Sustainability Fellows Program
Students!
Are you interested in sustainability, climate change or environmental justice?
Do you want to meet like-minded students and give back to your community on campus and off?
Do you want to be recognized at commencement with a special green cord?
Do you have at least two semesters left before you graduate?
You might be one of our next Sustainability Fellows!
What is the Sustainability Fellows Program?
Sustainability Fellows is a student leadership program created, sponsored, and coordinated by the President’s Commission on Sustainability (PCS) and the CSU Long Beach Office of Sustainability. The purpose of the Sustainability Fellows program is to provide students with opportunities to gain recognition for their participation and leadership in activities that expand their own climate and environmental knowledge, while contributing to creating healthier, more resilient, and more equitable communities on and off campus.
Students accepted into the Sustainability Fellows Program are required to:
- Attend a mandatory orientation meeting upon acceptance to the program
- Attend a check-in meeting with the Office of Sustainability team or faculty cohort leader once per semester
- Attend at least one professional development/skills workshop per semester offered by the Office of Sustainability and Faculty Lead
- Complete the Sustainability & Climate Literacy survey upon entry into the program and at the end
- Complete a minimum of 10 hours of volunteer hours with the Office of Sustainability or President’s Commission on Sustainability (including participating in a PCS subcommittee)
- Complete a minimum of 10 hours of volunteer hours with a community organization focused on one or more sustainability issue
- Participate in a high impact practice during their career on campus (e.g. take a service-learning course, hold an internship position, conduct student research or creative activity related to sustainability, hold a leadership position in ASI)
- Submit a project in the spring Sustainability Project Showcase at the Green Generation Mixer
- Submit a reflection paper (non-graded) on the ways in which their chosen discipline and/or intended career can play a positive role in addressing one or more sustainability issue (such as climate change, industrial pollution, waste, environmental racism, the extinction crisis, etc.)
- Sign the Green Graduate Pledge – a pledge to use the knowledge and skills you have gained at CSULB to promote sustainability in their future work and communities.
Students from all majors are eligible to participate, provided they are in good standing with their degree program and have at least two semesters left before their expected graduation date.
Students must submit an online application during the spring semester by the posted deadline to be considered for the program. Students will be notified by the last week of the spring semester if they have been accepted into the program. Selected students would begin the program the following fall semester.
Sustainability Fellows will receive the following benefits for participating in and completing the program requirements:
- Certificate of Participation
- Graduation cord
- Letter of recognition signed by the PCS Co-Chairs
- Photo and short bio on Sustainability Fellows webpage
- Feature on official university social media accounts
- Invitation to attend special events and receptions with university leaders
Unfortunately not. It is our intention for each cohort of Sustainability Fellows to participate in the program for a full academic year over both the fall and spring semesters. However, since you are graduating soon, we encourage you to participate in the Green Grad initiative.
Students may coordinate their own volunteer hours or request assistance finding an organization from the Office of Sustainability or Center for Community Engagement.
Your internship can be applied as your high-impact practice requirement of the program retroactively.
Yes, a project completed for a class will count towards the requirements of the program, as long as it is submitted for the Showcase while you are participating in the Sustainability Fellows program. When possible, an individual project is preferable to a group project.
Volunteers may be asked to assist with:
- Various tasks related to planning & executing Sustainability Month and/or Earth Month events
- Supporting the Green Office and Green Events Programs
- Tabling and doing general outreach to promote sustainability initiatives
- Gathering data or conducting surveys
- Researching or collecting content for social media posts about campus sustainability
Students may also choose to join a subcommittee of the President’s Commission on Sustainability and complete their volunteer hours by attending meetings and contributing to the work products of the subcommittee.
Ideally, all program requirements will be completed over consecutive fall and spring semesters. However, exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis for Fellows who have completed most of the requirements and will be returning the following fall. In these cases, Fellows must complete their remaining requirements within the second year and will not have the option of extending further.
If you have completed another High Impact Practice in addition to the service learning class, your activity as part of the class can potentially count as your community volunteer hours.
