Overall Rating Platinum
Overall Score 91.10
Liaison Alex Davis
Submission Date Feb. 28, 2023

STARS v2.2

Arizona State University
EN-3: Student Life

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Krista O'Brien
Program Manager
Sustainability Practices
"---" 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:
Arizona State University is home to 108 student led organizations that are focused on sustainability. The following are all the groups that have sustainability as an initiative with links to their websites. All clubs are active as of the 2022 calendar year.


Sustainability Alliance @ ASU: SAASU is a collection of student organizations interested in social, economic, and environmental issues who come together to advance a culture of sustainability across ASU's campuses. Our member organizations collaborate to lead events and initiatives that no one organization could do alone.
https://www.instagram.com/sustainablesundevils/


Campus Sustainability Solutions Initiatives (CSSI): CSSI incorporates Green Team volunteer opportunities and sustainability projects on campus. CSSI strives to bring sustainable change to the campus as well as on-campus events, and to educate students, staff, and faculty alike in how ASU can be a more sustainable university and a sustainability leader in higher education.
https://asu.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/campus-student-sustainability-initiatives


Sustainabilibuddies: The mission of Sustainabilibuddies Mentoring Program is to provide first-year and transfer students with social and academic guidance during the transition to Arizona State University (ASU) and the School of Sustainability (SOS) through upperclassmen mentorship.
https://asu.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/sustainabilibuddies


The Honor Society for Sustainability:. The Honor Society for Sustainability has two primary goals for its members: to give back to the community through service, and to provide pre-professional development opportunities through guest speakers, networking mixers with alumni and business representatives, and faculty engagement. Two $500 scholarship awards are also available each year to Honor Society members. The Honor Society for Sustainability is open to undergraduate sustainability majors, graduate students and other students with sustainability concentrations.
https://asu.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/honor-society-for-sustainability


Green Greeks: Green Greeks at Arizona State is an organization designed to increase a culture of sustainability within Greek life, by connecting students, organizations, and the surrounding community-- inspiring student-led projects and channeling university resources to benefit sustainability initiatives.
https://asu.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/green-greeks


Gardens at ASU: Gardens at ASU is an organization that builds community around gardening with goals of reconnecting students to their source of food, supporting local food systems, and encouraging health and wellness.
https://asu.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/gardens-at-asu


Barrett Sustainability Club: Barrett Sustainability Club (BSC) is a group of students working to change the world starting with Barrett, the Honors College. BSC has two main priorities: hosting bi-weekly sustainability-focused events and maintaining the rooftop garden in the Barrett Complex. The club exists to educate students about sustainability while providing a platform for change and accomplishes these goals through initiatives, discussion, outreach, and hands-on experiences.
https://asu.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/barrett-sustainability-club


The Sustainability Review (TSR) communicates sustainability challenges, developments, and opportunities through reporting, analysis, opinion, and art/visual media. We are an online journal edited and published by graduate students at Arizona State University and hosted by the university’s School of Sustainability.
https://thesustainabilityreview.org/


Engineers Without Borders, ASU chapter, is a non-profit humanitarian organization established to partner with developing communities to improve their quality of life through implementation of environmentally and economically sustainable engineering projects. Engineers Without Borders, ASU aims to create a more stable and prosperous world by addressing communities’ basic human needs in clean water, power and education. This group is committed to connecting Arizona State University students to the professional mentors and resources they need to design and implement low-cost, small-scale, easily-replicated, and sustainable engineering projects.
https://asu.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/engineers-without-borders-at-asu


Global Futures College Council collaborates with other clubs and organizations within the School of Sustainability to promote student involvement, nurture faculty-student relations, recognize outstanding faculty, organization, and student achievements, and offer students the opportunity to learn and develop the leadership skills needed to solve today's environmental, economic, and social challenges of sustainability. Achievements: Lunch with the Dean, field trips, and social events for the College of Global Futures.
https://asu.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/globalfuturescollegecouncil


Nature at ASU: An undergraduate-led organization focusing on building, uniting, and empowering environmentally-minded students at ASU. We seek to connect students from ASU's disparate environmental disciplines to resources, opportunities, and each other.
https://natureatasu.weebly.com/


Other Clubs that have sustainability in mind can be found here:
https://asu.campuslabs.com/engage/organizations?categories=13402

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:
ASU has an Arboretum Harvest Program and 3 community gardens to include the downtown, Polytechnic and Tempe campuses. The downtown garden is part of the School of Health Solutions program, the Tempe garden is operated under the Arboretum and Grounds program and the Polytechnic garden is operated by University Sustainability Practices. These gardens offer volunteer workdays and course offerings such as PE 240. The Polytechnic garden, called the Garden Commons, serves the campus with a seasonal weekly Farm Stand where students and staff buy organic, local produce and donate excess produce to local food banks. The Campus Harvest program provides oranges and dates that are sold to the public and to Sun Devil Dining to be used in the dining halls and restaurants on campus.

Campus Harvest:
https://cfo.asu.edu/arboretum-campusharvest

Garden Commons:
https://cfo.asu.edu/Garden-commons

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:
GreenLight Solutions (GLS)
GreenLight Solutions Foundation is a 501(c)3 educational nonprofit. Through our professional education programs and Student-Led Projects, we empower students, professionals, and community members to catalyze sustainable business initiatives.

Utilizing our GreenLight GuideLines project process, student members of GreenLight Solutions chapters (known as Solutioneers) gain hands-on, experiential learning opportunities. Student Solutioneers graduate with real-world experience, ready to take on sustainability challenges and make a measurable impact throughout their careers.

Businesses that GreenLight partners with (known as Project Partners) gain a passionate, innovative team to help meet their sustainability goals and create a company-wide culture of sustainability. Business leaders learn how to improve the sustainable operations of their business and are empowered to ensure the change is long-term.

More effective sustainability leaders create a ripple effect in our society, fulfilling GreenLight’s vision of a world where purpose-driven leaders create a resilient, equitable, and prosperous future for people and planet.



Vision
To design, promote, and educate about sustainability practices for organizations to implement through individualized solutions in order to create a more sustainable world.


Mission
To enable sustainability-minded undergraduate and graduate students at Arizona State University (ASU) to apply their education, through consulting projects, to help organizations to operate more sustainably.

http://www.glsolutions.org/

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:
ASU's Foundation and School of Sustainability offer SOS 498/594 - Topic: Sustainability in Investing. The course is a student-run ESG investment strategy course out of the School of Sustainability with students from multiple disciplines, including those from the W.P. Carey School of Business. Under faculty supervision, students manage over $500,000 of the ASU Foundation's assets over the course of the year. Collaboration between students from the School of Sustainability and W.P. Carey School of Business will be leveraged for an interdisciplinary perspective. Students will develop and implement an investment strategy that incorporates Environmental, Social, and Governance considerations.

The Arizona State University Sustainability Initiatives Revolving Fund (SIRF) was established in Fiscal Year 2010 to invest in projects that foster and enable sustainability efforts and provide an economic return on investment. SIRF funds are available to all ASU community members. Over the past three years, SIRF applications have been completed by students. Each Tier 2/3 application requires students to develop basic financial skills to complete a detailed project budget and to calculate a project's net present value, internal rate of return, etc. More information: https://cfo.asu.edu/sirf

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:
ASU was a virtual host for the 2022 AASHE Global Conference on Sustainabilty in Higher Education. All ASU students, faculty and staff were invited to attend the conference at no cost to the individual. The event was promoted on numerous platforms geared towards attracting student attendees.


Sustainability Series: Throughout the year, the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University sponsors, hosts, or endorses sustainability-related events, lectures, and conferences locally, nationally, and around the globe. Among the many events are two signature lecture series. The prestigious Wrigley Lecture Series brings world-renowned thinkers from academia, business, and government to engage the community in dialogues to address sustainability challenges. The Sustainability Series includes discussions on a range of environmental, social, and economic topics. This program is not student-governed.
https://sustainability-innovation.asu.edu/events/events-sustainability-series/


School of Sustainability Student Film Premiere: This end-of-semester tradition features the screening of a short film created by students from the School of Sustainability and Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, under the direction of Peter Byck, sustainability scientist and director of Carbon Nation.
https://sustainability-innovation.asu.edu/events/rsvp/sustainability-spring-2022-film-premiere/

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:
“New Earthworks” presents work by eight contemporary artists who explore our interconnectedness with the Earth. The artists take on issues of biodiversity and environmental equity, reassert Indigenous knowledge and envision new systems to address climate change. they utilize site and non-site systems of experiential installations or events in the landscape with sculpture, photographs, films, drawings, texts and objects created in the studio to share their message.
https://asuevents.asu.edu/content/new-earthworks


Drawn entirely from ASU Art Museum's permanent collection, “DinnerWhere” highlights a variety of plates, cups and bowls, and even a life-size dinner table. The exhibition and its title refers to the ways in which these objects encourage critical conversations around national identity, ceremony, nutrition and food access in the United States. The objects featured in “DinnerWhere” have communal and symbolic associations with coming together for meals. For some, these artworks inspire memories of the place where we nourish ourselves, celebrate important milestones, share experiences and create new understandings through conversation. For others, the works in the exhibition can be a reminder of cultural assimilation and the loss of traditions.
https://asuevents.asu.edu/content/dinnerwhere


Emerge is an annual art, science and technology festival that explores our creative agency and scientific responsibility for our possible futures. Participants were encouraged to bring their hands, noses and mouths to think and taste their way through asking what alternative forms of food production, distribution and consumption we should consider to build a more inclusive, equitable and delicious culinary world.
https://schoolofsustainability.asu.edu/events/view/emerge-2022-eating-at-the-edges/


36.5 / A Durational Performance with the Sea is a series of nine site-specific performances and video artworks that activate the public on personal, local, and global scales in conversations around deep time, embodied experience, and sea-level rise. This was the final live performance, involving hundreds of people in communities around the world, standing in water at the same time.
https://schoolofsustainability.asu.edu/events/view/365-a-durational-performance-with-the-sea/

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:
ASU's Arizona Outdoors Club follows the Leave No Trace principles per club member feedback. Additionally see the club constitution, Section 6: Outing Rules and Regulations:
...
D. Rolling or throwing of rocks on Club outings is prohibited
E. Camp and lunch sites shall be thoroughly cleaned up and if feasible all waste paper and tins shall be carried out for disposal if disposal facilities are not present at the site
https://asu.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/arizona-outdoors-club


Adventure Devils seek to better our community and environment through dedication to outdoor stewardship, sustainability and advocacy. From the Adventure Devils constitution: "The purpose of this organization shall be to bring Arizona State students together over issues regarding sustainability, conservation, and outdoor stewardship. In addition to engaging with these issues in our community, we shall partake in outdoor activities where we will promote good practice and educate students on proper wilderness conduct. We will create an environment where all voices and opinions may be heard. ... Our mission is to practice good outdoor conduct and stewardship, and this
shall be enforced in full." Per the constitution, specific officers are tasked with:
"Responsible for finding and managing unique partnerships and opportunities to build a new generation of environmental stewards and advocates in our state."
"Leads trips and other outings into nature. Also arranges for clean ups and charitable
events."
https://asu.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/adventuredevils


Other Clubs Include:
Climbing at ASU
https://asu.campuslabs.com/engage/organizations?categories=13402
Snow Devils
https://asu.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/snow-devils
The Environmental Photography Club at Arizona State University
https://asu.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/epcasu

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
The Sustainability House at Barrett (SHAB) is a student-initiated, student-run community that works to build a strong living and learning environment of students with a common interest in understanding and acting upon a broad range of sustainability-related issues. Solar panels, a greywater reuse system, an organic garden, an experimental green roof, and state-of-the-art energy use modeling are all extra facilities featured in SHAB. Students have the opportunity to work together to establish a dynamic, shared vision of what a sustainable future means, and they are supported by Barrett and the university to work toward achieving this goal both within and beyond the classroom.
More information:
https://tours.asu.edu/sustainability/sustainability-house-barrett
College of Global Futures Residential Community provides a welcoming and supportive environment for students as they transition into university life and helps them develop the skills they need to assure their academic and personal success. Sustainability students have an opportunity to participate in special academic and extracurricular activities such as: advising workshop dinner, field trips, campus sustainability projects, volunteering in community gardens.
More information:
https://housing.asu.edu/housing-communities/residential-colleges/college-of-global-futures


ASU’s Sustainability Recognition program offers a variety of ways for the university community to contribute to ASU’s sustainability goals. Participants are guided through a variety of sustainability tasks centered around energy, waste, water. The goal is to educate students on small changes to help improve their sustainable practices. Topics for students include Sustainable: Student Organization, Event, and Lifestyle.
https://cfo.asu.edu/sustainability-certification-program
Seeds of Sustainability is a training to learn the basics of ASU’s sustainability efforts and how students can contribute in a positive way. The training can be found here:
https://sustainability-innovation.asu.edu/campus/what-you-can-do/

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:
University Sustainability Practices offers 10+ Program Assistant positions.
Zero Waste offers 8+ positions.
Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiative offers applied consulting positions.
The School of Sustainability also supports a paraprofessional student programming position within the residential community in Adelphi Commons and offers many teaching assistant and research assistant positions to graduate students in the school.
Sun Devil Fitness Center hires Wellness Ambassadors.
Positions are made available through the Student Employment website.

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:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Susan Norton

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.