| Overall Rating | Bronze |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 38.36 |
| Liaison | Marga Martinez |
| Submission Date | Oct. 10, 2024 |
Oakton College
EN-3: Student Life
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.75 / 2.00 |
Charmaine
John Sustainability Specialist Facilities |
Student groups
Name and a brief description of the active student groups focused on sustainability:
Oakton has a Environmental/ Sustainability Club, which was formerly known as the Ecology Club. Students in the club engage in a variety of activities and initiatives on campus focused on sustainability awareness and action. Some initiatives include: Working our community garden, assisting in ecological restoration events, litter clean-up, food waste/compost training, coffee ground composting collection, and fundraisers for sustainable action.
https://www.oakton.edu/life-at-oakton/student-activities/clubs.php
Gardens and farms
A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:
The Des Plaines Community Garden was established on Earth Day in 2009, fulfilling a vision of the student Ecology Club at that time. Rather than assigning parcels of the Garden to individuals, the decision was made to jointly work on the entire space, led by Oakton students and employees. Over the past ten years, the Garden has supplied local food pantries with a steady supply of fresh, organic produce, in addition to providing produce for those who volunteer. The effort is run primarily as a volunteer effort.
Student-run enterprises
A brief description of the student-run enterprises:
Sustainable investment and finance
A brief description of the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives:
Events
A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia, or similar events focused on sustainability:
Oakton offers a number of Sustainability events and speakers throughout the year. Two major series of events include Campus Sustainability Month programming in October and Earth Week programming in April. In addition, a number of general student events such as the annual Fall Fest, where they learn about campus departments, clubs, and activities, is a well-advertised Zero Waste event. Students compost their food and service ware waste and have opportunities to learn more about sustainability initiatives.
https://events.oakton.edu/earth-month
This webpage gets updated with April Sustainability events every year.
Cultural arts
A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations, or performances focused on sustainability:
Oakton College hosts Garden Mural Paintings, Nature Poetry Slams, Nature Concerts during Oaktoner and Earth month as artistic engagement for the campus regarding sustainability topics. Please see attchment for list of campus sustainability month events which include artistic and cultural offerings.
Wilderness and outdoors programs
A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:
Students are taken our for an Environmental Studies Field study in which camping and hiking supplies are offered and Leave No Trace principles are taught and enforced with students.
https://events.oakton.edu/event/environmental_studies_summer_2023_field_course
Sustainability-focused themes
A brief description of the sustainability-focused themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:
Sustainable life skills
A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
Student employment opportunities
A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:
The college offers up to four paid student worker positions related to Sustainability. One to two students are employed each semester in the Sustainability Center as Student Sustainability Researchers. These students are responsible for assisting with a number of initiatives including data entry related to our energy and waste tracking, event planning, assisting with zero waste events, and community gardening. We also have two positions a year focused on Natural Areas. These students work primarily outdoors with our Naturalist doing ecological restoration work including invasive species removal, seed collection, planting, trimming, habitat protection, weeding, etc.
Graduation pledge
A brief description of the graduation pledge(s):
Oakton offers students upon graduation to sign and commit to The Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility, which goes as follows;
"I pledge to exercise responsibility, compassion, and integrity in my academic, professional, and personal pursuits, and to apply ethical principles when making social and environmental decisions that have the ability to shape the future of our global community."
Optional Fields
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
A sample schedule of Campus Sustainability Month programming is also attached here.
To look back over events we have held in recent years, visit our blog/events category: https://oaktongreenteam.wordpress.com/tag/campus-events/
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.