Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 48.46
Liaison Gabrielle Lommel
Submission Date Dec. 16, 2020

STARS v2.2

Concordia College - Moorhead
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Jackie Maahs
Sustainability Coordinator
Student Engagement
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Campus Engagement?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Campus Engagement:

Student leaders in the student organization Student Envrionmental Alliance fully coordinate all activities to engage the campus in programming around Earth Week


Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Public Engagement?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Public Engagement:

A student works with a Ken Foster who manages the Moorhead Community Resilience Task Force, to engage the Moorhead Community in the work of the Task Force. She is developing and managing social media for the project.


Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Air & Climate?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Air & Climate:

Student in the Data and Analytics intern position coordinated and compiled data for the college's STARS report and GHG report


Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Buildings?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Buildings:

A student living in the EcoHouse (a sustainable living learning community on campus) worked with facilities to design and get funding approved for a new roof on the house


Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Energy?:
No

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Energy:
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Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Food & Dining?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Food & Dining:

Each year, four students work together to design, plant and harvest an on campus garden. The food is used by faculty, staff, and students, as well as donated to a local food pantry. The Office of Sustainability has a paid internship position for a student to work with the campus community on food waste reduction. The intern will collaborate with the food waste working group that reports to the President's Sustainability Council. In conjunction with Concordia's Taste Not Waste campaign to reduce food waste in Anderson Commons by 50% by 2020, Dietetic and Nutrition Interns work with Dining Services to conduct food waste audits each semester. The data from these audits is used by the Taste Not Waste campaign to help educate consumers on their plate waste and offer reduction strategies


Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Grounds?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Grounds:

A student living in the EcoHouse (a sustainability focused living-learning community) designed and assisted in the installation of new sustainable/natural landscaping.
For a capstone class a student turned a wooded areas of campus that was not being utilized into a living classroom space that can be used by classes and student organizations as a meeting space.


Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Purchasing?:
No

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Purchasing:
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Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Transportation?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Transportation:

The Sustainability Office has a COBBikes intern position that works to maintain the college's fleet of bike share bicycles and plans programming to encourage biking on campus.
A student in computer science worked with the office of sustainability to develop a web app that allows students to calculate the number of trees that would need to be planted to offset the carbon resulting from their air travel.


Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Waste?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Waste:

The college hires two recycling specialists who work to maintain the college's recycling program, manage the colleges plastic bag recycling program, and help run the college's recyclemania competition


Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Water?:
No

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Water:
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Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Coordination & Planning?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Coordination & Planning:

The President's Sustainability Council has two student positions that are appointed by the President for two year terms. The students that sit on the Council get first hand experience and learning into campus coordination & planning, specifically focusing on incorporating sustainability into the College.
The working groups to create the upcoming climate action plan through the Climate Commitment will include student participation, learning, and research for each component.


Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Diversity & Affordability?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Diversity & Affordability:

The College Council for Diversity has two student positions that are appointed by the Student Government Association. In particular, the Council will focus early on establishing goals and metrics for diversity, inclusion, and equity at Concordia, and on finalizing the current draft of our public statement on the college commitment to diversity.


Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Investment & Finance?:
No

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Investment & Finance:
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Is the institution utilizing its infrastructure and operations as a living laboratory for applied student learning for sustainability in relation to Wellbeing & Work?:
Yes

A brief description of the projects and how they contribute to understanding or advancing sustainability in relation to Wellbeing & Work:

A graduate student in the nutrition and dietetics program did an evaluation of the college's wellness programming.


Website URL where information about the institution’s living laboratory program is available:
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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.