University of British Columbia
EN-2: Student Orientation

Incoming UBC students have the opportunity to learn about sustainability at all new student orientation events. Key departments that coordinate this effort are UBC’s Centre for Student Involvement and Careers and the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, with support from several other departments and student groups on campus including the UBC Sustainability Initiative, Campus and Community Planning, the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm and Common Energy UBC.

At the annual Jump Start orientation for all new international and Aboriginal students, sustainability is integrated into the core program. Initiatives in 2014 included a herb planting night where students learned about how to make everyday items more sustainable and learned about basic recycling methods on campus through trivia questions. At all four Jump Start communal meals, zero waste student volunteers managed the recycling, compost, and garbage bins and helped educate Jump Start students about how to recycle at UBC.

UBC’s IMAGINE orientation event targets all new-to-UBC incoming undergraduate students. Undergraduate domestic, visiting, international, transfer and exchange students are all invited to this event. Each year since 2011, the IMAGINE day Eco-Team, coordinated by the Centre for Student Involvement and Careers, organizes sustainability initiatives that take place during the Main Event. During the event, at least 10 UBC departments and student groups host outreach booths, showcasing how UBC is activity integrating both social and environmental sustainability into all aspects of the University, from operations and engagement programs to research, teaching and learning. In 2014, the Eco-Team developed a Sustainability Passport, which encouraged students to visit a minimum of three sustainability booths to get stamps and the chance to win a prize. In addition, recycling games and recycling and composting stations at the Main Event help new students learn how to recycle on campus.

Finally, sustainability is also included in the Graduate Student Orientations. For both the 2013/14 and 2014/15 orientations, the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies coordinated a Green Team, who helped incoming graduate students learn how to recycle and compost on campus. In addition, sustainability-related booths by a number of UBC departments were at the orientation event both years, informing graduate students about research and graduate sustainability program opportunities as well as information on energy conservation, zero waste and sustainable food systems.