Cal Poly Humboldt
ER-3: Sustainability in New Student Orientation

Orientation has gone paperless to a large extent. Beyond an initial letter of admission and a postcard reminder about orientation, we conduct all orientation services virtually. Students sign up for, register for classes, learn about orientation activities and university requirements with digital resources. We also maintain a digital document archive where we encourage all departments on campus to submit a pdf version of flyers and posters. Students then access this digital archive via QR code on their printed orientation schedule or a pre-loaded usb drive, which we use to also encourage use of digital document management. Our incoming transfer students complete their orientation 100% online using our Moodle course management system. For both incoming freshmen and transfer students, we now only provide a printed university catalog and a schedule of orientation events for our on-campus program. Internally, we have moved to paperless reservation systems, fee collection, and post-orientation surveys in addition to our digital communications with students and their families.
In 2012, incoming freshmen were also given a water bottle through a partnership with Student Affairs and our campus Sustainability office. Students were notified of our campus hydration systems and plastic water bottle ban through this giveaway. Incoming students are also notified of campus sustainability efforts through their peer group sessions during orientation. Peer counselors educate students about recycling and composting on campus, discuss our graduation pledge, and talk to students about our university's mission of social and environmental justice. These peer group sessions are held in small groups and are mandatory for all incoming freshmen during orientation.