| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 49.04 |
| Liaison | Kayla Tillapaugh |
| Submission Date | May 28, 2019 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Selkirk College
EN-3: Student Life
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.75 / 2.00 |
Laura
Nessman Sustainability Coordinator Campus Management |
Does the institution have one or more active student groups focused on sustainability?:
A brief description of active student groups focused on sustainability:
Selkirk College has an active student-based Environment Club. The club's mandate is to raise awareness of environmental issues and to strive to create a culture of sustainability at Selkirk. Students meet weekly and have taken on a wide range of projects, including waste audits, garbage cleanups, outreach events, documentary film screenings, and sustainability-themed workshops.
The website URL where information about the student groups is available (optional):
Does the institution have gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects where students are able to gain experience in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems?:
A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:
The Selkirk Native Plant Garden Partnership provides students with hands-on learning experience tending to a variety of native plant species that will be used in environmental restoration projects in the region.
Selkirk's Adult Special Education classes learn about planting and caring for native plant species. One project includes selling flower baskets annually aligned with Mother's Day as a fundraiser
The website URL where information about the gardens, farms or agriculture projects is available (optional):
Does the institution have student-run enterprises that include sustainability as part of their mission statements or stated purposes (e.g. cafés through which students gain sustainable business skills)?:
A brief description of the student-run enterprises:
The website URL where information about the student-run enterprises is available (optional):
Does the institution have sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives through which students can develop socially, environmentally and fiscally responsible investment and financial skills?:
A brief description of the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives:
The website URL where information about the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives is available (optional):
Does the institution have conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience?:
A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability:
Selkirk hosted a Climate Change Week in October 2018, which featured a speaker series. Speakers included the West Kootenay EcoSociety who spoke about their 100% Renewable Kootenays Campaign, Dr. Mel Reasoner who presented his research on climate change in the Columbia Basin, and Laura Sacks, a Climate Reality Leader. Members from the Citizens' Climate Lobby hosted a 'Write for the Climate' session where students were able to write to provincial and federal representatives about their climate change concerns. Selkirk plans to host a similar week long event annually.
http://selkirk.ca/event/climate-change-week
Selkirk College celebrates Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Day annually. Each year, the College selects a different theme, and during 2018, the theme was 'sustainability'. All students of the Advanced Diploma in GIS program created a mapping project poster related to sustainability, and the event's keynote speaker from Urban Systems spoke to the relationship between GIS and sustainable urban planning.
http://selkirk.ca/event/geographic-information-systems-day
The website URL where information about the conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability is available (optional):
Does the institution have cultural arts events, installations or performances related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience?:
A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations or performances related to sustainability:
Selkirk hosts both an Intercultural Week and a GlobalFest Day every year that shares the cultures of all domestic and international students through art, music, dance, food and literature.
The website URL where information about the cultural arts events, installations or performances is available (optional):
Does the institution have wilderness or outdoors programs (e.g. that organize hiking, backpacking, kayaking, or other outings for students) that follow Leave No Trace principles?:
A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:
The Recreation, Fish, and Wildlife students at Selkirk College participate in a number of outdoor excursions each year in which they follow "leave no trace" principles.
The website URL where information about the wilderness or outdoors programs is available (optional):
Does the institution have sustainability-related themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences (e.g. choosing a sustainability-related book for common reading)?:
A brief description of the sustainability-related themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:
The website URL where information about the sustainability-related themes is available (optional):
Does the institution have programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills?:
A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
Selkirk's student Environment Club has hosted several workshops open to all students interested in learning sustainable life skills. A workshop on how to make reusable beeswax food wrap was hosted February 2018 and a session on ecological grief was offered in November 2018.
Bike to College Weeks have also included bicycle maintenance sessions.
The website URL where information about the sustainable life skills programs is available (optional):
Does the institution offer sustainability-focused student employment opportunities?:
A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:
Selkirk College offers 4 sustainability-focused employment opportunities for students.
The Junior and Senior Compost Attendant positions are responsible for emptying the green collection bin contents into the large "Earth Tub" composter, monitoring temperatures and moisture levels and recording compost weights several times during each week.
The Fair Trade Ambassador position is responsible for ensuring the College maintains its Fair Trade Campus designation by providing outreach to students and staff and ensuring the necessary requirements of fair trade offerings on campus are met.
The Sustainability Ambassador position is responsible for supporting initiatives on campus, such as the recycling, compost and carpool programs. This position has worked on developing content and programs to increase sustainable living in student housing.
The website URL where information about the student employment opportunities is available:
Does the institution have graduation pledges through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions?:
A brief description of the graduation pledges:
The website URL where information about the graduation pledges is available (optional):
Does the institution have other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives?:
A brief description of the other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives:
The website URL where information about other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives is available (optional):
Estimated percentage of students (full-time and part-time) that participate annually in sustainability-focused co-curricular education and outreach programs (0-100):
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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.