Overall Rating Reporter
Overall Score
Liaison Michelle Rodriguez
Submission Date Jan. 25, 2023

STARS v2.2

San Diego Mesa College
EN-3: Student Life

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete Reporter Michelle Rodriguez
Professor
Political Science
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have an active student group focused on sustainability?:
Yes

Name and a brief description of the active student groups focused on sustainability:

Mesa College’s Terra Mesa Environmental Sustainability & Conservation Club recruits and gathers students to work on sustainable projects through the campus and its surroundings. The students meet weekly to work on the campus’ garden and discuss ideas that advance sustainability goals.
Website: https://terramesa.weebly.com/


Does the institution have a garden, farm, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery program, or an urban agriculture project where students are able to gain experience in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems?:
Yes

A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:

Mesa College has a garden area located at Malesta Drive with a 120 square foot greenhouse, 2,750 square feet dedicated to vegetable production, and 1,000 square feet dedicated to native plant species. The college’s Culinary Arts building also contains a rooftop vegetable and herb garden.


Does the institution have a student-run enterprise that includes sustainability as part of its mission statement or stated purpose?:
No

A brief description of the student-run enterprises:
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Does the institution have a sustainable investment fund, green revolving fund, or sustainable microfinance initiative through which students can develop socially, environmentally and fiscally responsible investment and financial skills?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives:

San Diego Mesa College has a Green Revolving Fund which is managed by the members of the Terra Mesa club. Unfortunately, our GRF is not in operation yet. We were planning to start operating by the Fall of 2021 but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, some of our operations are still on hold.


Has the institution hosted a conference, speaker series, symposium, or similar event focused on sustainability during the previous three years that had students as the intended audience?:
Yes

A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia, or similar events focused on sustainability:

In 2021, San Diego Mesa College’s Environmental Sustainability Committee and Terra Mesa Club hosted reading circles with the book All We Can Save (Johnson & Wilkinson, eds.).
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5bvx9ngun36mmpa/EarthDay21poster.pdf?dl=0
In September 2021, for Constitutional Day, the college invited Andrea Rodgers, who is a lawyer working on the case Juliana v US, to speak to our students. In April 2022, during Cultural Unity Week, the ESC invited Madison Coleman from Climate Action Campaign for a talk called "Environmental Justice and Climate Equity Issues in San Diego."


Has the institution hosted a cultural arts event, installation, or performance focused on sustainability with the previous three years that had students as the intended audience?:
Yes

A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations, or performances focused on sustainability:

For the Earth Day celebrations in 2020, Mesa College’s Environmental Sustainability Committee invited students to submit works of visual art and creative writing. The plan was for the visual art winners to be shown in the student art gallery, but they were instead shared online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The writing winners were printed in Mesa’s annual art and literary magazine, Mesa Visions.


Does the institution have a wilderness or outdoors program that follow Leave No Trace principles?:
Yes

A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:

Since 2007 San Diego Mesa College holds an annual Canyon Day. SD Mesa College is located in the Tecolote Canyon Natural Park and Nature Center area, and during Canyon Day we gather students and staff members to walk through the canyon cleaning up the area. Students involved in the project are eligible to earn up to 4 hours of community credit and/or extra credit.
https://www.sdmesa.edu/campus-life/canyon-day/index.shtml


Has the institution had a sustainability-focused theme chosen for a themed semester, year, or first-year experience during the previous three years?:
No

A brief description of the sustainability-focused themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:
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Does the institution have a program through which students can learn sustainable life skills?:
No

A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
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Does the institution offer sustainability-focused student employment opportunities?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:

The San Diego Community College District, of which SD Mesa College is part, currently employs two students as Sustainability interns. Our interns work part-time and they are in charge of helping faculty and staff members with gathering data for the STARS report and the Sustainability report, as well as writing for grant proposals and helping with any other overall environmental and sustainability-focused initiative. At Mesa, they also collaborate with our long-term plan Mesa 2030 and with the creation of our Climate Action Plan.


Does the institution have a graduation pledge through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions?:
No

A brief description of the graduation pledge(s):
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A brief description of other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives that do not fall into one of the above categories:
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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.