvesting in sustainable energy technologies (while also divesting from fossil fuels).
The website URL where information about the sustainable investment or finance initiatives is available:
A brief description of conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience:
Colgate holds an annual Green Summit to address campus sustainability initiatives. Students, faculty and staff gather during the summit to discuss one of several topics of interest to them, and to work collectively to formulate an action plan for that initiative. At the end of the event, each group presents their work to the summit. Each year the Green Summit is an event where simple ideas transform into campus-wide efforts. For instance, the Colgate Compost initiative was officially born at the summit. It is now a full-fledged club that has achieved goals such as encouraging the composting of all post-consumer waste in the dining halls. The event provides an opportunity for communication for the different environmental groups on campus, and promotion of the various sustainability activities to the broader campus.
In addition, both the Office of Sustainability, the Upstate Institute, and various departments host brown bag events on issues of sustainability and bring in speakers who address sustainable themes throughout the academic year. These events are listed on Colgate's calendar at http://calendar.colgate.edu/cal/main/showMain.rdo;jsessionid=575452E3C488558392C5B92429DA34BC
The website URL where information about the event(s) is available:
A brief description of cultural arts events, installations or performances related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience:
The website URL where information about the cultural arts event(s) is available:
A brief description of wilderness or outdoors programs for students that follow Leave No Trace principles:
The mission of Colgate's Outdoor Ed is to provide the community with experiential opportunities which emphasize safety, environmental awareness, and technical skills, while promoting personal growth and group development through rediscovery of the natural world. Wilderness Adventure (WA) is a pre-orientation program at Colgate, in which over 125 first-year students come to campus early to make friends, learn about Colgate from upper-class student leaders, and use the outdoors to help students acclimate to Colgate, central New York, and life as a college student. Living and traveling with a small group of other first-year students and two or three highly trained leaders, students work together to hike, paddle, climb, cave, bike, or sail through Upstate New York wilderness.
All Wilderness Adventure students receive information about the seven Leave No Trace principles, and are instructed on how to follow the principles as they travel and camp with care. Each WA student leader participates in a Leave No Trace awareness workshop during their training year before leading a Wilderness Adventure trip.
The website URL where information about the wilderness or outdoors program(s) is available:
A brief description of sustainability-related themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:
The website URL where information about the theme is available:
A brief description of program(s) through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
Colgate's Green Raider Program is a student behavior change program that was developed to educate and engage students to reduce the unnecessary consumption of resources (such as energy, water, paper, etc.) and to take greater responsibility for their contribution to university-related environmental impacts. The ultimate goal is for Colgate to reach its commitment to climate neutrality by reducing our overall and individual ecological footprints associated with the behavior of our daily lives.
The website URL where information about the sustainable life skills program(s) is available:
A brief description of sustainability-focused student employment opportunities:
Colgate's sustainability office hires current students and recent graduates for internships and entry-level employment specific to the field of sustainability.
The website URL where information about the student employment opportuntities is available:
A brief description of graduation pledges through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions:
Colgate does not have a graduation pledge program.
The website URL where information about the graduation pledge program is available:
A brief description of other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives:
The website URL where information about other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives is available:
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.