Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 72.90
Liaison Kathleen Crawford
Submission Date July 23, 2020

STARS v2.2

Florida Gulf Coast University
AC-5: Immersive Experience

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Kathleen Crawford
Sustainability Coordinator
Environmental Health & Safety
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution offer at least one immersive, sustainability-focused educational study program that is one week or more in length?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-focused immersive program(s) offered by the institution:

FGCU offers sustainability-focused immerse programs through faculty-led study abroad and service-abroad oriented Registered Student Organizations. The following descriptions summarize some of the programs offered:

FACULTY-LED STUDY ABROAD:
Global Sustainable Design (Spring 2019) - This course is a concentrated introduction to sustainability and design as practiced in selected cities in Western Europe with a focus on the three spheres of sustainability; environment, equality, and economy within the context of design. The trip started in London, UK, where students explored past, present, and future design for sustainability in products, buildings, and urban planning. Students explored integrated transportation systems as well as natural spaces on the fringes of urban areas. From London students traveled to the world’s most sustainable city, Copenhagen, Denmark to explore social sustainability through food and energy systems and explore how sustainability is practiced in this society. A day trip by train took students to Malmo, Sweden, allowing exploration of sustainability and design in Sweden’s third largest city. https://fgcu360.com/2019/07/19/students-tour-inspired-european-sustainability-efforts/

Puerto Rico: Social Work Practice with Latino/as Coping with the Impact of Natural Disasters (Summer 2019) - Students learned about Latinos/as residing in Southwest Florida and Puerto Rico. The course highlighted their migration/immigration experiences, acculturation, and how colonialism plays a role in their physical and emotional well-being as well as their process of recovery from natural disasters. Students learned how social workers in Puerto Rico are addressing health and mental health needs and the process of recuperation after the natural disasters in 2017. Both micro (individuals and families) and macro (organizations, communities and policy) level interventions having an emphasis on human rights and social justice were covered. https://fgcu-horizons.symplicity.com/index.php?s=programs&mode=form&id=6ea52f1718be6e965c786cfcbec3b4ec

Guatemala: Global Health Guatemala Immersion (Spring 2019) - A study abroad health immersion experience designed to provide the student with basic skills necessary to provide culturally competent health promotion for indigenous populations in rural Guatemala. https://fgcu-horizons.symplicity.com/index.php?s=programs&mode=form&id=40f8bbb0b98e1f54ba669184dd9a1583

Ecuador: Adventure, Culture & Eco- Hospitality in Latin America (Summer 2019) - https://fgcu-horizons.symplicity.com/index.php?s=programs&mode=form&id=83ea1f224b56e16ec9ab9bc9e5e71ee4

Trinidad and Tobago Co-led by Dr. Gunnels: Honors study abroad trip to Trinidad and Tobago. Students explored the history, culture and environment of Trinidad and Tobago through experiential learning and cultural immersion, using calypso and conservation as the twin lenses of analysis. https://www.fgcu.edu/cas/departments/biosciences/files/Gunnels-CV-2019.pdf

ALTERNATIVE BREAKS:
The Dominican Republic Outreach Program (D.R.O.P.) is a student-run organization at FGCU. The club’s mission is to promote the idea of global citizenship, stress the importance of community engagement, and foster a sense of civic responsibility, both locally and abroad. D.R.O.P. does this through a group of dedicated students who fund-raise throughout the year for school supplies, athletic equipment, and monetary donations. Then, during a once-a-year alternative Spring Break, a group of D.R.O.P.’s members travel to the Dominican Republic to deliver those supplies to the underprivileged youth with the help of a Santiago-based outreach organization, Acción Callejera. https://getinvolved.fgcu.edu/organization/drop


Website URL where information about the institution’s immersive education programs is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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