Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 49.39
Liaison Ciara Tennis
Submission Date Dec. 31, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Eastern Connecticut State University
EN-2: Student Orientation

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Daniel Simpson
Environmental Intern
Institute for Sustainable Energy
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Are the following students provided an opportunity to participate in orientation activities and programming that prominently include sustainability?:
Yes or No
First-year students Yes
Transfer students Yes
Entering graduate students Yes

Percentage of all entering (i.e. new) students (including transfers and graduate students) that are provided an opportunity to participate in orientation activities and programming that prominently include sustainability (0-100):
100

A brief description of how sustainability is included prominently in new student orientation (including how multiple dimensions of sustainability are addressed):

Sustainability is included in multiple ways during new student orientation. Student Orientation Counselors (SOC) introduce new students to many aspects of campus sustainability during their summer session visit.
All students are taken on tours of the campus with SOC's who introduce the many sustainable aspects of buildings and infrastructure at ECSU. This includes, but is not limited to, the five LEED certified buildings on campus, the geothermal heating/cooling system in High Rise residence hall, the bioswale filtration system, rainwater catchment systems, and the wind-powered art installations.

During the orientation program SOC's perform an 'Orientation Show'. This is a play in which Sustainability features prominently, both as its own Act and throughout. Portions of the play talk about the single stream recycling program at ECSU, efforts to reduce energy consumption, biomass re-purposing, and waste reduction programs.

During Orientation new students are introduced to online materials and resources, and the importance of reducing use of printed materials in their studies. At this point they are also directed to Eastern's Sustainability website and the online resources which can help them be more sustainable and environmentally friendly students.

The orientation program also distributes an Orientation Guide for new students and parents electronically. The Student Orientation, Advising, and Registration (SOAR) orientation program at Eastern has implemented an online reservations system with electronic ticketing and a check-in process that minimize the need to print and mail reminder postcards or tickets for distribution. All students are also encouraged to bring their SOAR ticket on a mobile device for scanning at check-in.

Students who participate in SOAR are encouraged to recycle and are educated on how to recycle both in residence halls and other campus buildings. During SOAR, the Advising and Registration department give all new students water bottles to discourage the use of disposable water bottles in order to reduce waste production.
When SOAR materials are printed, no dates are printed on any of the materials so that the materials can be reused for the next year.


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

This information was input using information provided by Lauren Polansky from The Office of Student Activities.


This information was input using information provided by Lauren Polansky from The Office of Student Activities.

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.