Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 46.29
Liaison Thomas Frazer
Submission Date March 4, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of South Florida
EN-3: Student Life

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Thomas Frazer
Dean
College of Marine Science
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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:

1) Climate Action Coalition at USF
The Climate Action Coalition is a student-led organization that serves as a platform for well-established environmental and climate organizations. Our purpose is to empower, train, and educate students to take action on climate change through political will, advocacy, and committee focus projects. Partnering with campus and local organizations and creating community grassroots movements will help encourage climate action. This organization will provide the tools to build strong, transparent, and respectful rhetoric based on scientific research and the consequences of climate change. The organization participates in lobby events with elected representatives and community leaders to take action on the global threat that climate change imposes by supporting green bills. Moreover, the Climate Action Coalition takes action through student-led committees in policy, finances and divestments, communications, media, outreach, and development. Each of the committees is focused on action groups that take on projects to take climate action in different ways. You can join any committee and participate in the development of climate action projects at USF!
https://www.facebook.com/USFCAC/

2) Student Environmental Association
As USF's general environmental organization, SEA is dedicated to all things green and sustainable, both on campus and within the community. The Student Environmental Association (SEA) is an active student organization at the University of South Florida in Tampa. We engage in volunteer activities, educate the community and our members about the environment and related issues, and work towards making USF more environmentally-friendly.
https://www.facebook.com/seausf/

3) International Health Service Collaborative: The International Health Service Collaborative is a group of USF Health Students, Faculty and Professionals focused on promoting Sustainable Health in underserved communities within the U.S. and developing nations. IHSC traveled to remote communities in Ecuador, Dominican Republic and Panama working to make a difference in the world. During those trips we performed community need assessments, health education activities, water and solid waste management, held health fairs for thousands of people. Please see: http://health.usf.edu/student_orgs/IHSC/index.htm

4) American Water Works Association (AWWA) - Provide a bridge between the students of the University of South Florida, the Florida Section of the AWWA, and the public and private entities related to drinking water, through education, networking, and professional development.
https://www.awwa.org/Membership-Volunteering/Students-Young-Professionals/Student-Chapters

5) American Society of Civil Engineers: The mission of the USF student chapter of ASCE is to enhance the personal and professional development of Civil Engineering students, to promote the College of Engineering, and to serve the community. The mission is accomplished through technical, professional, and civic activities by active participation in professional meetings, technical presentations and tours, community service, and competition in the annual Southeast Regional Conference to get students more involved with society issues such as infrastructure development. Please see: http://asce.eng.usf.edu/

6) Global Citizens Project Student Association: The goal of the Global Citizens Project Student Association (GCPSA) is to foster a sense of community that centers around global citizenship at USF. As well as highlight the complexities of what it means to be a global citizen and enhance global knowledge utilizing the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. https://www.usf.edu/gcp/students/gcpsa.aspx

7) Botanical Gardens Club: To provide a link between the USF Botanical Gardens and the student body. Members provide tours of the gardens, help maintain the grounds, and foster the learning of green and sustainable practices such as vegetable gardening, bee keeping and upcycling. https://www.instagram.com/usf_botanicalgardensclub/

8) Engineers Without Borders: To improve the quality of living in international developing communities through the planning and completion of engineering projects. Please see: https://www.facebook.com/EWBUSF

9) Student Planning Organization (SPO): The USF Student Planning Association fosters civic and professional enrichment within a community of urban planning students and planning-advocates. It provides opportunities for community involvement, cultivate relationships with local planning agencies and professional planning organizations, and generate pride and comradery for the USF URP program. Please see: https://www.usf.edu/arts-sciences/departments/public-affairs/murp/student-organizations.aspx


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?:
Yes

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

HE GARDEN CLUB
The Garden Club at USF St. Petersburg campus is a student led organization which focuses on the practices of urban gardening as well as permaculture. We employ cultivation techniques that promote sustainability among the student body. In our permaculture setting we stress the importance of establishing healthy soil through proper compost and the nurturing Florida native flora/fauna.

We believe that gardens on our campus have the unique opportunity to create micro-scale food systems that address student food insecurity; offering spaces for experiential education; facilitating interdisciplinary research; increasing food system literacy and expanding opportunities to interact with land and food.

USF Tampa student vegetable garden with around 30 plots. Currently, the garden is being maintained by the Judy Genshaft Honors College Green LLC and also for one of their classes. A few of the student clubs are also growing – USF Friends of the Botanical Gardens and the Agrarian Club. There is a class in Religious Studies which maintains a display veggie garden.
https://bullsconnect.usf.edu/AGRAR/web_officers
Contacts: Laurie Walker, David Moore, Megan Stowe, Dell deChant, Don Saunders
https://www.usf.edu/arts-sciences/botanical-gardens/
https://www.stpetersburg.usf.edu/about/sustainability/get-involved/the-garden-club.aspx
https://bullsconnect.usf.edu/AGRAR/web_officers


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:

https://www.facebook.com/NetImpactatUSF
"We are the Net Impact graduate chapter at the University of South Florida. Promoting a sustainable future by changing the way that businesses operate. We welcome anyone who wants to join our efforts. Need to contact us directly? usfl@netimpact.org"

https://netimpact.org/chapters/university-of-san-francisco-school-of-business-and-management-graduate
Net Impact is an international nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire, educate, and equip individuals to use the power of business to create a sustainable world.
Spanning six continents, our membership makes up one of the most influential networks of MBAs, graduate students, and professionals in existence today. Net Impact members are current and emerging leaders in CSR, social entrepreneurship, nonprofit management, international development, and environmental sustainability who are actively improving the world.
The Net Impact network includes over 260 volunteer-led chapters in cities around the world and a central office in San Francisco, CA.

https://www.usf.edu/research-innovation/rf/usf-connect/sii/
"If you have ever wanted to start and grow your own business, the student incubator can help you turn your dream into a reality. Escape the distractions of coffee shops and roommates to come work in an environment specifically created to help you succeed. Surrounded by like-minded student entrepreneurs, the incubator is more than just office space; it is the first step to becoming a successful entrepreneur!"

https://health.usf.edu/ahec/usfhealthservicescorps/annual-reports
The USF Health Service Corps is an inter-professional program which enables USF students to participate in meaningful, rewarding and fun health-related community service activities together. During the past year, the USF Health Service Corps offered a number of inter-professional virtual service opportunities for interested USF Health students and pre-health professional USF students and did not offer or promote any in-person clinical or non-clinical community service projects in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, this report provides an overview of the contributions to these virtual service projects by students in the USF Health academic programs (including the College of Medicine MD program, College of Medicine Graduate Masters Level and PHD programs, Physician Assistant program, Doctor of Physical Therapy program, College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy and College of Public Health) as well as pre-health professional USF students.
https://www.facebook.com/NetImpactatUSF

https://www.usf.edu/research-innovation/rf/usf-connect/sii/

https://health.usf.edu/ahec/usfhealthservicescorps/annual-reports


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:

https://www.usf.edu/business/schools/business-finance/smif/
"The Student Managed Investment Fund is an educational 'business' housed in the Muma College of Business. The investment fund offers motivated, well-prepared students the opportunity to participate in simulated financial management strategies and decisions as well as to manage 'real money in real time.'

The investment fund is governed by an advisory board comprised of financial services industry professionals. These business leaders share expertise and interact with students during their presentations. These corporate partners may also extend internship opportunities to students enrolled in the fund. The student managed fund benefits the business community by providing access to outstanding students as well as access to research reports and other investment fund materials.

The fund is expected to generate private funds to cover a significant portion of its continuing expenses. Generous funding has already been provided to establish endowed scholarships for participating students."
https://www.usf.edu/business/schools/business-finance/smif/


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:

1) PCGS organizes a seminar series for industry speakers and college alumni on sustainability topics. Seminar topics include: Key Sustainability initiatives, challenges and career opportunities.
2) "The Tampa Bay Clean Cities Coalition is a membership based organization created to coordinate and promote the use of non-traditional and cleaner energy for transportation in the Tampa Bay Region. The effort was launched in the summer of 2012 with financial and in-kind support from the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County, TECO Energy, the USF Patel School of Global Sustainability, and the USF Center for Urban Transportation Research. Tampa Bay Clean Cities works in concert with, and supports the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Vehicle Technology Program - Clean Cities."
3) Arbor Day and Tree Campus USA


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?:
Yes

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

INSIDE ART
Welcome to InsideART, an innovative arts-based learning and visual literacy program that integrates social studies with contemporary art in an examination and discussion of pressing societal issues. This secondary school program is provided free of charge to all teachers and students by the Institute for Research in Art (IRA) at the University of South Florida, Tampa, and is hosted on the IRA website.

FLOODZONE: ANASTASIA SAMOYLOVA
FloodZone is the first solo museum exhibition to present Moscow-born, Miami-based artist Anastasia Samoylova’s ongoing photographic series that reflects and responds to the immediate impacts of sea level rise in South Florida. Her images capture the precarious psychological state of living in a paradise sinking towards catastrophe and reveal the role photography plays in generating collective memories and imagined geographies. Informed by Samoylova’s focus on photography’s ability to obscure reality and craft perception, FloodZone also highlights the friction between natural and constructed landscapes by investigating the relationship among environmentalism, consumerism, and the picturesque. The FloodZone series brings to the surface the seductive and destructive dissonance between the saturation of the tourism and real estate industries’ marketing images of a tropical paradise offering a luxury lifestyle with water views, while vulnerable properties and streets routinely experience high tide flooding, impacting the city’s infrastructure and the well-being of its residents. Focusing on this tension between the fantasy promoted by economic interests and the physical realities of day-to-day life in a sinking environment, Samoylova’s images construct a contemporary visual archive of the physical measures and psychological impacts of the climate crisis and rising seas on South Florida’s shifting coastline.

SPONGE EXCHANGE: HOPE GINSBURG
Sponge Exchange expands artist Hope Ginsburg’s pedagogical platform using sea sponges and hard corals as a metaphor for exchange and the ecology of learning to stimulate social transformation. Diving into the local sponge culture of Tarpon Springs, Florida, known as “The Sponge Capital of the World,” Ginsburg’s new work explores past challenges to the local sponge industry, raises awareness and understanding of how the health of marine invertebrates is deeply tied to the environment and economic life of the region, and serves as a catalyst for imagining productive solutions for the future.

CLIMATE CHANGE: CUBA/USA
This exhibition invites Cuban and Cuban-American artists to reflect on the consequences of the recent fluctuations in the relationship between the two countries. Artists Glexis Novoa, Celia y Yunior, Antonio Fernández "Tonel" and Javier Castro will produce new works, in sculpture, painting, drawing, installation and video, that consider the changes, or "no changes," that the political and diplomatic developments have wrought in their personal lives and in Cuban society. Curated by Noel Smith; organized by USFCAM.

Black Pulp! examines evolving perspectives of Black identity in American culture and history from 1912 to 2016 through rare historical printed media shown in dialogue with contemporary works of art. The exhibition highlights works by artists, graphic designers, writers, and publishers in formats ranging from little known comic books to covers for historic books and magazines, to etchings, digital prints, drawings, and media-based works by some of today’s leading artists. Black Pulp! is curated by William Villalongo and Mark Thomas Gibson. The exhibition tour is organized by International Print Center New York.

http://cam.usf.edu/InsideART/index.html
http://cam.usf.edu/CAM/exhibitions/2020_1_FloodZone/FloodZone.html
http://cam.usf.edu/CAM/exhibitions/2020_1_Sponge_Exchange/Sponge_Exchange.html
http://cam.usf.edu/CAM/exhibitions/2018_1_Climate_Change_Cuba_USA/Climate_Change_Cuba_USA.html
http://cam.usf.edu/CAM/exhibitions/2017_6_Black_Pulp!/black_pulp.html


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

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

The Campus Recreation Department provides affordable outdoor recreation, education, adventure, and leadership opportunities to USF and the surrounding communities. The Campus Recreation Program is designed to provide opportunities for participation in a wide variety of sports and recreational activities. The Outdoor Recreation Division offers students the opportunity to become involved in adventure trips (sailing, hiking canoeing, skiing, etc.) as participants or as group leaders. The division also administers a fully equipped outdoor rental center and resource center. In addition, the division is responsible for the USF Riverfront Park, a complete riverfront recreational site located on the Hillsborough River.
https://www.usf.edu/student-affairs/campus-rec/outdoor-recreation/index.aspx


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:
---

Does the institution have a program through which students can learn sustainable life skills?:
Yes

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

STUDENT ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS SOCIETY (S.E.A.S)
The goals of S.E.A.S is to encourage, promote and actively engage in the education of the USF community on environmental issues and how to integrate this newfound knowledge into everyday life. This club will achieve this purpose by hosting Earth Week activities and free of cost workshops developed by executive members. As a result, this organization aims to cultivate a conservationist mindset within the student body.
Housing and Residential Education Webpage
SUSTAINABILITY
Recycling is a fundamental process in the efforts of the University of South Florida to create a sustainable campus environment. Though recycling is just one small facet of the larger scope of environmental responsibility, it is an extremely visible and vital step in achieving this strategic goal.
https://www.stpetersburg.usf.edu/about/sustainability/get-involved/student-environmental-awareness-society.aspx
https://www.usf.edu/housing/residential-experience/sustainability.aspx


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

A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:

SUSTAINABILITY INTERNSHIP & JOB OPPORTUNITIES
1. Sarasota County, Sustainability Outreach Coordinator, Application Deadline: Rolling Basis

2. Oceana, Golf Coast Campaign Intern, Location: Virtual Application Deadline: Rolling Basis

3. Florida PIRG, Location: Virtual, Application Deadline: Rolling Basis

https://www.stpetersburg.usf.edu/about/sustainability/get-involved/jobs-and-internships.aspx


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):
---

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:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.