Overall Rating Bronze
Overall Score 25.45
Liaison Joseph Kantenbacher
Submission Date Jan. 30, 2023

STARS v2.2

University of South Dakota
EN-3: Student Life

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.25 / 2.00 Morgan Hughes
Sustainability
Sustainability & Environment
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Student groups 

Does the institution have an active student group focused on sustainability?:
Yes

Name and a brief description of the active student groups focused on sustainability:
The University of South Dakota Environmental Club focuses primarily on sustainability education, primarily through activities within the club and reaching students around campus. The club also are trying to get more into a community-focused outreach.

UNA (United Nations Association) USA: Focuses on education of the 17 sustainable development goals. The club discusses the goals and volunteers in relation to the goals in many ways such as trash pick ups and helping the food pantry.

AWOL: Allows students to take individual trips to various locations to learn more about sustainable practices in those areas.

Gardens and farms 

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?:
No

A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:
---

Student-run enterprises 

Does the institution have a student-run enterprise that includes sustainability as part of its mission statement or stated purpose?:
Yes

A brief description of the student-run enterprises:
Fomeno is a thrifting business started by USD students. The funding for the business to begin came from the Hultz Prize, but it is not directly associated with the university.

Sustainable investment and finance 

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives:
The USD Green Initiative Fund allows students to implement projects focusing on sustainable issues such as waste reduction or lowered emissions.

https://www.usd.edu/student-life/sga/campus-green-initiative-fund#:~:text=The%20Green%20Initiative%20Fund%20gives,toward%20a%20sustainable%20campus%20environment.

Events 

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia, or similar events focused on sustainability:
Solve Climate by 2030 : is a webinar that USD worked with other universities across the world to produce, it is part of the larger Solve Climate by 2030 project. The flyer attached shows the speakers and their areas of expertise.

Earth Day 2021: Mural Artist Nina Elder joined us to discuss "what sustains?", a book discussion, a 5k and a discussion of Native American water rights with the Law School.
Earth Day 2020 had no on campus events, but there were virtual events. There were guests with recipes to share and other sustainability related material posted on Facebook.
Earth Day 2019: A book talk regarding sustainability was coordinated with our local library in addition to other events.

Cultural arts 

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?:
No

A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations, or performances focused on sustainability:
---

Wilderness and outdoors programs 

Does the institution have a wilderness or outdoors program that follow Leave No Trace principles?:
No

A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:
---

Sustainability-focused themes 

Has the institution had a sustainability-focused theme chosen for a themed semester, year, or first-year experience during the previous three years?:
No

A brief description of the sustainability-focused themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:
---

Sustainable life skills 

Does the institution have a program through which students can learn sustainable life skills?:
No

A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
---

Student employment opportunities 

Does the institution offer sustainability-focused student employment opportunities?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:
Our on campus recycling team is composed of an average of five student workers since December 2018.
USD also has two graduate positions focused on sustainability: A Campus recycling graduate assistant and a Sustainability and Planning graduate assistant.
The sustainability department also has a technology fellow that works for the department.

Graduation pledge

Does the institution have a graduation pledge through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions?:
No

A brief description of the graduation pledge(s):
---

Optional Fields

A brief description of other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives that do not fall into one of the above categories:
---

Additional documentation to support the submission:
SolveClimate_Apr127953.pdf

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
https://usdinvolved.usd.edu/organizations

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.