The college consists of a residential community of nearly 100 graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, visiting scholars and professors, and non-resident affiliated faculty and academic programming.

The college is located at the North end of the UBC campus, near the Faculty of Law, Museum of Anthropology, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, and the Buchanan complex.

Two more minor erosion events occurred in the summer of 1995 and 1997 when the drainage system overloaded and flooded the parking lot.

[4] Slope stability and controlling further erosion continues to be a significant issue for all of the north end of campus including the college grounds.

[5] In November, 1997, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting was held in Vancouver, with the final gathering at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC.

Great controversy arose when politicians instructed RCMP officers to use force and pepper spray against non-violent protesters.

Green College was located near the Museum of Anthropology, directly adjacent to the official motorcade route to the APEC venue there.

Also, starting six months before the APEC summit, Green College provided event space and logistical support for an "APEC-University Forum", to discuss both sides of issues raised.

A major goal of the Visiting Professorship program is to enhance the intellectual environment of Green College and to provide opportunities for graduate students and faculty at UBC to interact with outstanding scholars from other institutions.

[12] Since the first Cecil H. and Ida Green Visiting professor, Nobel Laureate Gerhard Herzberg, arrived in 1972, more than 180 distinguished scholars have participated in the CIGVP program.

His many acclaimed publications spanned police work, crime reporting, risk and regulation, insurance and governance, and the sociology of knowledge.

He was especially proud of his role in the creation of Green College at UBC as a unique combination of residential academic community and public venue for non-curricular, interdisciplinary inquiry.

The purpose of the endowment is to provide public lectures by individuals with outstanding expertise in one or more of the fields, namely Government, Business, Law and the Arts.

[13] Past writers in residence have included: Merilyn Simonds, Lynn Coady, Roo Borson, Wayde Compton, Karen Connelly, Nalo Hopkinson, Kevin Kerr, Andrea Spalding, Patricia Robertson, Anne Simpson and Alison Wearing.

The architectural style reflects the college's west coast location and is integrated with the forested oceanside landscape.