Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 48.56
Liaison Alan Turnquist
Submission Date July 8, 2020
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Michigan Technological University
EN-2: Student Orientation

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Jay Meldrum
Executive Director of Sustainability
Facilities Management
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Are the following students provided an opportunity to participate in orientation activities and programming that prominently include sustainability?:
Yes or No
First-year students Yes
Transfer students Yes
Entering graduate students Yes

Percentage of all entering (i.e. new) students (including transfers and graduate students) that are provided an opportunity to participate in orientation activities and programming that prominently include sustainability (0-100):
100

A brief description of how sustainability is included prominently in new student orientation (including how multiple dimensions of sustainability are addressed):
The Waino Wahtera Center for Student Success is responsible for Orientation week which is a requirement for all incoming students. This staff is dedicated to planning the week and training the RA's to welcome and properly orient our incoming students to Michigan Tech and the special community of Houghton. Orientation is a week-long program at Michigan Tech, were students are welcomed to the University and informed of all the information they need to be successful. During this orientation, they receive information on how the University runs the recycling program, the importance of not wasting food, and the importance of conserving water by limiting its use in showers. Low flow faucets have been installed in all dorm rooms in 2019. Additionally, the students are informed of energy conservation by turning off lights when they leave their room and not leaving windows open in winter months. They are informed that in the cafeteria, their are only plates and that they should take what they can eat, and eat what they take. There are no trays for piling up food only to throw it our later. Dorm halls (or houses as they are called here)are named and act as a small community. There is a Resident Advisor, and there are other positions which the houses vote on for various duties. One of these duties is Sustainability Coordinator (SC). This person is responsible to educating the house in sustainable practices. The SC's meet with tenants of the Sustainability Demonstration House and the Green Campus Enterprise to discuss projects regarding spreading the word regarding sustainable practices. This orientation has been growing in terms of sustainability in the past two years. There seems to be an upsurge in the need and expectation by the incoming students, that we need to inform them of how we are sustainable as a University.

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Recycling video disclosure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=sfxcb7Eqsmc&feature=youtu.be

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