Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 65.84
Liaison Morgan Hartman
Submission Date Dec. 12, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of Nebraska - Lincoln
EN-2: Student Orientation

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Morgan Hartman
Recycling Coordinator
FMO
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Are the following students provided an opportunity to participate in orientation activities and programming that prominently include sustainability?:
Yes or No
First-year students Yes
Transfer students Yes
Entering graduate students Yes

Percentage of all entering students that are provided an opportunity to participate in orientation activities and programming that prominently include sustainability:
100

A brief description of how sustainability is included prominently in new student orientation :

New Student Enrollment (NSE) is UNL’s orientation program required for all incoming freshman and undergraduate transfer students. UNL’s Office of Sustainability (OS) collaborates with NSE to provide exposure to sustainability efforts at UNL to incoming students in a variety of ways.

The OS provides sustainability focused content slides for NSE’s “While You Wait” presentation. This is a slideshow that runs before and after presentations throughout each NSE orientation day with high visibility to the entire audience of new students and their guests. Slides focus on introducing new students to sustainability practices and involvement opportunities on campus including waste reduction and management through recycling tips, options for sustainable transportation on and around campus, OS and other sustainability-focused events, registered student organizations and other ways to get involved with sustainability at UNL.

The OS has also provided the NSE team with sustainability best practices and suggestions to incorporate into their orientation days, including tips for reducing the environmental impact of the orientation days and talking points regarding different sustainability features and highlights to incorporate into campus tours.

The OS also participates in the “Info Fair” that takes place during every NSE orientation day. The Info Fair provides an opportunity for incoming students and their guests to engage with campus departments and organizations that support student success at UNL. The OS exposes incoming students and their guests to the growing culture of sustainability at UNL before they arrive on campus in the fall and sets the stage for the next generation of UNL students to practice mindfulness related to sustainability at UNL. Reusable tote bags to encourage waste reduction are offered to students during the Info Fair.

The OS also participated in orientation activities for transfer students, graduate students, and international students, respectively. During each of these events, the OS focused on engaging students in how they can incorporate sustainability into everyday actions on campus, such as recycling correctly and using sustainable modes of transportation. Reusable grocery bags and reusable water bottles were handed out to encourage mindfulness for reducing waste generation on campus.

The OS also has a presence at the annual Big Red Welcome Street Festival event held on campus the Sunday prior to the first day of the fall semester. Big Red Welcome is a well known and loved event within the UNL community that provides opportunities for students to interact with campus departments, registered student organizations, and community organizations. During the street festival, the OS has a table and engages students in learning about sustainability on campus including best practices. In 2021 and 2022, the OS had a standardized waste station on site and asked students to make decisions about how to properly dispose of waste items commonly found on campus. The waste station utilized is consistent with those being utilized on campus as part of the All in the Hall recycling program. Participating students received a reusable water bottle or tote bag to further encourage reducing waste on campus through reuse.


Website URL where information about sustainability in student orientation is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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