| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 57.03 |
| Liaison | Kristyn Achilich |
| Submission Date | Oct. 4, 2017 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Saint Michael's College
EN-3: Student Life
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Heather
Lynch Director of Sustainability Academic Affairs |
"---"
indicates that no data was submitted for this field
Student Groups
Yes
A brief description of active student groups focused on sustainability:
1) Green Up - the student environmental club on campus. The mission of Green Up is to educate the Saint Michael's College community about pressing environmental issues and affect change through local engagement and on-campus sustainability efforts within a global context.
2) Peace & Justice Club - The Peace and Justice Club promotes the dignity of every human person, seeks to develop a justice network with other groups on campus and provides the community with events and programs about issues of peace, nonviolence, justice and equality for all people.
3) SLAM - Student Labor Action Movement. A group of students working together with a goal to work for better worker's rights, an economy that values human beings and the environment and dignity for all.
4) Social Justice League - the SJL is an ad-hoc group with representation from all the student clubs on campus that tackle environmental and social justice issues. The League works to collaborate on co-sponsored events/programming on campus.
The website URL where information about the student groups is available (optional):
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Gardens and Farms
Yes
A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:
The mission of the Organic Garden Program is: (1) To enhance the educational experience of the campus community by providing an outdoor classroom for hands-on, experiential learning opportunities as it relates to food systems and sustainable agriculture; and (2) To support existing programs on campus and carry on the Edmundite tradition of social justice and service as it relates to food issues in our surrounding community. The Garden program was established in 2008 with its original 1/4 acre plot. In 2014, a 1.7 Permaculture site was added to the program (first season began in 2016). The produce grown from the site is available via a weekly farm stand on campus, 5-days a week self-serve farm stand at the Center for Women and Gender and the remainder of the food is donated to the Intervale Food Rescue and Gleaning Program.
In addition to the college grown produce, students are able to sign-up for a semester CSA through the Intervale Food Hub which is delivered right to campus year-round.
The website URL where information about the gardens, farms or agriculture projects is available (optional):
Student-Run Enterprises
No
A brief description of the student-run enterprises:
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The website URL where information about the student-run enterprises is available (optional):
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Sustainable Investment and Finance
Yes
A brief description of the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives:
It is the mission of the Fix It With Five organization to promote
systemic change through its annual donation to a local, national, or international community based organization with the goal of permanent sustainable change. Following the Saint Michael's College mission of social justice this student led and student funded organization will provide education and awareness to the college and surrounding community. In partnership with the chosen organization, the Fix It With Five committee will aim to alleviate a condition leading to the degradation of human dignity.
Fix it With Five is composed of an appointed student committee consisting of eight student members, two faculty members and one faculty adviser. Saint Michael’s community members are encouraged to submit nominations for non-profit groups who can benefit from the funds, and will help choose the final group which the funds will be allocated to.
The website URL where information about the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives is available (optional):
Events
Yes
A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability:
Lecture/Speaker Series: Green Up Earth Week Speaker Series, Sutherland Lecture
Series, and other Academic Department speaker series.
The college hosts numerous speaker series and events related to sustainability with students as the intended audience (but also welcome faculty and staff to attend as well). One of the major events in which a speaker comes to campus to discuss various sustainability related topics occurs during the spring Earth Week Keynote Address event. Past speakers have included Maude Barlow, Bill McKibben, Grace Gershuny, Tom Goldtooth, Jim Merkel and many others.
As part of the Sutherland Lecture Series, topics of social justice and sustainability are covered. For the Fall 2016 speaker, Jane Davidson gave a talk titled "Dream Green: Creating the Next Generation of Doers and Change Makers."
The website URL where information about the conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability is available (optional):
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Cultural Arts
Yes
A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations or performances related to sustainability:
Art projects and installations from Prof. Collier's class (AR 332: Eco & Environmental Arts) are intended to model the myriad ways art can be used to raise awareness about environmental issues, model alternative ways to manage outdoor spaces, utilize resources in more sustainable ways and create some long lasting functional sites that have small scale ecological benefits. The student projects are displayed throughout campus for all community members to learn from and enjoy.
The website URL where information about the cultural arts events, installations or performances is available (optional):
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Wilderness and Outdoors Programs
Yes
A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:
The SMC Adventure Sports Center (formerly known as the Wilderness Program) focuses on creating opportunities for students (As well as faculty and staff) to challenge themselves in new ways while exploring and respecting the natural world.
The website URL where information about the wilderness or outdoors programs is available (optional):
Sustainability-Related Themes
Yes
A brief description of the sustainability-related themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:
All first year students in the Residence Halls participate in TLCs (Themed Living Community). Four themes (Approaches to Transition; Leadership; Service; Wellness) will serve as umbrella themes of the first year housing experience. Once students arrive in the fall, students, with the guidance of the Resident Assistant on the floor, will develop a plan to carry out their theme. Leadership and Service often focus on various aspects of sustainability and RAs have worked with the Office of Sustainability to identify sustainability projects on campus and off for their residents to engage in.
The website URL where information about the sustainability-related themes is available (optional):
Sustainable Life Skills
Yes
A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
Each Spring, the Office of Sustainability runs the annual Electricity Competition among all students living in apartment style units. The competition is a 3-week long event in which students in each living area are challenged too see which unit will have the smallest per capita kWh total at the end of 3 weeks. Each week, all the students are emailed an excel spreadsheet that gives them their weekly kWh consumption (each unit is individually metered for electricity), what their monthly electricity bill would be based on that week's total and how much money they would save (or not save) based on their habits to reduce their electricity consumption. Due to behavior changes, the competition saves up to 40,000 kWh in just 3 weeks!
Other workshops/programs aimed at teaching students sustainable life skills are put on my the student environmental Club Green Up and the Garden Program. Such workshops have included: fermentation, how to build a raised garden bed, various garden-related workshops, self-sufficiency workshops, etc.
The website URL where information about the sustainable life skills programs is available (optional):
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Student Employment Opportunities
Yes
A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:
Students are able to apply for work study positions in the Office of
Sustainability. Positions include:
-Food System Educator
-Zero-Waste Coordinator
-Campus Sustainability Assessment and Education Coordinator
-Sustainable Campus Grounds Coordinator (Bee Campus Certification and Tree Campus Certification)
-Garden Program and Permaculture Site Crew positions
The website URL where information about the student employment opportunities is available:
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Graduation Pledge
No
A brief description of the graduation pledges:
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The website URL where information about the graduation pledges is available (optional):
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Other Programs and Initiatives
Yes
A brief description of the other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives:
The Center for Community-Engaged Learning (CEL) specifically seeks and supports close partnerships between faculty, students, and community members to make that better world a reality through an emphasis on integrating experiential service-learning, community-based research, or advocacy projects into academic coursework across the disciplines.
The website URL where information about other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives is available (optional):
Optional Fields
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.