| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 72.78 |
| Liaison | Troy Goodnough |
| Submission Date | Feb. 10, 2022 |
University of Minnesota, Morris
EN-3: Student Life
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Troy
Goodnough Sustainability Director Office of Sustainability |
"---"
indicates that no data was submitted for this field
Student groups
Yes
Name and a brief description of the active student groups focused on sustainability:
Sustainability Club: "This club's purpose is to promote the discussion and education on environmental sustainability issues. We will also work with staff across campus to implement and innovate future sustainability efforts on campus and in the Morris community."
https://morris-umn.presence.io/organization/sustainability-club
file:///C:/Users/good0044/Downloads/Tree%20Huggers%20Constitution.pdf
Additionally, the Morris Student Organic Gardening Club is working to bring more local, sustainable food to campus. The Morris Campus Student Association (MCSA) also appoints 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.
https://morris-umn.presence.io/organization/sustainability-club
file:///C:/Users/good0044/Downloads/Tree%20Huggers%20Constitution.pdf
Additionally, the Morris Student Organic Gardening Club is working to bring more local, sustainable food to campus. The Morris Campus Student Association (MCSA) also appoints 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.
Gardens and farms
Yes
A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:
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.
Student-run enterprises
Yes
A brief description of the student-run enterprises:
The UMN Morris campus has dedicated an entire building to house a successful UMN Morris 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.
Sustainable investment and finance
Yes
A brief description of the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives:
UMN Morris students initiated a Green Reinvestment Fund at Morris. Students, faculty and staff are able to initiate projects and utilize funds for sustainability-related projects. For example, in funds from the GRF were used to support the purchase of a composting sifter, which improved 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).
Events
Yes
A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia, or similar events focused on sustainability:
UMN Morris continually hosts events focusing on sustainability.
The West Central We Are Water program held a speaker program called Sharing Stories: Building Relationships with the Land. (https://www.wearewaterwcmn.com/relationships-with-the-land)
Each year we have Earth Month activities. 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, 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.
The West Central We Are Water program held a speaker program called Sharing Stories: Building Relationships with the Land. (https://www.wearewaterwcmn.com/relationships-with-the-land)
Each year we have Earth Month activities. 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, 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.
Cultural arts
Yes
A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations, or performances focused on sustainability:
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.
In 2020, the We Are Water exhibit and Why Treaties Matter exhibits were featured in Morrison Gallery.
Additionally, the Morris Theatre program routinely develops theatre productions that focus on sustainability during the production. (E.g. A Midsummer Nights Dream production in fall 2016)
In 2020, the We Are Water exhibit and Why Treaties Matter exhibits were featured in Morrison Gallery.
Additionally, the Morris Theatre program routinely develops theatre productions that focus on sustainability during the production. (E.g. A Midsummer Nights Dream production in fall 2016)
Wilderness and outdoors programs
Yes
A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:
UMN Morris 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 -- and discuss Leave No Trace principles. The Morris MicroAdventure program also brings people outside and discusses these principles.
Sustainability-focused themes
Yes
A brief description of the sustainability-focused themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:
UMN Morris has made sustainability an important campus theme.
The 2020-2021 academic year was the Year of Water with a lot of water-related programming.
Our mission statement has a goal of preparing students to be environmental stewards.
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 2020-2021 academic year was the Year of Water with a lot of water-related programming.
Our mission statement has a goal of preparing students to be environmental stewards.
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.
Sustainable life skills
Yes
A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
Students living in the Green Prairie Living Community Residence Hall, and particularly, students involved with the Morris Health Eating collaborate with the the Office of Residential Life to teach sustainable life skills, in particular, cooking skills.
Student employment opportunities
Yes
A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:
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.
Graduation pledge
No
A brief description of the graduation pledge(s):
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Optional Fields
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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