Tufts University
EN-2: Student Orientation

Sustainability is included prominently in the new student orientations for many of the university’s schools and programs and varies slightly from year to year.

In 2019, the Office of Sustainability (OOS) was able to send representatives to many orientation events for graduate students. OOS staff presented at the Dental School Lunch and Learn, the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, and the Friedman School of Nutrition. These were aimed at large audiences and students were told about composting, recycling, the Green Fund, and school-specific green teams. Students showed a strong interest and many signed up for the newsletter, took environment-related prizes, or inquired about how to get involved further. Undergraduates were targeted when tabling at fairs and students were incentivized to get more information through quiz-wheels, raffles, and brochures. Overall, the OOS newsletter received many new sign-ups and students seemed to have a better grasp on the sustainability efforts at Tufts.

Through 2020 and 2021, many events were held virtually, which caused a change in modality to ensure that the OOS information was accessible to everyone. The Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, The Fletcher School, Friedman School, and Dental/Veterinary Schools were given an orientation video and a Qualtrics (survey software) quiz to track engagement. Many prizes and materials, such as recycled-plastic toothbrushes and brochures about sustainable commuting, were given out. A significant amount of students signed up for the newsletter.

In these years, first-year students were targeted by events held by the Office of Sustainability and its Eco-Rep program. Different pre-orientation groups were presented to, as well as given materials such as brochures or a toothbrush made of recycled plastic. Tabling was does in-person at orientation events, such as the A Capella Show, or at the campus center. Finally, a Scavenger Hunt was sponsored by the OOS to help first-years get a better sense of where locations related to sustainability were placed around campus. The OOS attended the Academic Fair every year, either in-person or online, and shared about the newsletter, intern positions, and sustainability-related classes.

Sustainability is also a fundamental tenet of the optional pre-orientations that Tufts offers, specifically TWO (a backpacking program), FIT (a healthy living program) and FOCUS (a community service program). In TWO (https://students.tufts.edu/orientation/pre-orientation/two-tufts-wilderness-orientation), students spend 5 days in the woods and have to live completely without waste, so everything that goes into the woods must come out. Multiple FOCUS trips (https://students.tufts.edu/orientation/pre-orientation/focus-first-year-orientation-community-service) are dedicated to helping the environment. In FIT (https://students.tufts.edu/orientation/pre-orientation/fit-fitness-and-individual-development-tufts), students are able to participate in outdoor off-campus activities such as sailing or hiking to be more connected to the surrounding natural environment.

We reached students from the following schools/programs:
1. Dental
2. MBS
3. MD
4. MPH
5. The Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
6. MCM, MAPP, MS-IDGH at Cummings School
7. DVM
8. Fletcher
9. The Graduate School of Engineering
10. UEP
11. Friedman
12. Other graduate students
13. CAFE pre-orientation first-year students
14. FIT pre-orientation first-year students
15. SMFA
16. Other first-year students