| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 62.69 |
| Liaison | Christina Olsen |
| Submission Date | Aug. 20, 2024 |
British Columbia Institute of Technology
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Sustainability committee(s)
The charter or mission statement of the committee(s) or a brief description of each committee's purview and activities:
The BCIT Green Team was launched in 2007 by three dedicated employees. The team is led by academic and non-academic staff volunteers representing schools and departments across the Institute who engage faculty and staff in sustainability practices and environmental stewardship at BCIT.
The Vision: Employees inspiring change from the ground up.
The Mission: To reduce the Institute’s ecological footprint by engaging BCIT employees through sustainability initiatives that create awareness, participation, and behaviour change.
Members of each committee, including affiliations and role:
Alison Griffin, Liaison Librarian, Renewable Resources and Business Collections Coordinator
Alison MacLeod, Recruitment Specialist, Human Resources
Britta Schmidt, Executive Assistant, Provost and VP Academic
Christina Olsen, Sustainability Manager, Institute Sustainability
Cynthia van Ginkel, Business Development Manager, School of Computing and Academic Studies
Cindy McLellan, Librarian and Archivist
Dave Speers, Energy Manager, Campus Planning and Facilities
Henry Leung, Energy Specialist, Campus Planning and Facilities
Iva Komzakova, Recruitment Specialist, Human Resources
Jessica Stevenson, Administrative Assistant, Safety, Safety, Security and Emergency Management
Joanne Turnbull, Manager of Operations, Facilities & Campus Development
Joe Boyd, Research Liaison, Applied Research Liaison Office
Leesa Watt, Program Assistant, School of Computing and Academic Studies
Mirabelle Rohatgi, Graphic Designer, Creative Services, Marketing & Communications
Rita Bhatti, HR Business Partner, Human Resources
Sarah Campbell, Manager, Sustainability Programing, School of Construction and the Environment
Sarah Cohen, HR Business Partner, Human Resources
Tye Embree, Coordinator, Recreational Services
Wendy Fajloun, Assistant to Associate Dean, School of Computing and Academic Studies
Sustainability office(s)
A brief description of each sustainability office:
At BCIT we define sustainability as “enabling people to lead socially just lives within ecological limits.” The Office of Institute Sustainability is responsible for broad sustainability coordination for the entire Institution. Our commitment to sustainability encompasses everything from advancing the state of practice through education and research, to improving the efficiency of campus operations, to engaging the community across the Institute:
- Within BCIT’s six schools and our Applied Research division, we are pushing the envelope and bringing concepts of sustainability into the classroom.
- From Food Services to Waste Management; from Financial Services to Information Technology Services and everything in between, we are working with our partners to identify existing sustainability initiatives as well as help identify areas of opportunities.
- Engaging the BCIT community through highly effective campaigns and projects that highlight our personal contributions to sustainability. The BCIT community includes: students, faculty, staff, our neighbours, and industry partners – next door and around the world. Together we aim to contribute to the health and well being of our community, the Institute, and the many people and places that we affect.
Full-time equivalent of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
Sustainability officer(s)
Name and title of each sustainability officer:
Institution-wide coordination
A brief description of the activities and substantive accomplishments of the institution-wide coordinating body or officer during the previous three years:
- BCIT’s first STARS report was released in 2021 for which BCIT earned a silver rating.
- AASHE’s recognized BCIT as a top performer in the 2022 and 2023 Sustainable Campus Index Reports.
- Assessed our contributions to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) based on our inaugural STARS report.
- Reported on our contributions to the SDGs through the development and launch of the new “SDGs at BCIT” series of webpages to mark SDG Week Canada 2023.
- BCIT and the BCIT Student Association became signatories to the SDG Accord in 2022, furthering the Institute’s global leadership in the advancement of sustainable cities. A key requirement of the Accord is to openly and annually account for progress and to share BCIT’s experience and learning from implementing the SDGs. Our first SDG Accord report was submitting in 2023.
- Collaborated with BCIT Indigenous Initiatives, exploring opportunities to advance Indigenization through adapting the AASHE STARS framework. Presented on progress to the AASHE Global Conference on Sustainability in Higher Education in 2021.
- Began developing a climate and sustainability risk framework as a part of BCIT’s Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) strategy. This will help BCIT prepare for inbound impacts – such as those from more unpredictable and severe weather events – and better assess the outbound impacts of the Institute’s activities. The framework will also help BCIT keep up with rapidly evolving climate modelling and emerging requirements in climate risk and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting.
- Participated in the Academic Committee for the 2023 Ecocity World Summit, developing programming and chairing sessions for the London, UK event. BCIT previously hosted the Ecocity World Summit in 2019.
Optional Fields
Job description (1st position)
Job description for the sustainability officer position:
Job description for the sustainability officer position:
Job description (2nd position)
Job description for the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
Job description for the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
Job description (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:
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.