San Jose State University
EN-3: Student Life

The Environmental Resource Center is run by student directors and supervised by a faculty adviser. In addition to organizing behavior changes via on campus events including the Earth Day Resource Fair, the ERC is working to move our campus towards sustainable use of water, energy and materials. https://www.sjsu.edu/envs/about-us/environmental-resource-center.php

The Climate Reality Project Campus Corp has a chapter at SJSU. It brings students together to organize their campus community to become 100% Committed to renewable energy and end the climate crisis. From the campus, to the community, and beyond, the Campus Corps is creating a new generation of student activists with the tools and training to win, proving that 100 percent renewable energy is possible for communities around the globe.

https://www.sjsu.edu/sustainability/get-involved/newstudentinformation.php

There are three campus gardens where students are able to gain experience in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems.

The Sustainable Agriculture Garden is run by the Environmental Studies Department and is located on the main campus. It has drip irrigation, rain barrels and utilizes intercropping, mulching, and compost to teach students about sustainable gardening.

https://catalog.sjsu.edu/preview_course_nopop.php?catoid=13&coid=117129

The A.S. Community Garden, which is ran by the Cesar Chavez Community Action Center (CCCAC), is a ¼ acre organic garden that provides healthy food for students and a space for service learning. Furthermore, the CCCAC provides free food for students to take home through offering the produce to be placed in the SJSU Food Pantry.

https://www.sjsu.edu/as/departments/cesar-chavez-center/community-garden.php

The Environmental Resource Center (ERC) is run by student directors and supervised by a faculty advisor. The center is funded through the Environmental Studies department and does outreach to students, faculty, and staff within campus with the help of on-campus and community partners. Some of the projects the ERC worked on were Ride to School Day, Take Back the Tap, The Green Office Workshop, and Earth Day.

https://www.sjsu.edu/envs/about-us/environmental-resource-center.php

Associated Students (student-governed) offers $2,300 to student organizations recognized by the Student Involvement office per school year through the approval of the finance committee. The money for student organizations has to either be allocated during one semester or split between two school semesters. All of our student sustainability clubs are eligible to receive this funding which students can then develop their fiscally responsible financial skills.

Every year, SJSU hosts a large Earth Day on Tower lawn. Sustainability is celebrated throughout all of April as Earth Month. Events include a Green Career Panel, a film screening, an Green Talk series, an art gala, a green office workshop and the annual Earth Day Resource Fair on Tower Lawn. This year's Resource Fair activities included yoga on the lawn, a live musical performances, and a tree planting/dedication. The resource fair included dozens of nonprofits, businesses, big and small. A teach-in is held involving faculty incorporating readings, discussions, and activities focusing on environmental protection, social justice, and economic prosperity into their classes, engaging with over 6,000 students.

Each Earth Month, the Office of Sustainability hosts a Green Career Panel with panelists from different sectors of the economy to discuss sustainable career opportunities with students. The Career Center partners with the Office of Sustainability to host resume workshops directly after the panel.

https://www.sjsu.edu/sustainability/get-involved/eventcalendar.php
https://www.sjsu.edu/envs/about-us/environmental-resource-center.php#:~:text=Earth%20Day%20Resource%20Fair,-The%20ERC%20oversees&text=This%20event%20continues%20the%20tradition,college%20campuses%20across%20the%20nation.

The College of Engineering holds an ongoing Green Talk series every semester. Practicing engineers, scientists, and technical experts deliver up-to-date briefings on how engineers deal with environmental issues.

https://www.sjsu.edu/engineering/student-success/studentprograms/greentalks/index.php

Once a week during the academic school year, the Environmental Studies department hosts research presentation seminars for Masters Student candidates, SJSU professors, professionals, and other faculty members.

Each year, the Earth Day Resource Fair hosts a Fashion Show focused on sustainable fashion, where designers either use material and items that are typically thrown away such trash bags, newspaper, and electrical wire to create fashionable clothing ensembles or second-hand clothing. The purpose of the event is to create awareness of post-consumer waste and clothing and to endorse being green on campus while serving as a platform for SJSU's student models and designers to showcase their art.

In 2020, the Office of Sustainability and Department of Design sponsored a Campus Sustainability Month Visual Art and Design Competition that invited students to submit art focused on a sustainability theme.
https://events.sjsu.edu/event/sustainability_art_competition

The last two years, the Office of Sustainability partnered with Meatspace, a student run 'zine that publishes art created by SJSU students. The Spring 2022 issue was themed Consumerism and You and the Spring 2023 issue is themed SolarPunk: Greener Pastures. Each page of the issues was displayed in the Student Union Ballroom during an Earth Day Gala inviting the campus community to see the artwork and meet the artists.
https://events.sjsu.edu/event/meatspace_-_sustainable_art_gala_1204

Starting in Fall 2022, the College of Arts and Humanities launched Sustainable Futures, programming featuring community-oriented workshops, performances, talks, and art exhibits that address NFTs, poetry as performance, life of water, food insecurity and native California trees.
https://www.sjsu.edu/ha-in-action/engage/public-programming-opportunities/Sustainable_Futures.php

Outdoor Adventures, run by Associated Students Campus Recreation (ASCR), provides day and overnight outdoor activities for San Jose State University students, faculty, and staff. Events are offered throughout the year for all levels of participants. Recent events include day hiking trips, volunteer days, kayaking, rafting, backpacking, and climbing. The events follow ecological principles to maintain ecological systems while enjoying the outdoors.

https://www.spartanrecreation.com/outdoors

The College of Engineering Technical Writing program has a Sustainability theme and impacts more than 1000 engineering students annually. The program’s focal point is a GreenTalk series that features guest speakers from a broad spectrum of fields that talk to engineers about the many intersections between engineering and the environment, including biodiversity and habitat loss, water recycling and toxicology, "green" energy and transportation systems, environmental justice, supply chain and manufacturing as well as recent innovations that impact the environment in the field of engineering, such as The Internet of Things.

https://www.sjsu.edu/ide/undergraduate-programs/program-verview/e100w-engineering-reports.php

Starting in Fall 2022, the College of Arts and Humanities launched Sustainable Futures programming for their college featuring community-oriented workshops, performances, talks, and art exhibits that address NFTs, poetry as performance, life of water, food insecurity and native California trees.
https://www.sjsu.edu/ha-in-action/engage/public-programming-opportunities/Sustainable_Futures.php

SJSU housing has Theme Communities on each floor of the dorms. One theme is a "Sustainable Spartans" community themed floor. Sustainable Spartans is geared towards students with a specific interest in environmental sustainability locally, nationwide, and globally.

https://www.sjsu.edu/housing/housing-options/first-time-frosh/sustainable-spartans.php

Each semester, there is a Leadership in Sustainability Workshop series open to all SJSU students that covers the topic areas of waste, water, and energy on and off campus. These topics are expanding to include environmental justice and other areas of sustainability.

The Office of Sustainability currently has 5 student sustainability internship positions that cover: Content Development and Marketing, Clothes Closet, Green Office, Zero Waste, and Academics.

Spartan Eats Dining Services has a student sustainability coordinator position available throughout the year. This position plans outreach programs and campaigns to increase awareness of SJSU's sustainable dining practices on campus, reduces waste at the Dining Commons by running environmental-based events.

The Center for Development of Recycling (CDR) is a university-based, non-profit, environmental research and service organization that was established in 1989. The Center for Development of Recycling has two student positions available for the project manager and admin manager positions. These positions are responsible for coordinating student volunteers, and providing information on types of recyclable materials and available recycling centers.

https://www.recyclestuff.org/html/about.html

Associated Students Transportation Solutions (TS) is dedicated to serve the commuting needs of students and employees at SJSU. Transportation Solutions offers three part-time student coordinator positions. Student coordinators handles transit receipt processing, trip-planning, outreach, marketing and more.

The description of the pledge is below:

"Make the pledge to be a Green Grad! Continue your commitment to sustainability after you leave campus and join thousands of graduates from all over the world who are making environmentally and socially responsible career decisions and lifestyle choices in life beyond SJSU!"

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeYBjUjYq1gcF1J0KwfnJ1bGf2uavQGCpdc4AMUdH6JrdnGPQ/viewform