Overall Rating	Bronze - expired
Overall Score	40.80
Liaison	Karen Marin-Hines
Submission Date	Feb. 26, 2021

STARS v2.2

Texas Tech University
EN-3: Student Life

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	2.00 / 2.00	Jessica Bunyard Analyst BIMAR

"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Student groups

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:

Tech Future Leaders in Transportation, Student Association For The Institute of Environmental and Human Health, Association of Natural Resource Scientists, Student American Society of Landscape Architects, Engineers Without Borders, Environmental Law Society, Heart of Lubbock Community Garden, Society of Environmental Professionals. These are all student-governed organizations, and there are likely more sustainability-focused events/activities held by other organizations listed on the student organization website.

Gardens and farms

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:

Heart of Lubbock Community Garden is run by a student group from Natural Resource Management. They manage a local CSA. The project is completely student governed.

Student-run enterprises

Does the institution have a student-run enterprise that includes sustainability as part of its mission statement or stated purpose?:

Yes

A brief description of the student-run enterprises:

Texas Tech Housing Services employs students and student interns in all aspects of their operation, including meal vending locations and trade shops. Housing Services actively practices sustainable operations and management, passing these mindsets and skills on to the students as part of their training and employment. Housing also runs the recycling center and participates in RecycleMania.

Sustainable investment and finance

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?:

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

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Events

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:

Texas Tech's Student Activities Board Annually throws an Arbor Day celebration in which students and their organizations are encouraged to beautify campus by planting. This celebration is an all-day outdoor event which includes food, drink, music, and games as part of eco-week.

The Climate Science Center has monthly seminars where researchers present climate, environment, or sustainable research to students in quick, layperson level discussions.

Cultural arts

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:

Texas Tech University Student Housing and the Student Government Association are calling for submissions from students, student organizations, staff and faculty members for the annual Recycled Art Contest.

The contest requires entries to be at least 75 percent recyclable materials. The event serves as a precursor to Arbor Day and First, second and third-place winners will receive prizes provided by Barnes & Noble.

Wilderness and outdoors programs

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:

TTU has many such programs. Texas Tech University's Outdoor Pursuits program provides outdoor student activity opportunities while also teaching leadership and responsibility through student run canoeing, climbing, backpacking,etc. We have our Junction, TX facility where students take classes. We have an internship program through the Climate Science Center that takes students from other universities and teaches them about the South Central climate region.

Sustainability-focused themes

Has the institution had a sustainability-focused theme chosen for a themed semester, year, or first-year experience during the previous three years?:

A brief description of the sustainability-focused themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:

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Sustainable life skills

Does the institution have a program through which students can learn sustainable life skills?:

Yes

A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:

All of the student rooms have either LED or CFL lamps in them. Most of the residence halls have low flow/auto flushers installed in the restrooms. We use .05gpm aerators on all faucets. We have put low flow showerheads or reducers on all showers in the residence halls. Most of our cleaning chemicals are green sealed certified except where there is not a green seal certified product available, i.e. disinfectants and mold removers. The majority of our machines CRI certified (reducing water usage, HEPA filters, etc.)

Student employment opportunities

Does the institution offer sustainability-focused student employment opportunities?:

Yes

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

Texas Tech University Student Housing employs students and Community Advisors and Student Assistants. A large part of their job is educating residents about on-campus resources such as recycling centers and on sustainable living habits.

Graduation pledge

Does the institution have a graduation pledge through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions?:

A brief description of the graduation pledge(s):

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Optional Fields

A brief description of other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives that do not fall into one of the above categories:

The Honors college runs semester long projects where students focus on environmental issues. University Studies has a semester project built around the environment and sustainable communities where each student connects these issues back to their personal disciplines. University Studies is where the students do not have a major, but instead pick three minors. The Honors college also runs semester long projects where students focus on environmental issues.

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.