| Overall Rating | Bronze - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 35.35 |
| Liaison | Kimberly Post |
| Submission Date | Sept. 26, 2014 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Saint Joseph's College - ME
EN-3: Student Life
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.25 / 2.00 |
Greg
Teegarden Professor Natural Sciences |
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 | No |
| 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 | No |
| Wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles | Yes |
| Sustainability-related themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences | No |
| Programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills | No |
| 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 | No |
| Other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives | No |
The name and a brief description of each student group focused on sustainability:
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:
Pearson Town Farm is an organic farm run by Saint Joseph's College that produces produce and livestock for both our dining hall, Catherine's Cupboard (a local food pantry) and for a small but growing CSA. Many students work on Pearson Farm in many different capacities. The farm offers summer internships which give students free room and board in return for work on the farm. Many different classes on campus send students to the farm for experiential learning opportunities. Students from local K-12 schools also have been involved in programs on the farm. Work on the farm is overseen by a full-time farm manager, Michial Russell, who is an employee of the college.
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:
Pearson Town Farm, our campus organic farm, developed a CSA with the help of the Business Management seminar course. These student developed a model for the CSA and worked on marketing the CSA in the greater Portland area. 2012 was the first year the CSA worked and will continue with some improvements in 2013.
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:
Many sustainability related events have been hosted by Saint Joseph's College. These events vary from year to year. For the past five years we have begun the semester with our Fall Sustainability Festival and Eat Local Lunch. This event celebrates sustainability and showcases many local vendors who are involved in energy conservation, clean energy, local food and sustainably produced goods. These vendors are showcasing things as diverse as hybrid cars to honeybees. The event is organized by the campus E-team and typically brings over 40 local vendors to campus. The lunch features fresh produce from our campus organic farm and all food is sourced within 100 miles of our campus. This event is the only lunch served on campus on this day and therefore virtually the entire campus community attends this event.
We also feature films with sustainability themes. This fall, for the Feast of Saint Francis, we showed the film Sun Come Up, which was distributed by the Catholic Climate Coalition and talks about some of the first climate refugees and the complexity of their plight. This Spring (April 16th, 2013) we will be screening Chasing Ice.
Each Spring, a lecturer is brought to campus typically in honor of Earth Day. We have had Carl Safina, founder of the Blue Ocean Institute, Tom Wessels, forest ecologist and author of the Myth of Progress, Drew Barton, ecologist who specializes on the impacts of climate on the New England forest. This year we will host Ray Sirois, who will deliver two lectures on climate change and has been trained by Al Gore's Climate Reality Project.
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 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 Saint Joseph's College Outdoor Adventure Club is an active club supervised by faculty member Ruth Smilie and led by student Corey French. Our director of Student Activites, Morgan Rocheleau is a certified Leave No Trace trainer.
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:
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 website URL where information about the sustainable life skills program(s) is available:
A brief description of sustainability-focused student employment opportunities:
SJC Ecoreps employ between 12-17 students each semester.
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:
The website URL where information about the graduation pledge program is available:
A brief description of other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives:
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.