| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 72.14 |
| Liaison | Teddy Lhoutellier |
| Submission Date | Jan. 26, 2022 |
University of Miami
EN-3: Student Life
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Teddy
Lhoutellier Sustainability Manager Environmental Health and Safety |
Does the institution have an active student group focused on sustainability?:
Name and a brief description of the active student groups focused on sustainability:
- The Student Government Energy & Conservation Organization (ECO) - is the green branch of student government that was created to promote an environmentally friendly campus through beneficial and realistic green projects.
- USGBC Miami Student Chapters represents a coalition of students and young professionals whose goal is to promote the integration of future leaders into the green building movement.
- The Environmental Law Society examines policy issues and career opportunities in environmental law and related areas, and promote the environmental interests of the school and students at the University of Miami School of Law to the local and national community.
- The University of Miami Engineers Without Border focuses on large-scale projects dedicated to enhancing quality of life in a sustainable fashion. (includes on campus and public service).
- The CommUnity Garden Club created a raised bed garden and a food forest on campus. They promote sustainable practice in gardening and permaculture guidelines
- The Climate Reality Project UM chapter: this group advocate for Climate policy and organize events, conferences and campaigns to promote Climate action on campus.
- The ECO Cinema Club organizes screenings, discussions, and events based around environmental media and a yearly Green Shorts Film Festival .
- The Atmospheric Science Club focuses on climate change outreach and science.
- The Marine Mammal Stranding Team is dedicated to the protection of marine life
- Amnesty International
- Nutrigardens. is a graduate student group from the School of Medicine helping K-12 schools to build vegetable gardens
- The Bicycle Club host Student Bicycle Station every other week, where they provide free and low-cost bicycle repairs and maintenance, as well as safety tips.
- Florida Water and Environment Association reaches out to students with an interest in water and the environment, focusing on research, education, and professionalism. They also seek to provide students with opportunities to experience places of environmental importance firsthand. An important focus of the organization is to educate and spread the importance of water in local communities, mainly about the Everglades.
- The Habitat for Humanity UM Campus Chapter's main goal is to assist the Miami chapter of Habitat for Humanity in its mission by recruiting student volunteers.
- National Gandhi Day of Service's purpose is for participants to provide community service in the ideals of peace advocate Mahatma Gandhi. This event also aims to foster cultural awareness in addition to the direct service component.
- The Rho Rho Rho is the University of Miami's Marine and Atmospheric Honor Society. Its mission is to promote conservation of the marine environmental awareness through trips and outings, educational talks, and sponsoring campus-wide events such as Ocean Awareness Week.
- The Ethics Society organizes ethics debates, guest speaker series, and environmental ethics volunteer projects.
- Plant Based Canes collaborate with our Dining Services to promote a healthier more sustainable plant based diet for our students
- U Cook works closely with our Wellness Center to offer cooking classes and promote vegan and sustainable easy to make recipes to our students.
- U Thrift is UM's free on-campus thrift store that takes place every Wednesday at the Farmer's Market
-Food Recovery Network help address food waste and food insecurity on campus and in the community.
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?:
A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:
The CommUnity Garden's purpose is to engage students, faculty, and staff from all areas of the University to grow organic, sustainable vegetable gardens at the University of Miami and to educate all about the pathways food travels from seedlings to our plates.
The Gifford Arboretum Sustainability Garden is located on the University of Miami Coral Gables campus. Up until summer of 2018, it was a “temporary” dumping ground for tree trimmings etc. from around campus. For almost 5 years before this, U Miami faculty and students had been campaigning for a dedicated gardening spaces for organizations and classes. During the summer of 2018 the site was cleared and leveled. Garden creation began in August 2018 and is growing.
Many professors from different discipline use the garden as a Living Lab for their classes.
Does the institution have a student-run enterprise that includes sustainability as part of its mission statement or stated purpose?:
A brief description of the student-run enterprises:
The Billy Goat Coffee stand is serving Fair Trade premium coffee in a locally sourced wood gazebo located in front of the School of Architecture. The stand was created and is run by students.
Cycle is a reverse vending machine recycling cans and bottles in the School of business. The app allows for people to donate a certain amount of cents to an environmentally concerned student organization for each can or bottle recycled. The Cycle machine and app were created and are run by business students.
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:
The U Green Revolving Reserve has been developed in 2015 for the institution as part of the Sustainable Endowments Institute’s Billion Dollar Green Challenge initiative. The Budget and Planning Department allocated an initial $1 million to go towards projects to implement energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other cost savings sustainability projects. In addition, the UGRR fund academically oriented energy efficient R&D projects at our facilities as a test bed for national deployment.
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?:
A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia, or similar events focused on sustainability:
Speakers, conferences,movies, lectures, symposiums, green fairs, Food Day, Recyclemania, America Recycles Day, World Water Day, Sustainability tours, Green Building tours, food recovery events, Bike Day and partnerships with local community.
The events are all documented in our social media:
https://www.facebook.com/Green-U-University-of-Miami-215493501847718/
https://www.instagram.com/greenumiami/
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?:
A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations, or performances focused on sustainability:
Recycled Art Exhibits
Movie Screenings
Participatory Art Exhibits on Environmental topics.
Does the institution have a wilderness or outdoors program that follow Leave No Trace principles?:
A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:
Canes Outdoor Recreation Programs (CORPs):
Outdoor activities including kayaking, hiking, biking, canoeing, snorkeling, horseback riding, windsurfing, adventure racing, sailing, and more!
It allows students to rent kayaks and paddles to run excursions in the close by parks and discover local ecosystems.
Scuba Club:
The scuba club organizes discounted dive trips every weekend at locations ranging from Northern Florida to the Florida Keys.
Surfrider UM promotes surfing, beach cleanups, camping/trips, clinics, beach days, advocacy action, and community service.
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:
In most aspects of student life, the most prevalent theme in the last 3 years have been the campaign for a single use plastic free lifestyle.
https://greenu.miami.edu/topics/waste-diversion/plastic-free/disposable-plastic-free-campaign.html
Does the institution have a program through which students can learn sustainable life skills?:
A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
ECO Rep Sustainable Living in the Residences and our Green Move In and Move Out are promoted through Housing and Residential Life in partnership with the Student Government ECO Agency and the Office of Sustainability. It covers basic aspects of living in a sustainable manner on campus for our considerable population of residents.
Does the institution offer sustainability-focused student employment opportunities?:
A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:
Example of Green U - Office of Sustainability internship profile:
The candidate will work under the direct supervision of the Sustainability Manager at UM on various Green projects implementation plans.
Duration of the internship: Spring semester, 12-15 hours/week.
Candidate will be part of the leadership team at Green U, working on Waste Reduction programs, Green Lab and Energy conservation.
His/her role will consist of monitoring and enhancing existing programs like our Single Stream Recycling program, and participating in the creation of new programs for "non-conventional" recyclable items.
Candidate will be responsible for certain data collection plans for our sustainability reports.
We offer opportunities to work for the Office of Sustainability either as a Federal Work Study or as Communication and Outreach coordinator:
https://greenu.miami.edu/about-us/our-staff/index.html
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):
A brief description of other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives that do not fall into one of the above categories:
The Green Lab program is meant to promote sustainable practice in our labs, from energy savings to water conservation and waste diversion.
The Green Athletics program promotes sustainability in Collegiate sports in partnership with national organization like the Green Sports Alliance, our Department of Athletics and classes from our Sports Administration Department
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.