The Green Program was created in 2018 to support the Sustainable Living and Learning Communities. The Green Program is built around five pillars; each is a way to support students working collaboratively with mentors and peers to develop diverse, practical skills and knowledge, and encourage their creativity, initiative, leadership, and commitment to service and society.  The five pillars of The Green Program are:

1. Green Fellowships for SLLC-based projects
2. Field-based, mentored, experiential learning at the SLLC
3. Student leadership at the SLLC
4. Student-led infrastructure improvement projects at the SLLC
5. Community-building and career-pathways activities centered on the SLLC

1. Green Fellowships: These fellowships, running annually since 2019, support student-led, year-long projects by providing the fellows with income, mentorship, and funds to cover project expenses. The opportunities are called “Green Fellowships” and the recipients are referred to as “Green Fellows.”  Green Fellowships are earned and awarded through an application and review process. At a minimum, Green Fellowship Projects should:

- Benefit the SLLC and be conducted in direct relationship to the physical or program resources of the SLLC;

- Have positive impacts for social justice and environmental sustainability;

- Use an interdisciplinary approach;

- Further the UC’s Land Grant mission of extending knowledge beyond the University to the broader public. 

2. Field-based experiential learning opportunities through expanded mentoring: This pillar builds upon and expand successful models of field-based mentoring developed at the Student Farm and other SLLC programs and provide support for staff and faculty to work directly with student interns and volunteers on field-based projects within the SLLC, and may include mentorship for undergraduate through post-doctoral scholars. 

3. SLLC student leadership: This pillar supports one or more student-employees and related staff time for supervision and mentorship related to guiding and coordinating the programs, projects, and activities of the SLLC. Activities may include facilitating meetings, coordinating communications, and supporting planning within, between, and among the various programs, projects, and activities within the SLLC.

4. Student-led infrastructure projects: The focus of this pillar is projects that can be completed with student effort and leadership and modest budgets within 6 months to 2 years.  Projects are likely student-identified and envisioned but will be staff-mentored. Examples include: sheds, fencelines, composting toilets, gray-water systems, solar energy systems, and new landscape and beautification projects. 

5. Community-building and career pathways: This pillar supports student and staff collaboration on events and other programming to connect the students, faculty, staff, activities, and facilities of the SLLC to one another and to alumni, the wider campus, and the public at large for the purposes of building community, extending knowledge, broadening support for the SLLC, and connecting SLLC students to internships and employment opportunities.