Illinois State University
EN-2: Co-Curricular Activities

The following link will provide a list and short description of student organizations/university departments that have self-identified and tagged their organization with an emphasis on "sustainability" within our campus engagement platform. : https://redbirdlife.illinoisstate.edu/organizations?categories=16935 

The following link will provide a list and short description of student organizations/university departments that have self-identified and tagged their organization with an emphasis on "environmental" or "cultural/ethinc" issues within our campus engagement platform: https://redbirdlife.illinoisstate.edu/organizations?categories=12199&categories=12200

• The Office of Sustainability hosts an annual Earth Day Breakfast on or around Earth Day each year. The breakfast features a speaker working to address a major sustinability challenge. A campus news story from the 2024 Earth Day Breakfast speaker can be found here: https://news.illinoisstate.edu/2024/04/earth-day-breakfast-speaker-its-on-you-and-on-me/ 
• In 2023, the University hosted the Illinois Recycling Foundation/Illinois Recycling Association's annual conference and meeting. ISU's sustinability director sits on the IRF/IRA board. More information about the 2023 conference can be found here: https://illinoisrecycles.org/recycle-connecting-people-to-planet-through-recycling/#!event-register/2023/6/13/2022-irf-annual-conferencerecycling-the-secret-weapon-to-combat-climate-change 
• The Center for Renewable Energy hosts the Illinois Renewable Energy Conference every year. It features plenary session speakers of interest to all areas of renewable energy, plus breakout sessions in tracks on policy, technical information, and case studies for wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal energy. https://illinoisrenewable.com/ 
• Business Week is an annual panel of events put on by the College of Business. It includes a Corporate Social Responsibility Day and a keynote speaker. The Corporate Social Responsibility speaker from Business Week 2024 can be found here: https://business.illinoisstate.edu/student-life/business-week/csr/

Students hired to work in the Office of Sustainability are trained on how to engage with their peers through various campus engagement activities and tabling events. During the 2023-2024 academic year, student sustainability managers planned and facilitied activities with their peers including: 

• Serving as a community educator at zero waste stations at large campus events involving food (including Homecoming) to educate peers and community members on how to dispose of their waste appropriately (what goes in the compost bin, recycle bin, or landfill bin and why).
• Planning and facilitating tabling events for World Water Day encouraging peers to drink from the tap instead of plastic waterbottles by having a blind taste test of tap water. 
• Planning and facilitating tabling events America Recycles Day educating peers on what can be recycled and what happens to recyclables after they throw them in the bin.
• Working with Dining Services to educate peers on how to eliminate food waste in the dining centers as part of Food Waste Prevention Week. 
• Planning and putting on the Zero Waste Tailgates at most home football games. Students plan the menu of vegan and local foods and educate campus and community members about the benefits of a plant-based diet as well as how to dispose of their waste.
• Running the university's Share Shop which is a free reuse store for students. Students process donations and stock the store while also engaging with their peers shopping at the store about the importance of reusing and "buying" second-hand.

The Office of Sustainability hires students and interns and serves as the repository for employment opportunities in the sustainability field. Each of the departments has employer partners and career fairs which provide assistance to students in their particular field of interest. The Career Center and the Office of Sustainability assist students in preparing their resumes to reflect the skill sets that are characteristic of sustainability practitioners.

The Office of Sustainability is home to three student-managed enterprises: the Share Shop, the Redbird Refillery, and the ISU Bike Share Program.

• The Share Shop is a free second-hand store for students. The students that manage the Share Shop are in charge of sorting and displaying donations as well as helping customers that come through the shop.
• The Redbird Refillery provides Zero Waste shower essentials including Shampoo, Conditioner, and Body Wash in a refillable glass bottle. Students manage the Refillery station, help customers, and keep track of supply.
• The ISU Bike Share Program is managed by a student that helps make bike repairs and works with the Office of Sustainability to lend out bikes.

The Office of Sustainability also partners with the Center for Math, Science, and Technology to host the Green Screen Film Series where sustainability-focused films and documentaries are played at a local movie theater for the campus and community free of charge. Films are shown monthly when classes are in session.

We focused on student activities in the 2023-2024 academic year. Student participation in activities hosted by the Office of Sustinability were first pulled from the student activities database known as Redbird Life (Anthology/Campus Labs platform). We pulled distinct identifiers of students to ensure that we were not getting a duplicate count of students if they attended more than one activity. We then pulled student membership in sustainability student organizations. Since some membership lists have been known to be out of date, the list of student members was then cross-referenced with student enrollment data to ensure that the student members were taking classes during the 2023-2024 academic year. The two categories of data were then merged and duplicates were removed to ensure no student was counted more than once.