| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 79.39 |
| Liaison | Yolanda Cieters |
| Submission Date | March 5, 2021 |
Seattle University
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Yolanda
Cieters Associate Director CEJS |
Does the institution have at least one sustainability committee?:
The charter or mission statement of the committee(s) or a brief description of each committee's purview and activities:
The President’s Committee for Sustainability (PCS) was convened in March 2011. The purpose of the Committee is to advance and deepen Seattle University’s commitment to ecological justice through collaboration, transparency and inclusion. This committee serves to advocate and advance sustainability at the university in the following ways:
--Advise and report to the President and Cabinet on campus sustainability
--Provide support and coordination for campus members to pursue and share their interests and knowledge in sustainability within campus and in the community
--Oversee, monitor and report on the progress of sustainability strategies on campus, including the university’s climate action plan, and report and communicate about sustainability to the university and community.
See: https://www.seattleu.edu/cejs/campus-sustainability/presidents-committee-for-sustainability/
Members of each committee, including affiliations and role:
The Committee has 27 Members including 2 co-chairs (one faculty; one staff) from various departments across campus.
The 27 members are:
1. One Student from the Graduate Student Council (GSC)
2. One Graduate Student (at large)
3. One Student from the Student Government of Seattle University (SGSU)
4. One Undergraduate Student (at large)
5. One Undergraduate student sustainability representative residence halls
6. One Undergraduate student intern from the Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability
7. One Faculty from Albers School of Business and Economics
8. One Faculty from Environmental Science and Engineering-Biology
9. One Faculty from Environmental Science and Engineering-Environmental Science
10. One Faculty from School of Law
11. The Director of Environmental Science (Faculty)
12. The Director of Environment Studies (Faculty)
13. The Director of the Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability (Faculty)
14. Two Faculty at large
15. One Cabinet member (HR Vice President)
16. The Director of the Center for Student Involvement (staff)
17. The Executive Director of the Center for Jesuit Education (staff)
18. One Staff from the Center for Environment Justice and Sustainability (CEJS)
19. Two Staff from Marketing and Communications
20. One Staff from Athletics
21. One Staff from Parking and Transportation Services
22. One Staff from Procurement Services
23. Three Staff from Facilities Services (Resource Conservation; Waste Management; Grounds)
Does the institution have at least one sustainability office that includes more than 1 full-time equivalent employee?:
A brief description of each sustainability office:
The mission of the Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability (CEJS) is to inspire care for our communities through the research and practice of social, economic and environmental justice. CEJS seeks to educate and develop leaders for a more just and sustainable world by:
• Engaging students in experiential learning through environmental justice and sustainability projects in Seattle and around the world
• Advancing sustainability literacy and research
• Sponsoring events, conferences and workshops that engage students and scholars with the community and advance public policy
• Promoting Seattle University's environmental programs, climate action, and campus sustainability performance
Full-time equivalent of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
Does the institution have at least one sustainability officer?:
Name and title of each sustainability officer:
Does the institution have a mechanism for broad sustainability coordination for the entire institution?:
A brief description of the activities and substantive accomplishments of the institution-wide coordinating body or officer during the previous three years:
The Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability (CEJS) works in direct collaboration with the President’s Committee for Sustainability (PCS) and the different departments represented on the PCS to implement Seattle University’s Sustainability and Climate Action plans and to promote the integration of sustainability across campus. All CEJS FTE employees are members of the PCS. CEJS reports regularly to and consults the PCS on matters related to sustainability in the academics, campus engagement, operations, planning and administration, and communication.
Substantive campus-wide sustainability accomplishments:
(1) ACADEMICS AND CAMPUS ENGAGEMENT: In 2013, Seattle University invested in the Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability to support excellence within this broad, interdisciplinary area of scholarship. As a result, 28 faculty and 20 student fellows contributed dozens of presentations and publications to their respective fields and received over $250,000 in external grant funding thanks in part to seed-funding from CEJS fellowships. Through its annual fundraising efforts, CEJS has maintained support for two annual student fellowships. In addition, CEJS has sponsored or co-sponsored three international conferences that resulted in two special journal issues of Interdisciplinary Environmental Review and a special issue of the Journal of Management for Global Sustainability. The center has had over 7000 attendees to 98 seminars, workshops and special events. The center has also built new relationships with local and international partners that have led to service-learning and research projects with SU students and faculty as highlighted in our quarterly newsletters. It has also become the hub for SU’s academic and facilities-related sustainability endeavors and continues to enhance our reputation for excellence in these areas.
See: https://www.seattleu.edu/cejs/
See: https://www.seattleu.edu/cejs/newsletter/
(2) CAMPUS SUSTAINABILITY: Winter 2016 and Winter 2018: CEJS compiled and submitted the STARS report for Seattle University obtaining a gold rating in both years.
(3) SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION: Campus-wide commuting survey (Fall 2016 and Winter 2020—a partnership between CEJS, Department of Transportation and Facilities Services): CEJS surveyed the campus community to learn how students and employees commute to campus. With this survey, we looked to (1) gather an idea of how Seattle's population and economic growth may have changed the commuting habits of Seattle University community members; (2) obtain data to estimate SU’s carbon footprint for commuters; (3) identify new sustainability initiatives on campus related to commuting; and (4) support the Department of Transportation in its planning.
(4) SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION: Three EV charging stations were opened to employees and students in Jan. 2020 (partnership between Department of Transportation, CEJS and Facilities Services)
(5) WASTE MINIMIZATION AND DIVERSION: Winter 2017-today: Participation in the annual Recyclemania/Race to Zero Waste competition was started on campus by Facilities and CEJS in Winter 2017. During the competition, SU’s waste management team runs weekly waste audits and uses the results to plan for measures to help improve SU’s recycling and composting efforts; work towards SU’s goal of 90% waste diversion by 2025; and reduce waste-related costs. See: https://www.seattleu.edu/racezerowaste/
(5) CAMPUS AS A LIVING LABORATORY: CEJS has worked with multiple departments to incorporate experiential learning opportunities that support campus sustainability such as a zero waste student leadership program (AY19-20); creation of Food Recovery student leadership team (Winter 2020); development of a SeattleU surplus website for on-campus reuse in effort to minimize waste and purchasing of goods (AY20-21);…
(6) STUDENT PEER-TO-PEER EDUCATION RESIDENCE HALLS: CEJS, in partnership with Housing and Residence Life and the Residence Hall Association, launched the “sustainability representatives in residence Halls” (formerly Ecoreps) peer-to-peer education program (2018). Sustainability representatives fulfill the important role of educating Seattle University’s on-campus residents of sustainable behaviors while communicating the ideas and concerns of the residents they represent with Residence Hall Association and the University’s Administration. See: https://www.seattleu.edu/cejs/what-you-can-do/sustainability-representatives/
(7) CLIMATE ACTION: CEJS created a Climate Positive SU proposal to lead to reduce the university’s emissions with 110%. The proposal was received support by by Student Government of Seattle University, the Graduate Student Council, the Seattle University Student Bar Association, Residence Hall Association Executive Council, and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, the Staff Council and the Academic Assembly. See: https://www.seattleu.edu/media/cejs/files/campus-sustainability/Guide-to-Carbon-Offsets-FINAL_043019.pdf
(8) PROCUREMENT: CEJS and Managed Print Services worked together to institute two initiatives to reduce SU's environmental footprint while reducing expenses (Fall 2020). All printing will use 100% post-consumer-waste recycled paper and will automatically be double-sided. We estimate that this policy will save 380 trees, 400 million BTUs of energy, 290,000 pounds of carbon dioxide, 350,000 gallons of water and $4000 per year.
Read more: https://www.seattleu.edu/cejs/ and https://www.seattleu.edu/cejs/newsletter/
Job title of the sustainability officer position:
Job description for the sustainability officer position:
Job description for the sustainability officer position:
Job title of the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
Job description for the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
Job description for the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
Job title of the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
Job description for the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
Job description for the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainability coordination is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Seattle University also has employees who do sustainability-related work but are not part of a sustainability office or are not considered “sustainability officers.” For example:
--Recycling Coordinator and Compost Technician at SU Facilities (1.0 FTE position)
--Sustainable Operations & Projects Manager at SU Facilities (1.0 FTE position)
--Grounds Manager with SU Facilities (1.0 FTE position).
Seattle University also has employees who do sustainability-related work but are not part of a sustainability office or are not considered “sustainability officers.” For example:
--Recycling Coordinator and Compost Technician at SU Facilities (1.0 FTE position)
--Sustainable Operations & Projects Manager at SU Facilities (1.0 FTE position)
--Grounds Manager with SU Facilities (1.0 FTE position).
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.