| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 53.56 |
| Liaison | Georgeann Moss |
| Submission Date | Dec. 22, 2021 |
Dallas College
EN-3: Student Life
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Tracy
Johnson Associate Vice Chancellor Student Success |
Does the institution have an active student group focused on sustainability?:
Name and a brief description of the active student groups focused on sustainability:
Dallas College has 188 student clubs and organizations: 34 clubs and organizations are inclusive of sustainability, focusing on at least two areas of sustainability (social, economic and/or environmental); 58 clubs and organizations focus on all areas of sustainability in their mission statements, activities, events and/or projects.
Please reference the 2019-20 Dallas College Student Clubs and Organizations uploaded documentation for a list of descriptions, sustainability-inclusive and sustainability-focused details of each student club and organization.
The student sustainability clubs and their mission statements include the following:
Brookhaven Green Team Coalition
A student organization bringing students together to create an educated and engaged community at Brookhaven Campus.
Cedar Valley Green Club
To spread awareness of environmental issues by being involved in the community. Also to engage students to participate in events that help people understand and act more about environmental issues.
Eastfield Outdoor Club
To provide students with an educational and fun experience involving outdoor activities, field trips, volunteer work, and social activism.
El Centro Environmental Club
To promote alternatives to better the campus at El Centro.
North Lake G.R.E.E.N. Club
Grassroots Environmental Education Network (G.R.E.E.N.) fosters sustainable living skills for all students, staff, and faculty, cultivate awareness of personal habits and change them as needed to live sustainably.
Richland Student Green Team
The purpose is to educate and encourage students to make a difference in the school and community by engaging in sustainability activities. To learn, teach, cultivate and grow together in sustainability and other effects within in the environment. To use the knowledge, creativity and skills acquired in academic settings to make necessary changes for a greater tomorrow.
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?:
A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:
Dallas College has an urban agriculture program that helps support the campus vegetable gardens and native plant gardens. Dallas College has six vegetable gardens utilized by students, faculty, staff and community members to grow food.
The food gardens include: the Cedar Valley Butterfly and Edible Garden; Eastfield Harvester Community Garden; El Centro Vertical Garden; Mountain View Slow Food Community Garden; North Lake Indoor GREEN Club Garden; and North Lake Romero Community Garden.
Dallas College native gardens and farms include the Brookhaven Windmill Garden; Cedar Valley Veterinary Science Farm; North Lake Living Learning Garden; and TXU Oncor Tree Farm and Education Center at Richland Campus.
Does the institution have a student-run enterprise that includes sustainability as part of its mission statement or stated purpose?:
A brief description of the student-run enterprises:
Dallas College has a student-run reuse store called the Blazer Student Store on the North Lake Campus. Students can purchase gently used items such as clothing, shoes, jewelry and school supplies with 'Blazer Bucks' or regular money.
Blazer Bucks are vouchers given out to students at the financial aid office and campus events throughout the year. Part-time student employees run the Blazer Store learning the fundamental sustainability concept like re-use, social entrepreneurship, and general business skills.
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?:
A brief description of the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives:
Dallas College has the Sustainability Program Support Fund (SPSF) with The Foundation. The SPSF is a comprehensive fund comprised of sub-funds created with external donations from community individuals and organizations by fundraising donor campaigns led by students, faculty, and staff.
Each fundraising campaign must go through a formal approval process reviewed by Sustainability and The Foundation. Funding from these efforts support specific projects or programs such as the Romero Community Garden, Windmill Garden, Sustainability Summit, and Sustainable U.
Each project has its own support fund, where students and/or employees can propose projects that align with specific sustainability criteria. Student or employee proposals must include sustainability metrics, such as number of students impacted, amount of emissions reduced and lifecycle cost of the proposed project.
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?:
A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia, or similar events focused on sustainability:
Dallas College hosts many sustainability events for campus and community engagement. The Annual Sustainability Summit is the flagship event that brings together students, faculty, staff and community to explore broad and diverse sustainability issues.
The Sustainable U webinar series hosts weekly events on topics of equity, environment and economy.
Since COVID-19, the Sustainable U has been 100% virtual every Tuesdays at noon. Dallas College also hosts special sustainability events on campus to recognize important days, such as Earth Day and Arbor Day, and United Nations Human Rights Day.
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?:
A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations, or performances focused on sustainability:
Dallas College hosts cultural events and performances focused on sustainability across all locations in the community. Some of the cultural events that focus on sustainability topics include:
- Latino Conservation Week online speaker panel "Are We Green Enough? A Conversation with Latino Leaders about Sustainability"
- Civil Rights Speaker Series event
- "Family, Food and Freedom: African Diasporic Family Ties via Emancipatory Foodways,"
- Native American Heritage Month speaker Adrienne Keene author of Native Appropriations blog
- Women's History Month speaker Lydia Villa-Komaroff on women in STEM fields, and
- TEDxDallasCollege includes guest speaker events with sustainability topics
The Dallas College Common Book program features a new reader each academic year, most often the book is focused on a sustainability topic or includes sustainability topics. Examples include "Global Weirdness" and "What Am I Eating?."
Dallas College also has many art galleries that rotate sustainability artwork from prominent local and globally recognized artists. Some of the college's campuses also have permanent art installations to demonstrate sustainability concepts and provide educational programming utilizing the art installations to teach sustainability topics and practices.
COVID presented a challenge especially for the Fine Arts community. Dallas College hosted the League of Innovation Student Art Exhibition in 2021, http://blog.dcccd.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Dallas-College-League-Innovation-Student-Art-Exhibition.pdf
Does the institution have a wilderness or outdoors program that follow Leave No Trace principles?:
A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:
Dallas College Student Leadership Institute offers free education and training to all students for personal and professional growth through interactive online workshops, hands-on activities, guest speakers, conferences and retreats.
Sustainability topics are discussed throughout the programming, including the annual student leadership retreat that has most often taken place at Lake Texoma and Eisenhower State Park. Sustainability life skills, leave no trace principles, and global citizenship and stewardship are covered at the week-long student leadership retreat.
The leadership development areas include: Critical thinking, social and cultural awareness, interpersonal communication and relationship building, teamwork and group dynamics, goal setting and influencing others, decision-making and conflict resolution, and emotional intelligence.
Has the institution had a sustainability-focused theme chosen for a themed semester, year, or first-year experience during the previous three years?:
A brief description of the sustainability-focused themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:
Dallas College Common Book program is an interdisciplinary faculty-led initiative to create a common project that all students will participate in every year. Selections for the Common Book have included sustainability-focused topics and sustainability-inclusive topics, such as:
-"Notes from a Young Black Chef" by Kwame Onwuachi
- "The Martian" by Andy Weir
- "Global Weirdness" by Climate Central,
-"Tornado Season" by Courtney Craggett
- "The March" by Lewis and Andrew Aydin, and
- "Where Am I Eating" by Kelsey Timmerman.
Dallas College hosts the authors or notable topic speakers on campuses for student engagement and discussion with the authors or guest speakers.
Does the institution have a program through which students can learn sustainable life skills?:
A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
Dallas College Student Leadership Institute offers free education and training to all students for personal and professional growth through interactive online workshops, hands-on activities, guest speakers, conferences and retreats. Sustainability topics are discussed throughout the programming, including the annual student leadership retreat that has most often taken place at Lake Texoma and Eisenhower State Park.
Sustainability life skills, leave no trace principles, and global citizenship and stewardship are covered at the week-long student leadership retreat.
The leadership development areas include: Critical thinking, social and cultural awareness, interpersonal communication and relationship building, teamwork and group dynamics, goal setting and influencing others, decision-making and conflict resolution, and emotional intelligence.
Does the institution offer sustainability-focused student employment opportunities?:
A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:
Dallas College offered the Sustainability Internship Program, a part-time paid internship open to all enrolled students in good academic standing from any major. Beginning in 2014, the Sustainability Internship Program offered students experience in daily work-life and triple-bottom-line sustainability and a focus on increasing engagement across diverse communities.
Interns work 19.5 hours per week and receive training in sustainability topics, sustainability operations, sustainability education, sustainability outreach, and sustainability administration.
Students work in Sustainability, supporting college sustainability priorities for student success, employee success, institutional effectiveness and community engagement.
Dallas College offers graduate students from research universities part-time employment opportunities to help support Dallas College's sustainability goals that require advanced research skillsets and contributes to the graduate student's masters or doctoral degrees (e.g., University of Texas at Dallas and Soka University).
Does the institution have a graduation pledge through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions?:
A brief description of the graduation pledge(s):
A brief description of other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives that do not fall into one of the above categories:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The data collection template is an Excel file that provides more details for this STARS credit.
The data collection template is an Excel file that provides more details for this STARS credit.
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