University of Colorado Colorado Springs
EN-3: Student Life

The Students for Environmental Awareness and Sustainability (SEAS) was founded in 2003 and continues to "work toward creating a more conscientious campus community with regard to conservation of resources and creative, efficient ways of using them. The goal is to educate the campus about the meaning of sustainability, take steps toward making the campus more efficient and conscientious, and save resources and money." This group is student governed. Local Food Club - The purpose of Local Food Club shall be to educate the UCCS community on the importance of local food including: environmental impact, social equity, economic viability, social cultural context, and health effects. http://sll.uccs.edu/show_profile/73991-local-food-club Flora and Fauna Spreading awareness to the UCCS student body and surrounding community about the detriment the meat industry has on humanity and the earth itself. Not solely a vegetarian/vegan club, but an easier way to become informed on the subject and to see if it is a right lifestyle change. http://sll.uccs.edu/show_profile/137725-flora-and-fauna Green Action Fund | The aim of the Green Action Fund is to reduce the ecological footprint of UCCS and promote sustainable environmental, social and economic values through a variety of student-sponsored projects. It manages a fund that is provided by a $5 per semester fee paid by all students. The Green Action Fund is student governed. Local Food Club | The purpose of Local Food Club shall be to educate the UCCS community on the importance of local food including: environmental impact, social equity, economic viability, social cultural context, and health effects. Meets monthly at the Farmhouse UCCS Geology Club | The UCCS Geology Club is committed to learning about and exploring the geology of Colorado. This is done by developing a solid understanding of the physical processes that help to form our wonderful state. Individuals in the club are looking to expand their skills in understanding Earth's past life and geologic history. Meets monthly. UCCS Nutrition Club | The mission of the Nutrition Club at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs is to promote interest in personal health, especially nutrition. We will provide nutrition-related presentations and education to all students and faculty, and provide undergraduate students with academic support, opportunities for application of nutrition education, and volunteer & community services. Exercise is Medicine | To foster collaborative relationships and leadership on campus between exercise, health and other disciplines that support the EIM vision and goals. In addition to seeing all campus and community members across multiple disciplines discover, share and adopt the principles of EIM that will help change the culture of chronic disease prevention and management campus-wide.

UCCS has a farm and commercial greenhouse that provides high quality, organically-grown produce to UCCS's food service outlets. It also provides education to the campus community about new gardening methods and sustainable growing solutions. Through researching a variety of avenues of organic gardening, the UCCS Farm seeks to use innovative as well as traditional gardening practices. Our hope is that through education and outreach, the Farm can become a resource center for sustainable organic gardening methods while producing delicious, nutritious organic fruits and vegetables for the UCCS community. There are student employees and volunteers working at the Farm. The Farm is not student-governed. Led by the club, Students for Environmental Awareness and Sustainability (SEAS), UCCS students, faculty, and staff established an organic vegetable garden at the Heller Center in 2011. This was student-governed and the group established a market for their produce on the campus. Unfortunately the farm became inactive in 2017. http://www.uccs.edu/~seas/.

There are student run initiatives and projects which have become businesses, but students are not directly in charge of the everyday financial aspects. Food Next Door | UCCS Health Sciences students prepare around 150 delicious, local, and healthy meals, which are served at Roaring Fork Dining Hall. Weekly meal choices include your choice of a seasonal vegetarian SWELL Lunch, a homemade vegetarian burger, or a "protein-flip" burger, which is comprised of 50% local beef and 50% grains, beans, veggies, herbs, and spices. The produce for these meals is harvested each Monday morning from our UCCS Farm. Weekly harvest includes seasonal vegetables, greens, garlic, and fresh herbs. Most ingredients are grown locally on campus, in the nearest watershed (e.g., Fountain Creek, Arkansas River), and across the state of Colorado by farmers we know, including our own campus farmers. Food Next Door's weekly cyclic process is managed by SWELL Graduate Assistants. https://www.uccs.edu/diningservices/swell/food-next-door.html Lot Spot | Entrepreneurial team from the Bachelor of Innovation received seed funding from Green Action Fund to pilot their program to reduce the number of vehicles circling in parking lots at UCCS looking for open spots. The low speed at which the vehicles are driving emit more harmful greenhouse gas emissions, so their phone app provides the driver with information of which lot is empty. The data collected from their technology also provides valuable information to parking managers to hopefully reduce the number of lots built and increase the efficiency of their current infrastructure. http://www.lotspotinc.com/

Green Action Fund | The aim of the Green Action Fund is to reduce the ecological footprint of UCCS and promote sustainable environmental, social and economic values through a variety of student-sponsored projects. Green Action Fund is student-governed: students can submit project proposals along with faculty and staff, students determine which projects will be funded, and students manage many of the projects to completion. The fund is based on a $5 per student/semester fee and provides roughly $110,000 each year. There have been over 100 projects approved between 2012 and 2017.

From 2013 to 2017 UCCS held the event Sustainnovate, a day-long conference that foced on a different aspect of sustainability each year:food, climate, transportation, water, and general sustainability. These were attended by faculty, staff, students, and community members. In 2017 UCCS partnered with Pikes Peak Community College and Colorado College to bring Dominic Frongillo to present on student civic engagement and action in regard to sustainability. In February 2018, UCCS will host a Sustainability Week with a specific focus on energy transitions.

Event 1 - Yearly - UCCS Unplugged- An evening of unplugged entertainment--music, poetry, spoken word--and learn about saving energy. The event is designed to engage students in Residence Life and is used as a launch event for Campus Conservation Nationals. This event is entirely student-run. https://www.uccs.edu/Documents/sustain/CCN-2016.pdf Event 2 - March 2015 Art Installation funded by Green Action Fund. José Luis Torres is an Argentinian-born Canadian artist who works with salvaged building materials, found objects and recycled elements to create environments in both indoor and outdoor spaces. Using waste generated as a by-product of building construction, the artist calls attention to sustainability issues in our built environments. Torres works on a larger-than-life scale, massing materials and objects and inspiring viewers through the nature of the sculptures he creates. https://www.uccs.edu/goca/ART/EXHIBITIONS/ARCHIVE/2015/Jose-Luis-Torres.html Installation - DESTINY MANIFEST is a multi-media visual art exhibit and program, including an artist residency, public lectures, and student service projects with a goal of sparking student and community dialogue about the consequences of pollution in North America. Environmental education will be achieved through a high-impact visual art display featuring polluted waterways, industrial and military waste, disrupted ecosystems, and impoverished bio-diversity, as well as access to professional artists, lectures and service projects. DESTINY MANIFEST will promote sustainable behavior through challenging complacency, exhibiting the urgency of these issues, and demonstrating the importance of stewarding resources and sustainability in highly visible fashion - May 2014. https://www.uccs.edu/goca/ART/EXHIBITIONS/ARCHIVE/2014/DESTINY-MANIFEST.html Event - Patagonia Wornwear - Earthday 2017 Partnership with Post Landfill Action Network to bring Patagonia Wornwear and teach students about repairing clothing.

UCCS' Outdoor Program – Student Outdoor Leadership Expeditions (S.O.L.E.) seeks to provide the university community with outdoor recreation opportunities. Programs will emphasize skill acquisition, leadership development, team building, environmental awareness, safety, and fun. Furthermore, all programs will be inclusive to all levels and abilities and will contribute to the holistic well-being and the academic experience of the university. S.O.L.E. offers numerous trips throughout the year to UCCS students and affiliates such as fly fishing, backpacking, and mountain biking. All S.O.L.E. trips follow and teach Leave No Trace protocol. Green Action Fund provided funds for staff to be certified in Leave No Trace. https://www.uccs.edu/recwellness/campus-rec/outdoor/educational-clinics

Sustainable Me is a first year experience course offered from 2012-2016. Farm to Kitchen Boot Camp is a first year course that has been offered for 2016 and 2017. This course will teach you how to grow, harvest, and cook your own food and will also explore the links between health and sustainability that occurs with local food. Pay it Forward is a first year course that includes environmental and sustainability issues. School in the Woods is a first year course: This course will examine the relationship between self and the environment. How does the place we live affect us? How have people changed the environment of Colorado? There have been Common Reads in the past, several focused on sustainability themes like, No Impact Man, and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Sustainable Me is a Freshman Seminar course that was taught up until Fall 2017. Explore your relationship to the planet and to one another with an overnight camping trip in the Pikes Peak area, and continue learning about sustainability through film, field trips, a service project and other outdoor activities that will round out this innovative, new course. Other opportunities include volunteering at the Farm and Greenhouse, https://www.uccs.edu/farm/for-volunteers.html Exercise is Medicine, http://pressreleases.uccs.edu/?p=798 Nutrition cooking classes at Health and Wellness , https://www.uccs.edu/recwellness/nutrition/cookingregistration (Funded by Green Action Fund, focus on sustainable foods. Farmhouse Fridays, https://www.uccs.edu/Documents/diningservices/SWELL/Local%20Food%20and%20Grain%20Literacy%20Project%20Schedule.pdf Campus Conservation Nationals, energy and water conservation, https://www.uccs.edu/sustain/campus-conservation-nationals Changing Place- This course allows students to translate what they have learned about sustainability into campus action. Students identify a campus sustainability issue to address, draft an appropriate initiative to place on the student ballot, and campaign for passage of the measure.

The Office of Sustainability currently has 10 student employees. Green Action Fund currently has one student employee. This is a student-governed program. There is one sustainable transportation position filled by a student.

UCCS has a Green Graduation Pledge taken from the Graduate Pledge Alliance. 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. It is voluntary, emphasized by the Sustainability Office, and needs to be communicated more to graduates. In order to get a green stole for commencement, the pledge must be signed.

The Flying Carrot is an innovative mobile project that fosters food awareness and empowers individuals to improve the well-being of themselves, the community, and the planet by providing creative hands-on experiences, building cooking skills, and improving access to local, seasonal, and sustainable food.