| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 70.84 |
| Liaison | Troy Goodnough |
| Submission Date | June 2, 2015 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of Minnesota, Morris
EN-3: Student Life
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Troy
Goodnough Sustainability Director Office of Sustainability |
Does the institution have one or more co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives that fall into the following categories?:
| Yes or No | |
| Active student groups focused on sustainability | Yes |
| Gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, or urban agriculture projects where students are able to gain experience in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems | Yes |
| Student-run enterprises that include sustainability as part of their mission statements or stated purposes | Yes |
| Sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives through which students can develop socially, environmentally and fiscally responsible investment and financial skills | Yes |
| Conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience | Yes |
| Cultural arts events, installations or performances related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience | Yes |
| Wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles | Yes |
| Sustainability-related themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences | Yes |
| Programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills | Yes |
| Sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution | Yes |
| Graduation pledges through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions | No |
| Other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives | Yes |
The name and a brief description of each student group focused on sustainability:
The Morris MPIRG (Minnesota Public Interest Research Group) chapter has a Environmental Justice Task Force that focuses on helping students on-campus and off-campus live more sustainably, as well as working towards systemic change. Additionally, the Morris FoodlUMMs and the Morris Student Organic Gardening Club are working to bring more local, sustainable food to campus. The Morris Campus Student Association (MCSA) also appoints two sustainability representatives to advance sustainability on campus and within student government. The Morris ACS Chemistry Club works on sustainability-themed outreach and engagement with kids.
The website URL where information about student groups is available:
A brief description of gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and urban agriculture projects where students are able to gain experience in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems:
The campus has a 2.5 acre student-run organic garden. The Organic Gardening Club meets during the school year. In the fall, they harvest, weed, and prepare the garden for winter. During the winter, meetings are focused on planning the next year's garden. In the spring, the club prepares the garden for summer and begins planting. This is coupled with a program called, "Live to Garden," where students are offered housing on campus during the summer in exchange for work in the organic garden.
The website URL where information about the organic agriculture and/or sustainable food systems projects and initiatives is available:
A brief description of student-run enterprises that include sustainability as part of their mission statements or stated purposes:
The Morris campus has dedicated an entire building to house a successful student-run recycling program. The campus recycles aluminum, tin, plastic, glass, and electronics waste as well as cardboard, glossy paper, office paper, and news printing. These recycling efforts create employment opportunities for students at the Morris campus.
The website URL where information about the student-run enterprise(s) is available:
A brief description of the sustainable investment or finance initiatives:
Students initiated a Green Reinvestment Fund at Morris. Students, faculty and staff are able to initiate projects and utilize funds for sustainability-related projects. In 2015, funds from the GRF were used to support the purchase of a composting sifter, which will improve the composting process on-campus by removing forks, knives, etc (student-governed). Students may also access "Tech Fee" funds for improving campus sustainability infrastructure. This has included new watering equipment for the Student Organic Garden (student-governed).
The website URL where information about the sustainable investment or finance initiatives is available:
A brief description of conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience:
Our campus constantly has events focusing on sustainability.
Each year we have a large Earth Month celebration. One of the highlights of the week is the annual Fashion Trashion show, where students showcase their outfits made by hand out of recycled materials.
Each year, the Morris Environmental Studies hosts a scholar-in-residence/speaker series on-campus. The invited scholar gives an invited talk related to sustainability to campus and community.
Each year, the Morris Equity and Diversity office hosts an Elder-in-Residence program. An elder with an American Indian identity is hosted at Morris for several days and shares stories, wisdom and practices with the campus community.
Morris hosts "Cafe Scientifique" for the students and the larger Morris-ares at local coffee shop to discuss sustainabilty- and science-related themes.
In 2011, Morris hosted the Upper Midwest Association of Campus Sustainability conference (umacs.org). This was a significant investment of Morris staff and student involvement.
A GLBT summit was held on campus with a particular focus on sustainability. In included tours of our green energy facilities and a keynote speaker, Winona LaDuke, who spoke on sustainability issues.
The website URL where information about the event(s) is available:
A brief description of cultural arts events, installations or performances related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience:
Morris is home to the Morrison Gallery. Each year, art installations that reflect the relationships between humans, the environment, and the societies they live in are featured.
The website URL where information about the cultural arts event(s) is available:
A brief description of wilderness or outdoors programs for students that follow Leave No Trace principles:
Each year, our Geology club hosts a number of camping and hiking trips to different areas around the country. They are very conscious of any impact they might leave, always making sure to pack out everything they packed in.
The Adventure Club holds numerous events for students to attend, for example camping, skiing, hiking, stargazing, canoeing, trips to the Pomme De Terre Park for bonfires, geocaching, and much more. Adventure Club is open to suggestions as to what people want to do. The goal of Adventure Club is to have fun outdoors while learning skills and Leave No Trace principles.
The website URL where information about the wilderness or outdoors program(s) is available:
A brief description of sustainability-related themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:
Morris has made sustainability an important campus theme.
Our mission statement has a goal of preparing students to be environmental stewards.
In addition, our tagline reads that we want to provide "A renewable, sustainable education" at Morris. We are highlighting sustainability prominently as an institution.
Freshman must take an "Intellectual Community" course. Several IC courses integrate sustainability-themes into their courses. For example, Science Savvy in Our Modern World, encourages students to think about their relationship to the environment and covers topics like climate change, ozone hole depletion, chemicals in drinking water and offers them Green Tours.
The website URL where information about the theme is available:
A brief description of program(s) through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
Student living Green Prairie Living and Learning Community, and particularly, students involved with the Green Prairie Leadership Cohort collaborate with the the Office of Residential Life, Morris Healthy Eating, the Office of Sustainability, and the Minnesota GreenCorps to teach sustainable life skills, in particular, cooking skills.
The website URL where information about the sustainable life skills program(s) is available:
A brief description of sustainability-focused student employment opportunities:
The Office of Sustainability, Center for Small Towns, Office of Community Engagement, and Facilities Management are several offices that provide sustainability-focused employment opportunities. This includes work that explores: equity/diversity concerns, health eating, farmers market development, composting, community climate engagement, community water knowledge, regional lake health, community-based renewable energy, and more.
The website URL where information about the student employment opportuntities is available:
A brief description of graduation pledges through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions:
The website URL where information about the graduation pledge program is available:
A brief description of other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives:
Morris Healthy Eating offers cooking classes for the community at the local high school. Morris students and member of the larger Morris-area community participate and share information about how to cook and favorite recipes.
The website URL where information about other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives is available:
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.