Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.31
Liaison Lisa Noriega
Submission Date Aug. 3, 2020

STARS v2.2

Yale University
EN-3: Student Life

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Scot Bearss
Sustainability Outreach Manager
Yale Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Student groups 

Does the institution have an active student group focused on sustainability?:
Yes

Name and a brief description of the active student groups focused on sustainability:
Paid opportunities to get involved with campus sustainability projects are available through the Office of Sustainability. In addition, Yale College has the Sustainability Liaisons program, and a number of Yale's graduate and professional schools have special interest groups that work on various aspects of sustainability.

Gardens and farms 

Does the institution have a garden, farm, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery program, or an urban agriculture project where students are able to gain experience in organic agriculture and sustainable food systems?:
Yes

A brief description of the gardens, farms, community supported agriculture (CSA) or fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects:
The Yale Sustainable Food Program (YSFP) is the steward of two small farms used for learning and research, one on Yale’s main campus and the other at Yale’s West Campus. YSFP supports both curricular and extra-curricular learning, and serve as a hub to connect Yale’s students to opportunities for study and practice in food, health, and the environment.
http://sustainablefood.yale.edu/
https://westcampus.yale.edu/landscape-lab

Student-run enterprises 

Does the institution have a student-run enterprise that includes sustainability as part of its mission statement or stated purpose?:
Yes

A brief description of the student-run enterprises:
The Acorn, a student-run café located in Silliman College, is a green certified café that features sustainably sourced coffee, offers a space for students to build community, and promotes entrepreneurship.
https://www.sillimanacorn.com

Sustainable investment and finance 

Does the institution have a sustainable investment fund, green revolving fund, or sustainable microfinance initiative through which students can develop socially, environmentally and fiscally responsible investment and financial skills?:
No

A brief description of the sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives:
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Events 

Has the institution hosted a conference, speaker series, symposium, or similar event focused on sustainability during the previous three years that had students as the intended audience?:
Yes

A brief description of the conferences, speaker series, symposia, or similar events focused on sustainability:
Yale offers students myriad opportunities to learn about sustainability. A few examples include:
New Directions in Environmental Law Conference hosted by Yale Law School and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
https://ndel.yale.edu/
The Yale Food Systems Symposium (YFSS) is a student led, interdisciplinary conference initiated by students at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
https://yalefoodsymposium.org/
The Environmental Film Festival at Yale (EFFY), sponsored by the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University, is one of America's premier student-run environmental film festivals.
http://effy.yale.edu/
Last but not least, the Office of Sustainability hosts an annual "Celebrate Sustainability" week, with five days of sustainability-themed events.

Cultural arts 

Has the institution hosted a cultural arts event, installation, or performance focused on sustainability with the previous three years that had students as the intended audience?:
Yes

A brief description of the cultural arts events, installations, or performances focused on sustainability:
The Yale Office of Sustainability hosts an annual Earth Day Awards Breakfast event every year. For the past two years, the event has included a musical performance composed and performed by Yale School of Music students, created with a climate change-theme in mind.

https://sustainability.yale.edu/news/yale-sustainability-2019-year-review

Wilderness and outdoors programs 

Does the institution have a wilderness or outdoors program that follow Leave No Trace principles?:
Yes

A brief description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles:
Yale FOOT offers a unique wilderness experience to 400 incoming Yale freshmen and transfer students each year. In late August, trained upperclassmen lead pre-orientation backpacking trips to five scenic locations throughout the Northeast. Leave No Trace principles are integrated into the programming.
https://foot.yalecollege.yale.edu/

Sustainability-focused themes 

Has the institution had a sustainability-focused theme chosen for a themed semester, year, or first-year experience during the previous three years?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-focused themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences:
Yale Divinity School selected the book Food and Faith by Norman Wirzbafor a community-read in 2017-2018. They offered it to all members of the community, and then brought Norman to give a talk and have dinner with the students.
https://divinity.yale.edu/calendar/food-faith-discussion-norman-wirzba

Sustainable life skills 

Does the institution have a program through which students can learn sustainable life skills?:
Yes

A brief description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills:
Declutter, Destress, Donate features programs that are focused on health & well-being (primarily mental health), decluttering your space, and generating a system of donation and reuse for clothing and appliances between the colleges and ultimately to Goodwill.
https://sustainability.yale.edu/priorities-progress/materials/declutter-destress-donate

Student employment opportunities 

Does the institution offer sustainability-focused student employment opportunities?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution:
The Office of Sustainability offers positions at each of the undergraduate residential colleges, called Sustainability Liaisons. These students are paid by the Office of Sustainability and represent the Office throughout the school year, designing and implementing sustainability-focused programming.
https://sustainability.yale.edu/news/sustainability-liaisons-receive-2020-yale-residential-college-sustainability-awards

The Environmental Stewardship Committee at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES) employs graduate students to work on sustainability projects relevant to the F&ES community.

Graduation pledge

Does the institution have a graduation pledge through which students pledge to consider social and environmental responsibility in future job and other decisions?:
No

A brief description of the graduation pledge(s):
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Optional Fields

A brief description of other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives that do not fall into one of the above categories:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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