Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 76.00
Liaison Ciannat Howett
Submission Date March 5, 2021

STARS v2.2

Emory University
EN-3: Student Life

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Taylor Spicer
Assistant Director
Office of Sustainability Initiatives
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have an active student group focused on sustainability?:
Yes

Name and a brief description of the active student groups focused on sustainability:

○ Emory Food Chain: Emory Food Chain, previously known as Campus Kitchen Emory, is a student-run organization that repurposes and donates unused food to local kitchens and food pantries. The group’s mission is to fight hunger in Atlanta through sustainable food waste management while simultaneously fostering an awareness of individual consumption and everyone’s role in sustainable practices. Emory Food Chain engages students from various groups and organizations in volunteer work that benefits the campus as a whole, fostering community development both at Emory and in Atlanta.
○ Creation Keepers: Creation Keepers are a circle of the eco-minded folks of the Candler School of Theology. The group lives at the intersection of faith and environmentalism, ever-vigilant to ways they can encounter God through God's Creation. They have a little something for everyone--camping and gardening, ecojustice and exegesis, meditation and so forth. They have weekly community gardening at the Theology Garden located off of Dickey Drive as well as monthly hikes around the Atlanta area. In addition, they host "lunch & learns" with leaders who are doing faithful, eco-minded work.
○ Emory Climate Analysis and Solutions Team (ECAST): ECAST is a group that seeks to create tangible climate solutions through dynamic, action-based projects. ECAST provides a forum for undergrads, graduate students, faculty and staff from across and outside of Emory University to conduct climate-related analysis and advance climate solutions. With over 7 projects and growing, ECAST has something to offer for everyone.
○ Emory Climate Organization: The Emory Climate Organization is a student-led group that is dedicated to increasing climate literacy and action on campus and beyond. The group is committed to educating and galvanizing the community on various aspects of climate justice issues and seeks to provide members with the science, policy, social and political background necessary to take actionable steps toward addressing the increasing threat of climate change.
○ Emory Global Health Organization: The Emory Global Health Organization is a student organization based at Emory's Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH). The group seeks to engage in issues of global health outside the classroom by organizing community service events, advocacy campaigns and networking opportunities. Membership is open to the entire Emory University student body, as well as faculty, staff and alumni.
○ Climate Reality Campus Corps: Emory Chapter: The mission of Climate Reality Campus Corps: Emory Chapter is to create a culture of student activism and change-making on campus, advocate for institutional policy change within the university, vocalize our concerns to the administration to urge improvements to existing climate commitments based on IPCC reports, collaborate with ECAST and ECO into a united force for climate action, overcome campus apathy, and work with other student organizations in the Social Justice Coalition.
○ Emory Nourish International: Emory Nourish is a student-led chapter of a non-profit organization that strives to alleviate extreme global poverty through student leadership development and green social enterprise. The group raises funds by operating socially responsible ventures that seek to produce sustainable wealth for both the Atlanta community and partnered organization abroad. The funds are then invested in an international project with the partnered organization for long-term, community-based solutions to poverty.
○ Emory Spokes Council: Emory Spokes Council is a grad student run organization dedicated to connecting, supporting and advocating for biking at Emory University and in Atlanta. The group hosts social rides aiming to bring Emory cyclists together and to explore the city. They hold workshops to help students get to know their bikes better and bike safer throughout the city. They maintain an on-campus fixit shop where anyone can work on their bike by themselves or with the assistance of some of the more experienced group members. The group also is working to push for greater integration of the campus with the city’s bike path network.
○ Emory Undergraduate Global Health Organization (EUGHO): EUGHO serves to provide information and opportunities for student action concerning international health issues. EUGHO tries to enlighten students on graduate opportunities in the field of global health that reach beyond the obvious public health school options. EUGHO participates in volunteer opportunities both on and off campus with the Emory Global Health Organization, Emory's graduate school global health organization. These activities include Quilt on the Quad, World AIDS day, Medshare International, health walks, and educational trips to the CDC and the Carter Center.
○ Emory Vegans and Vegetarians: Emory Vegans and Vegetarians seeks to promote conscious food choices, such as those for spiritual, political, environmental, and health reasons. In addition, the organization seeks to provide information in order to educate the campus at large about vegetarianism and veganism. It also wishes to support vegetarians and vegans at Emory University via interactions with Emory's food service provider. Emory Vegans and Vegetarians also strives to foster solidarity among the vegan and vegetarian community by having gatherings both on and off campus in which vegan and vegetarian food is present.
○ Environmental Law & Conservation Society (ELCS): ELCS seeks to provide information and to take an active role in the legal dimensions of environmental interests. The group participates in hikes, volunteers around the city of Atlanta, and invites speakers from a broad range of environmental areas.
○ Global Development Student Council (GDSC): The GDSC is a graduate student organization started by students in the Master’s in Development Practice program. GDSC provides a platform to explore interdisciplinary approaches to international development and humanitarian aid, focusing on the challenges of achieving sustainable development within the context and intersections of global poverty, international conflict, resource degradation, and climate change, among other topics. Monthly group activities include service opportunities, social activities, speakers, panel discussions, and film screenings. GDSC welcomes graduate students from all programs and seeks collaboration with other programs in organizing campus events.
○ Global HEED: Global HEED (Global Health, Education, and Economic Development) is the Emory chapter of the eponymous non-profit. Global HEED explores the intersection of economic development, social equality, and environmental protection by examining grassroots sustainable development initiatives in Atlanta and throughout the world. Through speaker events, service opportunities, site visits, and collaboration with similar campus organizations, Global HEED helps its members gain awareness of both local and global movements for sustainability, giving students the knowledge and tools to create change of their own.
○ Goizueta Energy and Environment Group (GEEG): GEEG recognizes that renewable energy organizations play an integral part in preserving our environment and promoting sustainable practices. The group aims to increase awareness of the work these companies do and inform others of the role that renewable energy plays in everyday lives. In addition, the group works with energy institutions to conduct financial research in the energy sector. Last year, the group worked with SolAmerica to provide research into solar financing.
○ Graduate Sustainability Group: The Graduate Sustainability Group (GSG) is a student-led response to the important social and environmental challenges facing the world as a whole and those specific to the local community, namely that of Emory University and the greater Atlanta area. GSG recognizes that engaging graduate students in sustainability on both academic and practical levels opens up important opportunities for scholarship and for incubating the next generation of leaders in social and environmental sustainability. The organization seeks to create an intellectual and, at times, physical space for support, reflection, critique and practical action with regards to our common social and environmental concerns. In 2016, after three semesters researching and mapping the university’s sustainability network of over 700 staff, faculty and undergraduate and graduate students, the Graduate Sustainability Group (GSG) has launched an interactive Emory Sustainability Ecosystem map.
○ Greeks Go Green: Greeks Go Green was founded by Emory alum Nicolai Lundy in the Fall of 2006. The organization helps promote sustainability initiatives within Fraternity and Sorority Life through focusing on cultural, structural, and procedural improvements.
○ Green Bean Coffee: The Green Bean is committed to nurturing the community and environment while maintaining a practical and profitable business. Student employees are involved in the evolution of business practices and provide a fuel of creativity. The Green Bean aims to be a long-lasting and community-friendly campus resource, both for great tasting coffee and tea and sustainability education. The Green Bean sells coffee from Cafe Campesino, a fair trade and organic coffee roaster in Americus, Georgia, in addition to fair trade and organic tea, hot cocoa, and pastries. The Green Bean Coffee Cart is located inside Cox Hall.
○ Net Impact: Net Impact is an international nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire, educate, and equip individuals to use the power of business to create a more socially and environmentally sustainable world. Net Impact members are current and emerging leaders in corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship, nonprofit management, international development, and environmental sustainability who are actively improving the world.
○ Outdoor Emory Organization: With a membership of well over 350 students, Outdoor Emory Organization (OEO) is Emory University's largest student-run organization and one of the largest and most active outdoors organizations in the country. In addition to their successful Adventure Orientation program for incoming first-years and weekend trips around the Southeast, OEO has explored North America, from the Grand Canyon to Baja Mexico, from the Boundary Waters to Lake Tahoe. OEO typically sends out one trip each weekend, ranging from backpacking to caving to skydiving to surfing to skiing to paddling. Over longer breaks, OEO sends trips across the country to places like the Grand Canyon, Lake Tahoe, Utah, Baja, and Wyoming.
○ Religion and Ecology Collaborative (REC): REC is a group of scholars who craft innovative, transdisciplinary responses to environmental uncertainty. The REC meets three times a semester to host speakers, share papers, or go on field trips.
○ RHA Sustainability Representatives: The Residence Hall Association (RHA) works to promote the goals and purposes of the University as related to residential living, as well as to serve as the student voice. RHA works to promote Emory's sustainability initiatives and programs. RHA Sustainability Chairs are appointed following an interview process by the RHA President and Vice President. RHA Sustainability Chairs promote sustainability through several mediums. The Executive Council Sustainability Chairs develop campus-wide efforts that are both interactive and informative. Each individual residence hall has its own RHA Sustainability Chair as well, whose job it is to develop his or her own sustainability initiatives and make all RHA events zero-waste. This structure allows RHA to reach all Emory Students in an efficient manner and spread sustainability efforts campus-wide.
○ Rollins Environmental Health Action Committee (REHAC): REHAC's mission is to encourage students to make environmentally friendly decisions in their daily lives and raise awareness about environmental justice issues in the community and around the world. REHAC provides free coffee every week to students who bring their own mug to school, hosts fundraisers for natural disaster relief efforts, encourages students to use sustainable transportation, hosts socials to talk about environmental issues, and participates in art projects to decorate stairwells to encourage students, staff and faculty to take the stairs. REHAC also screens films on environmental issues and volunteers with sustainable transit organizations and environmental justice organizations.
○ Roots and Shoots: Roots and Shoots is an international organization founded by Jane Goodall whose primary aim is to encourage environmental citizenship and sustainable behaviors in young people. Emory’s chapter of Roots & Shoots, active since 2007, works towards this goal through bi-weekly educational activities implemented with 3rd graders at local elementary schools. Volunteer instructors come from across the university and include primarily post-doctoral researchers and graduate students. Outstanding undergraduate students may also be considered. Example classroom activities include owl pellet dissections, learning about the water cycle through music, and creating a guide-book to school-yard plants.
○ Slow Food Emory: Slow Food Emory is part of an international movement to promote good, clean, and fair food. These three words represent the multiple dimensions of Slow Food's mission, which include promoting sustainable agriculture, preserving biodiversity, encouraging the production of food without the use of harmful chemicals, ensuring a fair wage for producers and laborers, and allowing equal access to this food that we cherish. Slow Food Emory works to promote these values on campus through eating and cooking together, discussing food access and production issues, educating peers to think critically about their food and its origins, food activism, and other activities that reconnect us with the pleasure of eating and the unquantifiable value of food. Slow Food Emory's mission is to promote "good, clean, and fair" food in a way that is adaptable and accessible to all Emory students.
○ Student Sustainability Forum: Emory's Student Sustainability Forum is a group of student leaders from sustainability-related organizations, student publications, and student governmental associations. Members of the Forum are from Emory College and the professional schools. The forum meets monthly to allow student sustainability leaders to share experiences of their efforts in working towards a more sustainable Emory. Within these informal dialogues, students learn about the exciting work of fellow green groups. The Forum is also a chance for organizations to find intersections in missions where they can collaborate. All Emory students are welcome!
○ Sustainability in Residence Life: Living Green 1st Year at Emory. Hamilton E. Holmes & Turman Halls. Environmental conservation. Sustainable communities. Social justice.
○ Educate yourself, the community, and the world about living with an awareness of the impact we have on our surroundings and our ability to ensure a high quality of life for future generations. Be a part of Living Green during your first year at Emory and examine what strategies we can employ at Emory to support the "three Es -- Environment, Economy, and Equity."
○ Sustainability in Residence Life: The Garden Living Learning Community is a residence association for third and fourth year students in Emory’s undergraduate collegesApproximately 12 students in this theme hall will support the Clairmont Educational Garden and enroll in ENG 221: Food Cultures and Food Communities (Fall 2019). ENG 221 is a 1-credit writing course that will count towards the Sustainability Minor. As part of this class and as part of the Garden Living Learning Community more generally, students will tend to the garden and participate in activities related to gardening and sustainability. A few of these activities include field trips to urban farms and farmers markets, communal dinners, and conversations about food, gardens, and farming. We will consider local and global perspectives on these topics. Fulfilling the mission of Educational Gardens at Emory, we will also endeavor to share our gardening experiences with other members of the Clairmont Campus community. Garden Living Learning Community members will decide together what to plant and collectively, we will enjoy the fruits of our communal efforts. Prior gardening experience is certainly valuable, though not required for applicants.
○ Undergraduate Sustainability Group: The Undergrad Sustainability Group aims to promote a more wholesome Emory population by offering environmental service opportunities and educational activities as well as providing a means for environmentally conscious peoples to exchange ideas and network.
○ Volunteer Emory (VE): VE’s mission is to collaborate with agents of change for service projects and social justice work that promote learning about self and society. VE runs several weekly sustainability-related service trips in Atlanta, including to Trees Atlanta, local community gardens, and re:Loom, a local non-profit organization that employs recently homeless community members and trains them how to weave upcycled materials into beautiful rugs, scarves, and other products. VE also has large-scale service days in the fall semester (Emory Cares Day) and on Martin Luther King Day. Past trips have included tree plantings with Trees Atlanta and streambank restoration in Lullwater Preserve on Emory's campus, among others. Additionally, VE runs Alternative Fall & Spring Breaks which expose students to issues such as food production/consumption/security, community building/home security, homelessness, hunger, and poverty through service learning.
○ Zero Waste Ambassadors: The Zero Waste Ambassadors program consists of students, faculty, and staff and seeks to convene a motivated group of Emory community members who are actively promoting a culture at Emory that prioritizes reducing and diverting waste in all decisions that we make as individuals and as a community and helping to guide Emory to a post-landfill future that is accountable to our surrounding communities and to future generations.
○ Green Bean Coffee: The Green Bean is committed to nurturing the community and environment while maintaining a practical and profitable business. Student employees are involved in the evolution of business practices and provide a fuel of creativity. The Green Bean aims to be a long-lasting and community-friendly campus resource, both for great tasting coffee and tea and sustainability education. The Green Bean sells coffee from Cafe Campesino, a fair trade and organic coffee roaster in Americus, Georgia, in addition to fair trade and organic tea.


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?:
Yes

A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:

The Educational Garden Project offers students, faculty, and the Emory community an opportunity to engage in local, sustainable food production. Through education, awareness, and meaningful work, the educational gardens offer opportunities to grow local, seasonal, diverse, and healthy food. Six food gardens, one medicinal herb garden and one garden that provides plants that enrich primate diets are scattered across campus. All gardens are run by volunteers with the guidance of a part-time Educational Gardens Coordinator and a student Gardens Intern. The Coordinator and Intern lead garden workshops, tours, and general campus outreach and education.

In 2014, the Oxford College Organic Farm opened to produce a diversity of vegetables, as well as orchard fruit, cut flowers and shiitake mushrooms grown on hardwood logs on-site. The Farm is run by a Farmer-Educator, an Assistant Farmer-Educator, an Apprentice, and 15 federal work-study and work-ship students each semester. These students work up to ten hours each week learning and then executing organic farming techniques. These students also assist with hosting student volunteer groups each Friday, who also assist with seasonal production and farm maintenance.

The Oxford College Organic Farm hosts a three season CSA program for students, staff, and faculty at Oxford College and Emory’s Atlanta campus. The Oxford Farm staff, student employees and student volunteers (at times) help plant, tend, harvest, clean, and pack the produce for the CSA boxes. Participants can choose to buy a share for the entire season (April-November) or individual seasons: spring (April-June), summer (June-August), and fall (October-November). CSA boxes are available each week for pick up on campus, and CSA boxes are returned and reused from week to week. The CSA has 30-50 participants each season. One CSA share is purchased by the Living Green residence hall, which hosts weekly cooking nights to prepare the produce.


Does the institution have a student-run enterprise that includes sustainability as part of its mission statement or stated purpose?:
Yes

A brief description of the student-run enterprises:

The Green Bean is a student-run coffee business committed to nurturing the community and environment while maintaining a practical and profitable business. Student employees are involved in the evolution of business practices and provide a fuel of creativity. The Green Bean aims to be a long-lasting and community-friendly campus resource, both for great tasting coffee and tea, and for sustainability education. The Green Bean sells coffee from Cafe Campesino, a fair trade and organic coffee roaster in Americus, Georgia, as well as products from other local suppliers and baked on-site by Bon Appetit, Emory’s food service provider. The Green Bean is located inside Cox Hall Food Court and was started from an Incentives Grant issued by the Office of Sustainability Initiatives.


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?:
Yes

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

In Spring 2016, Emory launched a $1.5 million Sustainability Revolving Fund, a self-replenishing program that will be used to fund capital-intensive energy and water efficiency projects across campus. These projects are reviewed and prioritized by the Energy and Water Taskforce, which is composed of Emory students, faculty and staff. Three undergraduate students currently serve on the Taskforce and contribute to the discussions and research that help determine projects funded through the Revolving Loan Fund.

Through the Social Enterprise@Goizueta, students have the opportunity to engage with faculty and farmers abroad who produce Farmers to 40 and Grounds for Empowerment coffee. Students are asked to crowdsource funds to support these efforts, and a select number visit the farmers in Nicaragua to participate in turning the raised funds into community development projects for which the community members request. The students have also been constant advocates of the fair trade coffee products, one of which Vega Coffee, is sold on-campus as of Spring 2019.

The Office of Sustainability Initiatives Incentives Funds support research, campus-based projects, and the development of new rituals to promote sustainability on Emory's campuses. Creative proposals are welcomed that seek new knowledge, support new behavior patterns, and foster cultural change. Faculty, staff, and students from Emory University and Emory Healthcare are eligible to apply. Funds may be used for supplies, materials, publicity, and travel costs supporting approved projects, research, and rituals, which must be carried out on an Emory University, Emory Healthcare, or Oxford College campus or facility. Grantees are responsible for creating and managing a project budget, managing all financial transactions, and maintaining documentation for all grant-approved purchases and work.


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?:
Yes

A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia, or similar events focused on sustainability:

Emory annually participates in America Recycles Day (November), Arbor Day Celebration and Tree Planting (February) and Earth Day (April), all of which typically feature many events on campus. Earth Day since 2015 has progressed into Earth Month, which is kicked off by Earth Festival. Earth Festival brings together around 50 campus and community organizations, as well as campus artists and musicians to lead activities that engage and educate the Emory community. The multitude of events happening throughout April are collected and published in the Earth Month calendar.

Each fall, students in a 1-credit anthropology course put on a Sustainable Food Fair, in collaboration with the Office of Sustainability Initiatives and Emory Dining. This lively midday event features music and roughly 40 stands of locally grown fresh food for sale, chefs offering delectable samples, stores featuring sustainably grown foods and other products, and nonprofits in the Emory area that are part of the sustainable food movement.

Green Networking Night, hosted annually by the Career Center and Office of Sustainability, brings over 80 representatives of environmental organizations in Atlanta to network with Emory students.

Emory’s Sustainable Food Initiative and the Emory Farmer’s Market regularly host events to educate Emory students and community members about sustainable food. Past events have included awareness regarding pollinators, food waste, farmer workers' right, and climate change and food systems. For each event, there is an educational table and activity at the Market, as well as educational communications pieces disseminated through social media and the market newsletter.

In addition, as opportunities arise, the Office of Sustainability (OSI) hosts lectures and seminars for students and the general public. For example, in 2016, the Office of Sustainability hosted the Georgia Campus Sustainability Network annual conference, which is run by National Wildlife Federation and the U.S. Green Building Council. OSI regularly partners with the Climate@Emory faculty and Emory Climate Organization for Climate Week, which features expert and student panels, art exhibits, film screenings, and student engagement activities that help the Emory community understand climate change. OSI also co-sponsors student members of the Emory delegation to the COP every year. Additionally, OSI co-sponsored the Turner Environmental Law Clinic 20th anniversary conference showcasing 20 years of environmental law and how law clinics train students while furthering the field.

The Emory Sustainability Case Competition, of which OSI is the main sponsor, is student-led and seeks to engage the community's brightest minds in solving today's sustainability development challenges.

The X Fast Fashion: Clothing Exchange + More is a free clothing exchange, workshop, and thrift fashion competition at Emory. The goal is to raise awareness of the true costs of the fast fashion industry within the Emory community, and inform students on how to transition to a more ethical consumption of clothing through a series of free clothing exchanges.

Additionally, on campus, throughout the entire academic year, the James Weldon Johnson Institute hosts scholars every Monday to talk about a topic related to race and difference. The College Council hosts Culture Shock and Social Justice Week, which brings diverse speakers to campus to talk to students about diversity, social justice, and social action. The Candler School of Theology leads event throughout Farmworker Awareness Week in March to bring attention to this important social justice topic. The Emory Dining team hosts film screenings, does taste tests and uses social media to promote Fair Trade Awareness Month.


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?:
Yes

A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations, or performances focused on sustainability:

In March 2017, as part of Climate Week, the students of the Emory Climate Organization (ECO) hosted the Climate and Art event, which showcased climate-related photos while guests enjoyed a talk about the role of art in expression and social justice. The art exhibit consisted of student-submitted pieces that highlighted the intersections between art, climate and live performance.

In Fall 2019, three Emory clubs joined forces in response to the international School Strikes for Climate. The student-led demonstration and moral call to action on the climate crisis took place on a Friday when youth around the globe were striking for climate action. Art suppliers were available to help create posters.

Each fall since 2013, the College Council coordinates the widely popular CultureSHOCK showcase, which highlights the cultural (ethnic, racial, national, sexual, gender, religious etc.) diversity at Emory expressed through student performances, speakers, art, and cuisine. The event is headlined by a public figure who speaks to the ways in which their ethnic, national and cultural background has made them who they are.

In fall 2017, Emory hosted a Climate Change Theatre Action event. The lineup included: Performance: THE BLUE PUZZLE by Clare Duffy; Discussion: Delegates of the Emory University UN COP23 Delegation who have just returned from the COP23 conference in Bonn, Germany; Performance: THE RUBIK’S CUBE SOLUTION by Sarena Parmar; Discussion: Angela Jiang, Emory University ’19 speaking on ECAST‘s Kilowatt Smackdown project; Performance: KLEENEX by David Paquet; Discussion: Kelly Weisinger from Emory’s Office of Sustainability Initiatives; Discussion: Student Environmental Groups; and Performance: GAIA by Hiro Kanagawa.

Additionally, in spring 2019, Emory hosted “Monarch + Milkweed” - an art display meant to interpret Emory Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Jaap de Roode’s research on how monarch butterflies self-medicate to protect their offspring from an epidemic, deadly parasite.


Does the institution have a wilderness or outdoors program that follow Leave No Trace principles?:
Yes

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

The Outdoor Emory Organization (OEO), which annually retains a membership of 350 or more students, is Emory’s largest student-run organization and is one of the largest and most active university outdoors organizations in the country. OEO operates in line with Leave No Trace and includes this practice in the curriculum used to train trip leaders. The group organizes a number of weekend trips around the Southeast including whitewater rafting, hiking, rock climbing, and skydiving. The trips are subsidized by money from the Student Government Association (SGA) to increase their affordability for Emory students. Every year, OEO leads three-day Student Outdoor Adventure Retreat (SOAR) trips for incoming students, which take place before students move in and begin orientation and give incoming students the opportunity to meet other new faces and learn about Emory from upperclassman while sleeping under the stars, rafting down a river, climbing rocks, or riding horses through the countryside.


Has the institution had a sustainability-focused theme chosen for a themed semester, year, or first-year experience during the previous three years?:
Yes

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

First year students at Emory have the opportunity to participate in the Living-Learning Communities as part of Emory’s First Year at Emory experience, run by the Office of Residence Life and Housing. There are four first-year Living-Learning Communities: "Living Green: Sustainability in the 21st Century", "Global Cultures: Bringing the World to Emory", "Creativity & the Arts", and “Social Innovation: Inspire, Ignite, Impact”. While the "Living Green" program is the one most directly focused on sustainability, each of these experiences incorporates aspects of sustainability, equity, and social justice into hall programming and the overall residence hall atmosphere.

Third- and fourth-year students, as of fall 2018, have the option to apply to live on the Garden-themed hall on Emory's Clairmont campus. The hall members are in charge of Educational Garden workdays for the Garden on the Clairmont campus, and they take a class together, in which themes of sustainability and food systems are taught.


Does the institution have a program through which students can learn sustainable life skills?:
Yes

A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:

Emory's Office of Residence Life and Housing believes “learning that occurs outside of the classroom can often be as valuable as learning that takes place in an academic setting.” To that end, all student and professional staff are trained before students arrive in the fall, as well as during the Resident Advisor class on how to incorporate sustainability themes and elements into their programming for residents. Resident Advisors, Sophomore Advisors and the Graduate Fellow in the sustainability-themed halls (Hamilton E. Holmes, Green Action in Woodruff Residential Hall) are required to focus a portion of their programming on sustainability. Some examples of programs in the past year include teaching residents how to make their own environmentally safe cleaners, how to use Atlanta’s public transportation, how to use less water and energy when washing and drying clothes, and how to incorporate seasonal, fresh food from our Oxford Farm community-supported agriculture program into weekly meals and conversation.

Additionally, the Residence Hall Association (RHA) Sustainability Chairs support thes efforts with their own sustainability programming, through outreach and education during the Recycling Competition and Energy Competition focused on individual behavior change, and by ensuring that all RHA events and programs are zero-waste.

The Zero Waste Ambassadors learn how to properly sort and reduce waste to aid in landfill diversion. While educating the public on these practices, members learn more about cradle to grave versus cradle to cradle and become more accountable for their actions regarding waste creation.


Does the institution offer sustainability-focused student employment opportunities?:
Yes

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

A variety of sustainability-focused student employment opportunities are available for Emory undergraduate and graduate students. The Office of Sustainability (OSI) hires paid undergraduate and graduate student interns throughout the academic year and summer to assist staff with on-campus initiatives. OSI in partnership with Campus Services, additionally hires two or three graduate or undergraduate students to lead weekly WaterHub tours.

Residence Life and Housing hires undergraduate Resident Advisors (RAs) and Sophomors Advisors (SAs). All RAs are trained before students arrive in the fall as well as during the Resident Advisor class about sustainability on how to incorporate sustainability themes and elements into their programming for residents.  Additionally, a paid Graduate Fellow works in the Living Green hall, leading her own sustainability-themed programming and developing a residential curriculum that teaches students sustainability literacy throughout all four years of living on campus. The curriculum was piloted in 2016-2017 in the Living Green hall and will be rolled out to all halls in Fall 2017.

Students work at Green Bean Coffee which serves fair trade, organic coffee/tea and educates customers about the importance of these products.

At the Rollins School of Public Health, the Rollins Earn and Learn (REAL) program provides funding for master's level public health graduate students to support their academic interests with applied public health experiences in federal, state, and county government agencies, Emory-affiliated programs, and non-profit organizations throughout Atlanta. Many of the REAL placement sites are sustainability-focused.

The Ethics and Servant Leadership program of the Center for Ethics offers an 8-week summer internship that begins in May and continues through the summer. It requires a minimum 270 hours of service and includes classroom instruction that provides the students with basic leadership and ethical skills and gives them an opportunity to process their experiences. Students will learn about different approaches to business and decision-making processes that shape area nonprofit organizations, many of whom operate with sustainability at the forefront of their work.


Does the institution have a graduation pledge through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions?:
Yes

A brief description of the graduation pledge(s):

Starting in 2014, graduating seniors have the opportunity to sign a graduation pledge at an Alumni Association event leading up to Commencement. All seniors who sign the pledge are given a pin with the Office of Sustainability's oak leaf logo to wear during Commencement ceremonies. The pledge incorporates the concepts in the Graduation Pledge Alliance's pledge but also is centered on Emory's culture and goals around sustainability. "I pledge to explore and consider the social, economic, and environmental consequences of my decisions and to use the knowledge I gained at Emory to improve the quality of life for current and future generations in my community and beyond."


A brief description of other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives that do not fall into one of the above categories:

Each year, the Office of Sustainability Initiatives administers the Sustainability Incentives Fund to support research, campus-based projects, and the development of new rituals to promote sustainability on Emory's campuses. Creative proposals are welcomed that seek new knowledge, support new behavior patterns, and foster cultural change. Faculty, staff, and students from Emory University and Emory Healthcare are eligible to apply for the Sustainability Incentives Fund. Funds may be used for supplies, materials, publicity, and travel costs. Proposals are welcome in all areas, with priority given to proposals in the areas of waste, sustainable food, energy, alternative transportation, and connection to "place." Research and rituals must be carried out on campus.


Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

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.