Overall Rating Bronze - expired
Overall Score 36.50
Liaison Katy Everett
Submission Date Oct. 26, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Eureka College
EN-3: Student Life

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Katy Everett
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies
Science and Mathematics
"---" 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:

Student Association for a Greener Environment (S.A.G.E.)

In 2002, students from the EVS Research Methods class researched and received a grant for recycling in the town of eureka through a statistically sound survey. Their research resulted in the group’s being recognized as a finalist in student sustainability efforts at the 2013 AASHE annual meeting.


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)?:
Yes

A brief description of the student-run enterprises:

SAGE - the Student Alliance for Greener Environments- includes sustainability in their mission statement as follows:

"S.A.G.E. (Student Alliance for Greener Environments) is a student-led organization that promotes sustainable, environmentally-friendly ideas and practices on campus and in the community. The organization provides students, faculty, staff, and community members with educational and hands-on opportunities to learn about the world in which they live during various events planned and hosted by students throughout the year."


The website URL where information about the student-run enterprises is available (optional):
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 Sustainability Committee established a Green Revolving Fund (GRF) which accepts applications from college faculty, staff, or students to develop projects that imp[rove the sustainability and create cost savings for Eureka College. The GRF is an endowed fund that lends money awarded at a 0% interest rate.


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 Arts and Lecture Board and Campus Activities Board, with the Sustainability Committee, bring speakers to campus with various focus areas. Last year our speakers were focused on racism and justice and the previous year was focused on local food movements.

Each year, faculty have the opportunity to present on their research at a Dean's Lecture. Sometimes the faculty member has a sustainability focus for their talk. For example, Dr. Renee Mullen presented on how natural prairie plants can help with regional flooding.

Each fall a student research symposium is held for students on campus to showcase their summer internships and research projects or capstone studies. In 2017 there were 7 students from environmental studies presenting their research.


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:

SAGE hosts an annual festival (Walnut Grove Festival) to showcase local vendors, musicians, and sustainability efforts in the tri-county area.


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?:
No

A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:
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The website URL where information about the wilderness or outdoors programs is available (optional):
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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:

First year seminars now meet a general education capability in justice and civic responsibilities with various themes. Two themes currently taught are: Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice, with three sections of first year seminars teaching these and incorporating a service component in our community that ties in lessons from class (last year two courses worked with a local food recovery program and held a fresh food drive that collected over 700lbs of fresh food for local families in need).


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?:
Yes

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

Student can learn sustainable life skills through the work of SAGE's monthly student learning sessions in the Cerf Center. An example of this is students can learn how to recycle with SAGE's recycling demonstration.


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:

College Facilities and Maintenance hires a student worker to do the recycling on campus that works in conjunction with the Environmental Studies Program to collect data on waste and recycling loads.


The website URL where information about the student employment opportunities is available:
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?:
No

A brief description of the other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives:
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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):
50

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Information complied by Riley Francis, 2016 and Rabecka Williamson, 2017.


Information complied by Riley Francis, 2016 and Rabecka Williamson, 2017.

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.