University of Illinois Chicago
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

UIC's Office of Sustainability has had an undergraduate intern working on data collection and research relating to greenhouse gas emissions from UIC campus sources. The research and work of this intern has helped the Office, and the campus, make informed decisions related to Air and Climate.

We have campus green maps and sustainability maps that point out the green features of the buildings. These maps were developed by students. We also conduct tours of our green buildings. We had two tours during Sustainability Days in September 2013 of the "Civil War" complex of green buildings.

In September of 2013 and April of 2014, campus Dining Services held an event open to students, faculty and staff called "Weigh Your Waste with Dining Services". UIC Dining Services and student volunteers weighed all the food scraps at the end of a lunch period to emphasize the amount of food wasted and to also show the importance of reserve resources by only taking what the community eats. This event also educated attendees of composting in the dining halls, and allowed participants to get a hands on experience with sustainability in Dining Services.

In the Fall of 2012, students James Pena and Maher Maymoun submitted a "Green Fee" proposal for an "Off-Grid Shelter". The Off-Grid Bus Shelter proposed powering an existing UIC bus shelter with solar photovoltaic panels. Student interns in the Office of Sustainability also research UIC's energy consumption, and relate this information to Climate Action Plan goals and measurements.

In the Fall of 2013, a campus tree intern worked to establish a "Tree Tagging" initiative. UIC's 5,300 trees are marked through "Tree Tags" which illustrate the tree's species, environmental benefits, and financial worth. These Tree Tags were placed on trees throughout campus through an education service learning project, where a variety of student organizations adopted Tree Tags for trees on campus. In 2012, student Engineering Expo winners, Glenn Arnold, William Bakos, Benjamin Hendron, and Veronica Ward, were selected for their project "UIC East Campus Sustainable Pedestrian Bridge Crossing to Halsted Street Parking Garage". The students' project proposed an elevated pedestrian walkway across a main street on campus that would provide safe passages as well as promote environmental sustainability on campus, by providing pedestrian connectivity on campus grounds. The proposed bridge would include sustainable elements such as a rainwater collection system, vegetated swale and permebale pavers. UIC's Heritage Garden, which is located on UIC's East campus, offers a variety of internships to students, allowing them to work directly with the Garden and interact with campus grounds and community. The Heritage Garden and its satellite gardens are educational spaces on campus that relate diversity to quality of life issues that benefit both people and nature. The garden and satellites use an integrated approach that links environmental and social concerns to promote social change. It's Summer and Fall internships of 2013 helped to establish a sustainable educational model with activities that can help mobilize other students on campus around environmental and cultural sustainability issues. Students are able to expand their knowledge of cultural and diversity issues through intellectual framework discussion, participating in field days, hands on horticulture learning and practice, and developing a public program displaying the garden.

In Fall of 2012, Jonathon Chance submitted a "Green Fee" proposal titled "Bicycle for UIC". Bicycle for UIC introduces two new biking assets for UIC. The first asset would be Bicycle Repair Stations and the second asset would be Bicycle Tool-Kits. The tool-kits would be mainly for Campus Housing and the repair stations would help anyone in need of quick repairs. These repair stations will be near the Student Centers on campus. In 2013 UIC partnered with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning to develop a UIC "Multi-Modal Plan" through part of a Local Technical Assistance grant. As such, the entire University was welcomed to pariticpate in the UIC Multimodal Transportation survey where that gathered information on people's transportation priorities,likes, concerns, and desires for the campus. This included an "Amenities and Opportunities" active map, where participants could identify places and spaces on campus where they would like to see a particular amenity related to bicycling and pedestrian access. It was important to offer this survey to the entire UIC body so to allow as many people to participate as possible. The survey included information on travel priorities

The Office of Sustainability offers recycling internships to undergraduate students, with the purpose of analyzing the University's recycling and waste management data. Students are able to track the amount of waste the University is producing, and what totals are being sent to the landfill or recycled.

The Office of Sustainability has hired an undergraduate intern for the Summer 2014 to research campus storm water. He will be researching storm water volumes and vulnerable areas with the goal of creating storm water management practices.

Throughout the two years of UIC's Sustainability Strategic Thinking process we engaged undergraduate student interns to conduct research on campus assets and develop a toolkit for sustainability awareness around campus. We also had 3 student groups working on Master's of Public Affairs capstone projects related to this process and one Urban Planning studio class.

UIC's Heritage Garden allows for student involvement with issues of diversity and affordability. The Heritage Garden is an on-campus garden that provide educational spaces that relate diversity to quality of life issues. The Heritage Garden's internship program allows students to learn about environmental issues, horticulture and social issues, all the while understanding how environmentally friendly plants and herbs have cultural significance.

UIC's Wellness Center has used student interns to assist in their programming efforts. Additionally peer educators at the Wellness Center have prepared an informative and easy to read guide to nutrition and fitness.

The Office of Sustainability's summer 2014 internship program welcomed a "Green Events" intern, whose primary focus is to establish sustainable event guides for the campus. As a part of this internship, the student will utilize the sustainable event guides as a tool for public engagement around sustainability.