| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 52.43 |
| Liaison | Wesley Enterline |
| Submission Date | Nov. 13, 2018 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
EN-3: Student Life
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Wesley
Enterline Sustainability Coordinator Facilities Planning and Management |
Does the institution have one or more active student groups focused on sustainability?:
A brief description of active student groups focused on sustainability:
Students Allied for a Green Earth (S.A.G.E.): SAGE is the student organization at UW-Whitewater focused on sustainability issues of all types. SAGE gets involved in a number of hands-on projects around campus and local communities and strives to hold events that aim to educate and inform their members and the campus community about sustainability issues and environmental problems our society faces.
UW-Whitewater Water Council: The UW-Whitewater Water Council is a student organization launched in 2010. We work to create awareness of the importance of freshwater to our lives and economies and assist our parent organization, the Water Council, to advance southeastern Wisconsin's position as a world hub for water research, education, and economic development. The Whitewater Water Council welcomes members of every major and interest throughout the University. We explore regional and national water issues and promote the vast opportunities in water business. Activities include bi-weekly meetings with industry experts, networking events, community service, and social outings.
Peace, Education, and Activism through Creative Engagement (PEACE): It is the mission of P.E.A.C.E. to uphold and progress ideals which promote social, political, and environmental justice at the local, state, national, and international levels in addition to facilitating personal growth and inner balance within the members of P.E.A.C.E. and our surrounding community.
UW-Whitewater Ecology Club: The UW-Whitewater Ecology Club is a student organization of Biology and Ecology majors who focus on field trips and volunteer service related to their field of study.
Gardening Club: The UWW Gardening Club was created to fit the horticultural interests of students that might not otherwise have an opportunity to be involved in working directly with plant propagation and care through other degree programs on campus. The Gardening Club is responsible for a significant amount of work propagating plants for use in the Campus Garden and also care for the Biology specimen collections in Upham Greenhouse.
The website URL where information about the student groups is available (optional):
Does the institution have gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects where students are able to gain experience in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems?:
A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:
UW-Whitewater has a campus garden that allows students to gain experience in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems. This garden is available for all students to volunteer in, and regular hours for volunteering in the Fall, Spring, and Summer occur. All produce generated in the campus garden is donated to the Whitewater Food Pantry.
The website URL where information about the gardens, farms or agriculture projects is available (optional):
Does the institution have student-run enterprises that include sustainability as part of their mission statements or stated purposes (e.g. cafés through which students gain sustainable business skills)?:
A brief description of the student-run enterprises:
UW-Whitewater also has a student-run enterprise in the residence halls called Jitters, a student-run coffee shop. Jitters does have a mission statement with a point on sustainability included. Jitters frequently collaborates with SAGE to have smoothie nights featuring a human-powered bike blender to bring awareness to energy use and sustainable food issues.
The website URL where information about the student-run enterprises is available (optional):
Does the institution have sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives through which students can develop socially, environmentally and fiscally responsible investment and financial skills?:
A brief description of the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives:
The Student Sustainability Fund provided money to students to fund projects that help make UW-Whitewater a more sustainable campus. This money was offered to promote sustainability on campus and involve the student body in these initiatives. This was funded through the Sustainability Office budget and was not a student-governed fund since it did not use segregated fees, but had involvement with students on the decision-making side and can only be applied for by students.
This program was suspended and is currently undergoing evaluation for reboot by the Sustainability Council in 2018-19.
The website URL where information about the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives is available (optional):
Does the institution have conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience?:
A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability:
Speakers are scheduled on an ongoing basis with an emphasis on sustainability topics. These speakers are scheduled in partnership with faculty that include students as their primary audience. Most often, these speakers are coordinated with Campus Sustainability Month (October) and Earth Week (April).
UW-Whitewater also hosted the UW System Sustainability Conference in late 2015 and is on a recurring schedule to host this event. The Sustainability Coordinator is also actively involved in planning efforts for the conference each year, regardless of what campus it is held on that particular year.
The website URL where information about the conferences, speaker series, symposia or similar events related to sustainability is available (optional):
Does the institution have cultural arts events, installations or performances related to sustainability that have students as the intended audience?:
A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations or performances related to sustainability:
UW-Whitewater has a student organization called Alloy that puts on a metals exhibit in our art gallery (Roberta’s Gallery) in the University Center. This metals show is meant to offer an expressive outlet for students while showing the beauty of art that can be created from recyclable materials. http://www.uww.edu/cac/art-design/ad-student-orgs/alloy-x65780
Young Auditorium hosts the Horizons matinee program to support the curriculum of schools by providing culturally diverse programs for K-12 students. This will be accomplished by:
- Cultivating a lasting appreciation of the performing arts among young people through performances and hands-on, interactive outreach opportunities.
- Offering culturally diverse programming -that addresses Wisconsin State Academic Standards.
- Supporting teachers through professional development opportunities in the arts.
Programming for the Horizons program often includes cultural and environmental awareness themes, such as Migration (Mexican immigration and monarch caterpillars), A Busy Bee Opera (pollinators and opera awarenss), and Steve Trash-Science of Ecology (ecology, resource use, and recycling). http://www.uww.edu/youngauditorium/education/study-guides
The Justseeds Artist Cooperative (https://justseeds.org/about/) has also featured work in Crossman Gallery. http://blogs.uww.edu/crossman/resources/
The website URL where information about the cultural arts events, installations or performances is available (optional):
Does the institution have wilderness or outdoors programs (e.g. that organize hiking, backpacking, kayaking, or other outings for students) that follow Leave No Trace principles?:
A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:
UW-Whitewater Outdoor Adventure Club is a student organization focused on organizing outdoor recreation excursions that promotes Leave No Trace principles. https://www.facebook.com/uwwoac/
UW-Whitewater has a Cycling Club that has schooled rides and information sessions based on Leave No Trace and anti-littering principles for trail riding. http://www.uww.edu/recsports/clubsports/clubs/bike-and-tri
UW-Whitewater is also an Ice Age Trail Campus in partnership with the Ice Age Trail Alliance, which also promotes Leave No Trace among its membership chapters. https://www.iceagetrail.org/leave-no-trace/
The website URL where information about the wilderness or outdoors programs is available (optional):
Does the institution have sustainability-related themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences (e.g. choosing a sustainability-related book for common reading)?:
A brief description of the sustainability-related themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:
N/A
The website URL where information about the sustainability-related themes is available (optional):
Does the institution have programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills?:
A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
UW-Whitewater has a model room that all tour groups proceed through during campus tours that shows a regular residence hall room with several sustainable features, including CFL lights, Energy Star appliances, and brochures that explain how students can improve the sustainable rating of their residence hall rooms.
Eco Reps are required to plan and implement monthly programs where students are able to learn sustainable life skills. Specifically, students learned how to properly recycle, how they could get involved in the campus garden to produce their own food, how they could grow plants in their own rooms to get a better air quality, and how to manage electricity responsibly.
The website URL where information about the sustainable life skills programs is available (optional):
Does the institution offer sustainability-focused student employment opportunities?:
A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:
UW-Whitewater has paid sustainability-focused employment positions for students that allow them to work with sustainability as part of their job. These positions include:
- Student Sustainability Coordinator for University Housing
- Sustainability Director for the Whitewater Student Government
- Sustainability Assistants for the Sustainability Office
The website URL where information about the student employment opportunities is available:
Does the institution have graduation pledges through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions?:
A brief description of the graduation pledges:
N/A
The website URL where information about the graduation pledges is available (optional):
Does the institution have other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives?:
A brief description of the other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives:
UW-Whitewater does monthly stream monitoring in local waterways to test the health of our watershed through the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources statewide Water Action Volunteers (WAV) network. Student volunteers receive training on measuring several Level 1 water quality variables, such as turbidity, stream profile and flow rate, dissolved oxygen, temperature, macroinvertebrate biotic index, and basic habitat observations. An application to add phosphorus testing to the mix in 2015 has been submitted and is under review at the time of this submission. There are currently two monitoring sites, but a third site is being considered for 2015. The sites are managed by faculty and staff, but the long-term hope is to have various student organizations “adopt a site” and take responsibility for providing students to regularly monitor.
The website URL where information about other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives is available (optional):
Estimated percentage of students (full-time and part-time) that participate annually in sustainability-focused co-curricular education and outreach programs (0-100):
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.