California State University, Fresno
EN-3: Student Life

Currently, student groups that are actively focusing on sustainability:

Student Government (ASI), who are working on advancing sustainability on campus -- Sustainability Senator position who chairs the ASI Sustainability Committee

Sustainability Club -- mission is to create a conscious culture of sustainability on campus through recreational and educational activities or events.

SunDogs -- renewable energy club working on campus/community outreach projects

Plant Science Club -- working on sustainable agricultural awareness

Fresno State Food Recovery Network -- fighting food insecurity and reducing food waste

http://fresnostate.edu/academics/sustainability/opportunities-student-involvement.html

The campus has multiple greenhouses, an active arboretum, along with a campus farm that serves as an agricultural laboratory.

Gardens: https://www.fresnostate.edu/adminserv/arboretum/garcol/
Arboretum: http://www.fresnostate.edu/adminserv/arboretum/
Agricultural Laboratory (Campus Farm): https://www.fresnostate.edu/agf/farmlab/

Fresno State students have free access to Unlea$hed, a platform offered by the Money Management Center on campus, where students can learn "everything you need to know about financially going green." Access the Unlea$hed portal here: https://unleashed.igrad.com/

World Sustainability & Climate Action Days (2023): This event featured some local organizations doing sustainability-oriented work, campus clubs engaged in sustainability, as well as some stations on sustainable activities/lifestyles to educate students on the various things they can do to implement sustainable changes into their daily lives and/or careers.

World Water Day Symposium (2022): This symposium featured a keynote speech from North Fork Tribal Chair, Ron Goode, on indigineous perspectives on water and sustainability in California's Central Valley. Local organizations working on water-related issues were invited to educate the campus and surrounding community as well as network with students.

Earth Day (2021, 2022, 2023): This event, coordinated by students, is for students to come together to celebrate Earth Day and learn how to be more eco-friendly in their personal and professional career. Local organizations working in environmental- and sustainability-related issues are invited to conduct outreach to the campus community as well as network with students to advertise potential job and internship opportunities.

Fresno State hosted the CSU Summer Arts Festival in 2022, in which one session featured the history and work of three visual artists' interpretation on social and environmental issues.

Classes and activities administered by the Recreation Administration Department teach the seven Leave No Trace Principles. When students are participating in their field activities, they are expected to practice these skills in real outdoor settings.

https://chhs.fresnostate.edu/recreation/index.html

The College of Science and Mathematics & The Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology both host their own first year experiences (named Building Opportunities through Networks of Discovery, or BOND) which consists of a brief summer experience, followed by two consecutively sequenced general education gateway courses taught using active learning strategies: CSM 10 (The Scientific Method, Fall) and CSM 15 (Evidence Based Decision Making, Spring). These courses are designed using UC Berkeley’s “Understanding Science” and case studies from the Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC, DBI #1052875 and 1639145), which reinforce a comprehensive understanding of what science is—the literature, its culture, and methods—along with how science can be used to help society and solve real world problems. The overall design of the yearlong experience can be used to teach any “wicked, unsustainable problem,” well suited to engaging students with problems relevant to unsustainable use of food, energy, and water.

Not at the moment - but there is some discussions on the possibility of this.

Recurring positions:

Each year, Instructional Student Assistants are hired by both the College of Science and Mathematics and the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology to provide in- and out-of-class support to the sustainability-themed first year experiences.

There are also Student Assistant Positions at the California Water Institute and Center for Irrigation Technology.

Not recurring positions:

As part of the Central Utility Plant Replacement project, paid internships were offered to provide current students with the opportunity to engage the student population in the project as a whole. Interns worked on data collection and analysis, marketing, and outreach.

The Sustainability Task Force (2020-2023) employed students to lead and support sustainability efforts across campus, including educational outreach programs, some data compilation and analysis, and capacity building within campus staff and faculty.

All positions can be found on HireFresnoState, which can be accessed through students' Fresno State portal.