University of Texas at Austin
EN-3: Student Life
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Student groups
Name and a brief description of the active student groups focused on sustainability:
The Campus Environmental Center empowers the University of Texas at Austin community to pursue a genuine culture of environmental sustainability through constructive and dynamic means.
Engineers for a Sustainable World mobilizes engineers and non-engineers through education, training, and action. We build collaborative partnerships to meet the needs of current and future generations.
Longhorns Don't Litter is a student organization designed by Environmental Communications students to reduce litter and prevent other forms of “nonpoint source pollution” from washing into Waller Creek.
Additional sustainability-focused student organizations are listed here: https://sustainability.utexas.edu/getinvolved/students#Student%20Organizations
Gardens and farms
A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:
The University of Texas at Austin has a number of gardens and farms on campus. University Housing and Dining maintains two gardens on campus, which supply food to the campus dining halls and a regular on-campus farm stand. These gardens are maintained by staff, student interns, and volunteers through the Housing and Dining's Farm Stand program. The UT Microfarm, a project of the Campus Environmental Center, is UT’s first student-run farm. The farm, located on-campus, supplies food to an on-campus food pantry. It offers valuable student experience in the form of paid student leaders, volunteer team members, and weekly volunteer opportunities. The Microfarm also has a community garden which allows students, staff, and faculty an opportunity to rent plots and learn to grow their own food. The Microfarm is run as a sustainable, organic food system.
Student-run enterprises
A brief description of the student-run enterprises:
UT Farm Stand's mission is to promote local organic produce for students, faculty, and staff of UT Austin. They also focus on education of sustainability, health, accessibility, and affordability. UT Farm Stand is a student-led and managed on-campus farm stand.
BEEVO Beekeeping Society, a registered student organization, maintains on-campus hives and sells the honey. They seek to reinvest beekeeping to individuals because if more people keep bees, there's more pollination, and more environmental sustainability. They strive to teach students the art of beekeeping. They periodically sell their honey on campus.
Sustainable investment and finance
A brief description of the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives:
The Texas Sustainability Investment Group educates undergraduate students on sustainable investing practices. It provides hands-on experience through fund management and company evaluation based on environmental, social, and governance – or ESG – investing factors in a variety of industries.
Events
A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia, or similar events focused on sustainability:
The annual Sustainability Symposium, hosted by the Office of Sustainability, highlights the collaborative sustainability research and work that UT students, staff and faculty perform every day on campus. The Symposium typically features a keynote from the University President or another campus leader.
The UT Energy Symposium, hosted by the Energy Institute, is a weekly guest lecture series aiming to provide a multi-disciplinary platform for UT faculty and students to interact on the most pressing energy issues facing our world.
The Planet Texas 2050 symposium brings together faculty, researchers, staff, students, practitioners, artists, and community members interested in applied interdisciplinary research on climate resilience, adaptation, and equitable and just transition strategies.
Cultural arts
A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations, or performances focused on sustainability:
During the 2024 Planet Texas 2050 Symposium they had many sessions specific to art and the environment. See some of the examples below:
-
Christina Bain & Donalyn Heise, "Resilience and the Visual Arts"
-
Malena Pennycook, "Environmental Theatre: Questions of Hope"
-
Katy McCarthy, "Climate Resiliency Research in the Art Classroom"
-
Khristián Méndez Aguirre, "The Stage and the Environment: What Play Production Can Tell Us About Environmentalism"
-
Julie Poole, "Somatic Poetry: Writing While Walking in the Urban Wild"
-
Madeline J Nezat, "Protecting Collections Against Climate-Driven Disasters"
-
Hannah Hopkins, "Solar Composition: Building A Solar-Powered Computer for Writing Instruction"
-
Lara Dossett, Falan Buie-Madden, & Xinyue Zhang, "Stories of Water: Drama for Schools Youth Participatory Action Research"
-
Angelica Monteiro, "Cuíra: Decolonizing Imagination Through Embodied Storytelling"
-
Learn more about the program here: https://pt2050symposiumday3.splashthat.com/
The Plastic Bag Store: Texas Performing Arts presented Brooklyn-based, award-winning puppet artist, director, and filmmaker Robin Frohardt’s art installation and immersive film experience The Plastic Bag Store at the Blue Genie Art Bazaar from April 2-17, 2022. The work brings humor, craft, and a critical lens to our culture of consumption and convenience—specifically, the enduring effects of our single-use plastics. Inside The Plastic Bag Store installation deli meats, fresh produce, multi-layered cakes, sushi rolls, frozen foods, boxed cereal, and more have been meticulously sculpted by hand, made from discarded plastics. During each one-hour show, performers transform the store into a micro-cinema where hidden worlds and inventive puppetry tell a cautionary tale in a 45-minute three-act film. The story explores the notion of artifact, misplaced nostalgia and how what we value least may become our most lasting cultural legacy. https://texasperformingarts.org/plasticbagstore
Wilderness and outdoors programs
A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:
Through the Adventure Trip Program, UT Austin offers a variety of outdoor recreation programs. Leave No Trace is practiced on these trips.
Sustainability-focused themes
A brief description of the sustainability-focused themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:
All first-year students at UT must participate in a Freshman Interest Group (FIG). FIGS take 2-4 classes together during their first fall semester and attend a weekly seminar led by a peer mentor and a staff facilitator. Students can opt into a Sustainability & Society interdisciplinary FIG as well as several other FIGs that either focus or touch on sustainability.
Sustainable life skills
A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
University Housing and Dining offers a Sustainability Living Learning Community. The Sustainability LLC broadly explores the connection between environmentalism, social justice, and economic longevity, commonly considered the three major components of sustainability – planet, people, and profit. This LLC encourages people curious OR skeptical about any aspect of sustainability to join the community. The year-long program includes opportunities to study the impact of personal and social activities on the environment and vulnerable populations, understand the social and natural ecosystems of Austin and the university, and go “hyperlocal” with sustainability by designing, within the community, ways to make this LLC sustainable and enriching for all participants.
Student employment opportunities
A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:
There are a number of sustainability-focused student employment opportunities on campus.
University Housing & Dining (UHD) employs students in their Farm Stand Garden and Market programs. Students spend their time tending the UHD campus gardens, conducting sustainability outreach, and managing an on-campus mini farmer's market.
The Office of Sustainability employs student interns to manage the Office of Sustainability communications channels and to support the Green Fund. The Campus Environmental Center student organization employs student leaders for their programs (Green Greeks, Green Events, Trash to Treasure, Microfarm, and Environmental Justice Collective) as well as for more general education/outreach leadership roles.
Resource Recovery employs student interns who utilize campus as a living lab to further the work being done to achieve zero waste on campus and develop valuable job skillsets in the process.
Graduation pledge
A brief description of the graduation pledge(s):
Optional Fields
The Green Fund is a competitive grant program funded by UT Austin tuition fees. Students, faculty, and staff are able to apply to Green Fund to fund a sustainability project on campus or sustainability-related research. Many of these projects are led by students and some include student employment. Such projects include: UT Microfarm, BEEVO Beekeeping Society, Aquaponics, and more. Green Fund decisions are made by a student majority committee - participation in this committee is another way students can get involved in sustainability on campus.
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.