| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 66.99 |
| Liaison | Megan Butler |
| Submission Date | July 18, 2014 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Macalester College
EN-3: Student Life
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Suzanne Savanick
Hansen Sustainability Manager Macalester Sustainbility Office |
Does the institution have one or more co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives that fall into the following categories?:
| Yes or No | |
| Active student groups focused on sustainability | Yes |
| Gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, or urban agriculture projects where students are able to gain experience in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems | Yes |
| Student-run enterprises that include sustainability as part of their mission statements or stated purposes | Yes |
| Sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives through which students can develop socially, environmentally and fiscally responsible investment and financial skills | No |
| Conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience | Yes |
| Cultural arts events, installations or performances related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience | Yes |
| Wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles | Yes |
| Sustainability-related themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences | Yes |
| Programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills | Yes |
| Sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution | Yes |
| Graduation pledges through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions | Yes |
| Other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives | No |
The name and a brief description of each student group focused on sustainability:
MacCares (Macalester Conservation and Renewable Energy Society) focuses on student projects and practical implementation, MacCares works to bring the way we live into alignment with the ideals we hold.
MacBike is a student-run organization at Macalester College that promotes bicycle-use both on campus and in the greater Twin Cities community. It support bicycling as a fun, sustainable, and socially just form of transportation.
MULCH (Macalester Urban Land and Community Health) is a student group with a mission to educate Macalester and the surrounding community about urban agriculture, environmental justice, food and gardening. MULCH maintains a garden on the Macalester campus and provides fresh produce to Cafe Mac. The recent addition of chickens has also brought with it the opportunity to further teach small scale urban agriculture.
FOODROOTS is a new student organization that works on food and food justice issues.
MPIRG (Minnesota Public Interest and Research Group): Student-run advocacy group that deals with issues from health to the environment.
The website URL where information about student groups is available:
A brief description of gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and urban agriculture projects where students are able to gain experience in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems:
MULCH, Macalester Urban Land and Community Health, is a student group with a mission to educate Macalester and the surrounding community about urban agriculture, environmental justice, food and gardening. MULCH maintains a garden on the Macalester campus and provides fresh produce to Cafe Mac.
The recent addition of urban chickens has also brought with it the opportunity to further teach small scale urban agriculture.
The website URL where information about the organic agriculture and/or sustainable food systems projects and initiatives is available:
A brief description of student-run enterprises that include sustainability as part of their mission statements or stated purposes:
The Live It Fund is a project of the Institute for Global Citizenship Student Council. The fund seeks to empower Macalester students to embrace the living definitions of global citizenship on our campus and in the wider world. Previously the Live It! Fund made possible the efforts of Macalester students to launch an urban farm in southern Minneapolis. The farm, Concrete Beet Farmers, is run under the Community Sustainable Agriculture (CSA) model and recently shipped their first crop.
Additionally, the Macalester MULCH garden sells its surplus produce to Bon Appetit.
The website URL where information about the student-run enterprise(s) is available:
A brief description of the sustainable investment or finance initiatives:
The website URL where information about the sustainable investment or finance initiatives is available:
A brief description of conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience:
The Macalester Civic Forum and International Roundtable are major campus events and sustainability can be one of the topics of the forum. In 2012, the International Roundtable topic was "Feeding the World: Globalization, Food, and Agriculture in the 21st Century".
The Environmental Studies department hosts a regular EnviroThursday speaker series.In 2013, Bill McKibben, spoke to the campus as part of the EnviroThursday speakers series.
The website URL where information about the event(s) is available:
A brief description of cultural arts events, installations or performances related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience:
The Sustainability Small Project Fund supported a student art thesis that will be shown on campus in spring 2014.
The website URL where information about the cultural arts event(s) is available:
A brief description of wilderness or outdoors programs for students that follow Leave No Trace principles:
The Outing Club offers adventure in the great outdoors through inexpensive trips, reasonable gear rental and expedition-planning assistance. Student led trips are offered minimally each Fall and Spring break. The Outing Club hosts workshops specific for winter camping, low impact camping, and invites the Wilderness Medicine Institute to host first aid courses.
Macalester also offers a pre-orientation outdoor program for incoming freshman. Macward Bound seeks to provide shared experiences in which new students will experience supportive community, relationship building and reflection in an experiential outdoor environment.
The website URL where information about the wilderness or outdoors program(s) is available:
A brief description of sustainability-related themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:
Every month the sustainability office has a theme for their publicity, events, and newsletter. The themes are based on the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development that Macalester attended in June of 2012.
The website URL where information about the theme is available:
A brief description of program(s) through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
The Macalester model dorm room was started in 2010 by a sustainability student worker and she held an open house in 2011. The Sustainability Office now hosts her collected information on its website along, with guides for "Green Renters" and "Sustainability in the Kitchen", documents written by former EcoHouse residents.
The website URL where information about the sustainable life skills program(s) is available:
A brief description of sustainability-focused student employment opportunities:
A Sustainability Student Worker Network supports students working on sustainability-related student employment in departments across the campus.
The website URL where information about the student employment opportuntities is available:
A brief description of graduation pledges through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions:
Since 2000, Environmental Studies students have organized the "Senior Graduation Pledge" for commencement. The graduates state: "I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organization for which I work." Taking the pledge is voluntary; students determine for themselves what they consider to be socially and environmentally responsible. The students who pledge wear a green ribbon on their graduation gown.
The website URL where information about the graduation pledge program is available:
A brief description of other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives:
The Sustainability Plan has an entire section on Education Outside the Classroom.
The website URL where information about other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives is available:
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.