University of Nebraska - Lincoln
EN-2: Student Orientation

The Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) outlined that incoming students will play a crucial role in changing behavior of University Students. Therefore, the ELP focused heavily on educating New Student Enrollment leaders (NSE) about sustainability and how it is embodied on campus. In Spring 2017, New Student Enrollment made several efforts to introduce concepts of sustainability to incoming students ranging from freshmen and transfer populations. Orientation leaders were given a presentation that included both large-scale things that students had done to further environmental progress on campus such as a campus Green Fund and ban on Styrofoam products, but further emphasis was placed on small day to day tips and tricks to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Orientation leaders were not only encouraged to include the information into their tours, they also were encouraged to promote them as a social norm for the university and as an accepted and important part of the UNL landscape. These actions also included recommendations to eat less and thus, waste less food and water in dining halls. Alongside the educational component, the main venues used for orientation introduced streamlined recycling operations while also implementing a zero-waste policy on large welcome events for the first time ever. Orientation program staff are working closely with both students and faculty in various departments of the University to further promote the role of environmental sustainability in orientation programs.