Overall Rating Bronze - expired
Overall Score 44.43
Liaison John Stolz
Submission Date March 4, 2020
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Duquesne University
EN-3: Student Life

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Mary Kate Ranii
Program Administrator
Center for Environmental Research & Education (CERE)
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have one or more active student groups focused on sustainability?:
Yes

A brief description of active student groups focused on sustainability:

Evergreen is an environmentally conscious organization that helps to educate the DU community on sustainability on-campus and works to keep our local neighborhoods clean and green. We collaborate with Facilities Management on Campus to help educate students and staff on recycling efforts available on campus as well as many of the new "green" upgrades being made to our campus buildings. Off-campus, we collaborate with the Uptown Partners of Pittsburgh working to keep the Uptown neighborhood that we are a part of a cleaner and greener place. Activities include Green Week during the fall semester, the Earth Day Fair and Spring Clean-Up during the spring semester as well monthly litter pick-ups and educational opportunities throughout the year.

The purpose of the Environmental Law Society is to provide a source of information regarding current environmental and natural resources law and policy, to allow and encourage discussion and debate about these topics, to promote environmental awareness, to aid the academic knowledge and awareness of its members, and to assist its members in employment within the environmental law field after graduation.


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?:
No

A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:
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The website URL where information about the gardens, farms or agriculture projects is available (optional):
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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)?:
No

A brief description of the student-run enterprises:
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The website URL where information about the student-run enterprises is available (optional):
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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?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives:

The Duquesne University New Venture Challenge is a two-stage competition that encourages students to submit new venture ideas that have commercial and/or social missions. Winning programs are awarded $5,000 to put their projects into effect. Winners from 2019 includes LeanMed - innovative medical equipment designed to improve access to healthcare in low-resource regions.


The website URL where information about the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives is available (optional):
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Does the institution have conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience?:
Yes

A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability:

The Annual Presidential Conference on the Integrity of Creation focuses on the topic Toward a Healthy Planet to discuss what is going right with planet earth. The interdisciplinary conference invites participants from different disciplines to engage each other in civil discourse on a different topic each year.

The conference series was commissioned by former President Charles J. Dougherty as an endowed academic event that celebrates the Spiritan mission of Duquesne University. The current University President, Ken Gormley, continues to inspire excellence in support of the Spiritan mission as the conference series develops.

The conference has three goals:

1. To provide a scholarly opportunity to engage established and emerging research on the conference topic

2. To foster interdisciplinary discourse on each topic, such as among science, health, philosophy, religion and policy

3. To enlighten public awareness and discussion of the conference topic


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?:
Yes

A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations or performances related to sustainability:

Daniel Robinson (Environmental Science, 2019) ran a photo exhibition that featured a selection of nature photographs. The photos were taken by Daniel beginning in his freshman year at Duquesne up through an expedition to Alaska sponsored by the Honors College in the summer of 2017. The objective of the exhibition was to demonstrate the intersection of nature, art, and science through photography and to instill in the viewer the same sense of awe for nature that originally compelled Daniel to choose his major of Environmental Science. The photo exhibition and associated descriptions are still available for general view in Mellon Hall on Duquesne's Main Campus.


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?:
Yes

A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:

Duquesne University’s Outdoors Club acts as an open student organization that welcomes all students to participate. The club provides interested students with education about the outdoors that partners with different outdoor activities. This club stresses dedication to learning about the outdoors, engaging in various environmental activities, volunteering for environmental conservation, and promotes outdoor recreation for community youth.


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)?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-related themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:

The MBA in Sustainable Business Practices has three themed semesters:
1st Semester- Auditing in Regards to Sustainable Businesses
2nd- Processing improvement in Regards to Sustainable Businesses
3rd- Change Management in Regards to Sustainable Businesses.


The website URL where information about the sustainability-related themes is available (optional):
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Does the institution have programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills?:
No

A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
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The website URL where information about the sustainable life skills programs is available (optional):
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Does the institution offer sustainability-focused student employment opportunities?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:

The Center for Environmental Research and Education hires between two and five students every academic year to assist with conducting with campus greenhouse gas emissions assessments and local environmental research opportunities.


The website URL where information about the student employment opportunities is available:
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Does the institution have graduation pledges through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions?:
No

A brief description of the graduation pledges:
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The website URL where information about the graduation pledges is available (optional):
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Does the institution have other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives?:
Yes

A brief description of the other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives:

The Center for Environmental Research and Education hosts monthly EnviroBytes, which is an environmental speaker series. This series features speakers ranging from local environmental non-profit organizations, local environmental scientists, and local environmental companies (like solar panel installers) and are advertised to the entire campus.


The website URL where information about other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives is available (optional):
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Estimated percentage of students (full-time and part-time) that participate annually in sustainability-focused co-curricular education and outreach programs (0-100):
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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.