University of California, Santa Cruz
EN-3: Student Life

There are multiple student groups focused on sustainability. The main sustainability website provides links to approximately one dozen sustainability-focused student organizations including the Student Environmental Center, the Education for Sustainable Living Program, the Program in Community and Agroecology, and the Campus Sustainability Council.

Student Environmental Center (SEC)- The purpose of the Student Environmental Center is to promote student involvement through research, education, and implementation of environmentally sustainable practices on campus in collaboration with the university.

Education for Sustainable Living Program (ESLP)- A student-run organization that puts on a student-led course during the Spring quarter. Work is done throughout the year planning the night lecture series, training facilitators, creating curriculum, and spreading student empowerment.

Friends of the Community Agroecology Network (FoCAN)- FoCAN engages UCSC students in learning and educating others about alternative food systems primarily through internships.

Program in Community and Agroecology (PICA)- A program in which students learn about sustainability through practical experience and community building. This learning experience includes seminars, training in agroecology and organic gardening, composting, and the caretaking of campus gardens.

The Campus Sustainability Council (CSC)- Provides funding for the programs and events of the many UCSC student organizations, ensuring the institutionalization and long term viability of efforts towards campus sustainability.

Kresge Common Ground Center- The mission of Common Ground is to create cultural change for social justice, environmental regeneration, and economic viability. They act as a catalyst and facilitator of systemic change through undergraduate action-education, research, advocacy, and civic engagement.

The Center for Agroecology (formerly known as the Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS)) is a research, education, and public service organization at UC Santa Cruz. The mission of the center is to advance agroecology and equitable food systems through experiential education, participatory research, agricultural extension, and public service.

On the UCSC campus, the center operates the two-acre Alan Chadwick Garden and the 25-acre Farm. Both sites are managed using organic production methods and serve as research, teaching, and training facilities for students, staff, and faculty. In addition we have six campus gardens affiliated with several colleges at UCSC that provide curricular and co-curricular instruction and experiential learning for students. For more information on the campus gardens you can download the annual UCSC Campus Food & Garden guide at: http://casfs.ucsc.edu/farm-to-college

The Kresge Community Natural Foods Co-op is a non-profit food store located on the south side of Kresge. The Co-op supports small farmers, the UCSC Farm Project, and the Kresge Garden. Inventory focuses on natural and organic foods. In addition, the Kresge Garden Co-op is a community space where students empower themselves to learn how to grow their own food from seed, dig beds, create a functional compost system, and work together cooperatively.

Carbon Fund - The Carbon Fund committee strives for a sustainable future by working to mitigate climate change through funding and participating in projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conduct relevant research, or carry out education and behavioral change programs. The committee’s commitment is foremost to the campus and its students, but also to the wider community as climate change is a threat without boundaries.

Green Revolving Loan Fund - GRLF provides up-front capital for campus greenhouse gas reduction projects. Loans are paid back using the savings realized by the reductions in operating and utility costs.

Campus Sustainability Council - The role of the Campus Sustainability Council (CSC) is to provide funding to registered UCSC student organizations for programs and events that create, implement, and monitor environmentally sound practices on campus as established in the Blueprint for a Sustainable Campus. These organizations additionally facilitate greater collaboration between students, the administration, staff, faculty, and the community.

Sustainable Food, Health & Wellness Initiative - UCSC undergraduate students are invited to apply for Measure 43 funds to support student research and education projects, and visiting speakers related to food, health and wellness, and who will engage UCSC students.

Sustainability Office Fee - supports for student interns, funds collaborative projects outlined in the campus sustainability plan, and provides initial funds for a revolving loan fund for projects that implement sustainable and cost-saving technology and practices.

Since 2004, UCSC has hosted an annual lecture series in the spring called the Education for Sustainable Living Program. It is a student-organized course and lecture series open to the community that features a different guest speaker each Monday evening.

Since 2001, the Student Environmental Center has hosted an annual Campus Earth Summit. http://enviroslug.org/

The campus Sustainability Office also hosts the annual Sustainability Inter-Organizational Retreat and the Sustainability End of Year Celebration. At the inter-organizational retreat students lead workshops and mentor their peers on sustainability methods and efforts. At the Sustainability End of Year Celebration students showcase their projects to other students through poster presentations.
http://sustainability.ucsc.edu
The Sustainability Office also held a film series during the pandemic fostering conversations around relevant themes. See Fall 2020 event as an example: https://calendar.ucsc.edu/event/sustainability_office_film_series_fall_screening_of_2040_film#.Yfh8k_WIZ24
In addition, UCSC became a host institution for the Global Conference on Sustainability in Higher Education, in 2020 and 2021.
https://www.aashe.org/conference/

UC Santa Cruz’s Kresge College is home to the Common Ground Center. The mission of Common Ground is to create cultural change for social justice, environmental regeneration, and economic viability. They act as a catalyst and facilitator of systemic change through undergraduate action-education, research, advocacy, and civic engagement. The Center has a large base of community support from its existing programs in nonviolent communication, restorative justice, transformative action, The World Café, and the Kresge Garden, as well as existing partnerships with civil society organizations promoting the values, principles, and practices of Common Ground.

The Athletics and Recreation Department's mission is to provide a variety of professional programs and physical activities that promote and enhance community, leadership, lifelong wellness, and experiential learning. They firmly believe that these programs can be life-changing. They offer multiple outdoor programs including organized hiking, backpacking, camping and kayaking trips. Leave No Trace curriculum is integrated in all programs offered.

Rachel Carson College (RCC) offers a sustainability-themed, year-long course to all RCC freshman, to create green thinkers and entrepreneurs. The three-quarter sequence is taught by senior tenured professors from the social science, physical and biological sciences, and engineering divisions of UCSC. The goal of the core course sequence is to provide students with a solid scientific and policy foundation for environmental citizenship, and to investigate solutions. Students who take all three courses will receive an RCC Certificate in Environmental Citizenship, useful on any resume, and satisfy a great many GE requirements.

UCSC has many opportunities for students to learn sustainability life skills, including:
-Kresge College's Ecovillage - A community striving to live well and lightly together. From appropriate technologies to holistic health, from sustainable agriculture to group facilitation, the Ecovillage brings together first-year students who wish to actively create a new world based on cooperation, justice, and sustainable living. If you are looking to cultivate a deep sense of place, host regular potlucks, and engage with sustainability education, this is the place for you. Students are highly encouraged to participate in the Kresge Garden Co-op, The World Cafe, and the classes, workshops, and events sponsored by the Common Ground Center at Kresge.
-Program in Community and Agroecology (PICA) Village: Sophomores, juniors and seniors from disciplines across the social sciences, natural sciences, arts and humanities live, study, grow and prepare food together in the village housing modules dedicated to PICA. The living/learning experience that the PICA residential program provides allows students a way to link healthy communities with healthy food systems.
-Cowell College Outdoor Pursuits and Sustainability Community houses students interested in outdoor activities and sustainability, from sports to community service.
-The Rachel Carson College sustainability community is intended for students interested in sustainability and environmental consciousness issues. This community allows students to demonstrate their commitment further to the Rachel Carson College theme. Students will engage in dialogue around sustainability through programs offered by the residential staff and develop community standards around sustainability in the residence hall. Students will also have the opportunity to create new ideas for sustainable practices within the Rachel Carson College community. In addition, students are also encouraged to attend or assist in planning campus events around sustainability, including Rachel Carson College's contribution to the campus’ Earth Day celebration.

In addition, the Student Sustainability Advisors in each college offer workshops and hold events that help students understand how to incorporate sustainability into their daily life.

Student Fee Measure 45 provides $2.75 per undergraduate student each quarter for the Sustainability Office to hire student employees. The Sustainability Office has utilized these funds to support internship positions in the campus Sustainability Office and in other departments across campus including the Provost's Sustainability Internship Program and the Chancellor's Undergraduate Internship Program.

Student job positions are posted on the Sustainability Office website for jobs at the organizations listed above in question #1. We also post job announcements in our monthly newsletter, sent to over 3,000 people each month. http://sustainability.ucsc.edu/news-events/newsletters/

Students graduating from Rachel Carson College, one of UCSC's 10 colleges take the Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility pledge at commencement

“I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organizations for which I work.”

The People of Color Sustainability Collective (PoCSC) is a collaborative campus effort that aims to showcase the efforts people of color have made, are making, and will make to advance sustainability locally, nationally, and globally. The mission of PoCSC is to make UCSC a leader in environmental justice in recognition of our changing demographics. PoCSC aims to highlight the contributions that people of color - past, present, and future - have made to environmental sustainability and works to redefine the values of sustainability to be inclusive of all underrepresented populations. In hosting student discussion spaces, student of color caucuses, social media awareness campaigns, workshops, and speaker panels, we hope to create a space for our community to have a critical dialogue about the intersections between race, ethnicity, class, gender, culture, national origin, and the environment.

The People of Color Sustainability Collective is an Ethnic Resource Centers initiative that works in collaboration with College Nine, College Ten, and the Campus Sustainability Office. Establishing this unprecedented cross-campus collaboration has been critical because issues of inclusivity and retention affect students all over campus and must be addressed through a unified campus effort.