While there are many opportunities for students to get involved at different organizations at CCNY, this section focuses on initiatives that are student-run for two reasons: to elevate student voice in sustainability and to allow for hands-on experience to give meaningful experiences to students. This section is organized into larger categories and is updated periodically. This is not an exhausted list — ask around, email people, and search both on the CCNY website and on campus for more opportunities!
Internships
Professor Stephanie Rose’s Sustainability Internship Team
There has always been a push for sustainability led by the college’s students and staff. The most recent efforts are those of the 16 students in Stephanie Rose’s SCIE 32701 Sustainability Engagement Internship course, in the School of Education, who are working in partnership with campus facilities to improve recycling efforts.
The class, the first of its nature, is a 2-credit course open to all students interested in sustainability. Students spend the semester working on a capstone project decided by themselves and the professor, Stephanie Rose.
The class this semester has chosen to focus on two areas of need:
- Improving CCNY’s responsible materials management
- Creating a culture change around sustainability in the student body.
The class has divided themselves into three groups, each with a specialized task.
Team One is in the process of implementing new recycling centers in the North Academic Center building (NAC): through close consultation with Arthur Brown, Principal Custodial Supervisor at CCNY, the group was able to get new bins and signage to place throughout the buildings. Each recycling center contains three bins: a black bin for trash (non-recyclable), a blue bin for MGPC (metal, glass, plastic, and carton), and a green bin for paper.
- There are currently 11 new recycling centers throughout the NAC that the team has organized this semester. These centers are located in Hoffman Lounge, the Rotunda, the NAC Lobby, and in Career Services.
- The group is adding new centers every week, with plans to have a recycling center at every elevator bank by the end of the semester.
Teams Two and Three are focusing on educating and involving the school’s student body in the importance of sustainability:
- Team Two is creating an interactive website (you’re on it!) that will provide a platform for students to get and share information about sustainability at City College. Students can use this space to comment and share their thoughts about sustainability at CCNY.
- Team Three is spreading the word through in-person tabling events, usually hosted every week in the Rotunda. Stop by to learn more about what the internship course is doing, play fun and informative games, and have a chance to win prizes!
Clubs
The CCNY Green Club
Focused on increasing campus sustainability efforts, this club is open to all undergraduate students and seeks to educate the campus and community about sustainable issues. Activities for students include:
- Gardening at the Roofpod of the Spitzer School of Architecture.
- Beekeeping (and getting to enjoy the honey!)
- Clean-ups of various NYC parks.
- Other events just to build club relations and have fun.
The Science in Sustainability Club
This club is brand new! Aiming to start in the Fall 2025 semester at CCNY for undergraduates, is the Science in Sustainability club. This will be the official club for students in the Science Learning and Public Engagement major; however, anyone at any interest level for sustainability or science (or both!) is welcome!
Because this club is still getting its affairs in order, there is no official website nor social media site just yet. Sit tight and visit this website often to check back on its status!
While the above is any current student presence furthering the sustainable campus goals of CCNY, these actions are built off of the students who came before them. Below is a list of those past actions. And as a reminder, these actions can, and have been, repeated — if you are interested in doing some of these actions yourself, or starting something new, get connected! Look at the lists above or reach out!
Past actions
Waste Audit Conducted at City College to Gather Data
Four former CCNY master’s students — Alex Klein, Yael Amron, Jerilys Perez, and Oscar Guatemala — conducted a waste audit in 2023 to evaluate the college’s waste production and highlight areas of improvement.
With help from Professor Stephanie Rose’s Principles of Environmental Science class, they were able to sort through 98 kilograms of trash and recycled waste from around the NAC.
Principles of Environmental Science is still offered every other semester for both undergraduates (as SCI 12600) and graduates (as SCIE 4104E) at CCNY.
Campus Race to Zero Waste Competition
The master’s students above also enrolled CCNY in the Campus Race to Zero Waste competition, a program in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation that serves as a tool to help higher education institutions (HEIs) improve campus recycling and waste reduction efforts.
Over an 8 week period, the program records data on recycling and trash collection and ranks the participating campus among the community of other colleges and universities. The competition boosts student engagement in recycling and gives colleges data on waste management.
Campus Race to Zero Waste is still an active competition and CCNY could participate again if enrolled before the beginning of next semester.
See you there!
