Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 71.21
Liaison Lisa Noriega
Submission Date June 29, 2022

STARS v2.2

Yale University
EN-3: Student Life

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Lisa Noriega
Sustainability Data Analyst
Yale Office of Sustainability
"---" 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:
Paid opportunities to get involved with campus sustainability projects are available through the Office of Sustainability. In addition, Yale College has the Sustainability Liaisons program, and a number of Yale's graduate and professional schools have special interest groups that work on various aspects of sustainability.

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:
The Yale Sustainable Food Program is the steward of a small farms used for learning and research in New Haven. It supports curricular and extra-curricular learning, and serves as a hub to connect Yale’s students to opportunities for study and practice in food, health, and the environment.
http://sustainablefood.yale.edu/

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:
The Acorn, a student-run café located in Silliman College, is a green certified café that features sustainably sourced coffee, offers a space for students to build community, and promotes entrepreneurship. The café offers specialty ELEVA brand farmer­‐direct and sustainably-sourced coffee, organic teas, homemade granola, milkshakes, and baked goods. The Acorn is now a Platinum-Certified Green Workplace from the Yale Office of Sustainability.
https://www.thesillimanacorn.com

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 Center for Business and the Environment at Yale (CBEY) provide Climate Innovation Grants to five students each year that offer seed funding for innovative solutions addressing climate change. Entrepreneurs and innovators have an increasingly critical role in helping to slow down, and maybe even reverse, the effects of climate change. This seed funding program aims to help unlock this potential and fulfill Yale’s commitment to building a more sustainable world. Up to five seed stage grants of $500 - $3,000 are awarded. Examples of past winners include plant-based food innovations, long-life battery systems for home solar, tools for tapid soil analysis, and more.
https://cbey.yale.edu/our-stories/climate-innovation-grants-demonstrate-passion-diligence-and-ingenuity-of-yale-students

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:
Yale offers students myriad opportunities to learn about sustainability. A few examples include:
The Yale School of Management (SOM) hosts Colloquium Speakers, a speaker series that brings the expertise of policy makers, corporate leaders, research faculty or practitioners from the front lines of asset management, healthcare or sustainable innovation into the classroom. The series included 8 speakers in the sustainability field from October 2021 to April 2022. https://som.yale.edu/programs/emba/curriculum/areas-of-focus/colloquium-speakers
The Environmental Film Festival at Yale (EFFY), sponsored by the Yale School of the Environment (YSE), is one of America's premier student-run environmental film festivals.
http://effy.yale.edu/2021
Last but not least, the Office of Sustainability hosts an annual ""Celebrate Sustainability"" week, with five days of sustainability-themed events. This program was put on hiatus in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic but will resume when events can operate safely once again.

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations, or performances focused on sustainability:
"What is graphic design made of?" was a symposium hosted by the Yale School of Art on March 12, 2022. It sought to investigate graphic design's material ecology, infrastructure, pedagogy and potential to address environmental crises through an installation centered by a grounded meditation alongside a series of guest presentations, all of which fed into a diagramming workshop. Students from the Yale School of Art, the Yale School of the Environment (YSE), and elsewhere joined, with around 50 students in total attendance.

Wilderness and outdoors programs 

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:
Yale FOOT (First-Year Outdoor Orientation Trips) offers a unique wilderness experience to 400 incoming Yale freshmen and transfer students each year. In late August, trained upperclassmen lead pre-orientation backpacking trips to five scenic locations throughout the Northeast. Leave No Trace principles are integrated into the programming.
https://foot.yalecollege.yale.edu/

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:
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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:
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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:
The Office of Sustainability offers positions at each of the undergraduate residential colleges, called Sustainability Liaisons. These students are paid by the Office of Sustainability and represent the Office throughout the school year, designing and implementing sustainability-focused programming.

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):
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Optional Fields

A brief description of other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives that do not fall into one of the above categories:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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