Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 51.05
Liaison Juliana Goodlaw-Morris
Submission Date June 30, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

California State University, San Marcos
EN-14: Participation in Public Policy

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Juliana Goodlaw-Morris
Sustainability Manager
Safety, Risk and Sustainability
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Does the institution advocate for public policies that support campus sustainability or that otherwise advance sustainability at the municipal/local level?:
No

A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability at the municipal/local level, including the issues, legislation, and ordinances for or against which the institution has advocated:
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Does the institution advocate for public policies that support campus sustainability or that otherwise advance sustainability at the state/provincial/regional level?:
Yes

A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability at the state/provincial/regional level, including the issues, legislation, and ordinances for or against which the institution has advocated:

The CSU’s Advocacy and State Relations (ASR) team monitor all sustainability legislation that impacts the CSU specifically. It also participates in statewide advocacy on issues like climate change policy, energy efficiency, water resources and other utility issues that impact the operation and physical facilities. ASR and the Chancellor’s Office also work with the Governor’s Office Sustainability Task Force and are members of the Direct Access Customer Coalition and the Alliance for Retail Markets advocacy groups to advocate for the best interest of the CSU on energy and sustainability efforts.

Examples of legislation that the CSU provided input on in 2015 include:

SB 350 (De Leon) which established targets to increase renewable electricity to 50% by 2030. CSU had a WATCH position.

SB 286 (Hertzberg) increases direct access services across the state, including the CSU. CSU has a SUPPORT position on SB 286.

AB 1150 (Levine) authorized public owned utilities to expands Energy Efficiency Partnership Programs to include the CSU and UC. The CSU had a SUPPORT position and ASR worked with UC to advocate for this expansion.

The CSU also partners with the University of California and community colleges to advocate for energy efficiency programs.

The CSU Chancellor’s office collaborates with administrative law agencies like Utilities Commission, Energy Commission, Air Resources Board, Strategic Growth Council, Office of Planning and Research, Cal-Fire, etc. Much of the sustainability advocacy action happens at the agency administrative law level and the CSU Chancellor’s Office provides comment on many of their sustainability-related policies.


Does the institution advocate for public policies that support campus sustainability or that otherwise advance sustainability at the national level?:
Yes

A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability at the national level, including the issues, legislation, and ordinances for or against which the institution has advocated:

Federal and state advocacy efforts must be coordinated and consistent with positions taken by the CSU Board of Trustees (BOT). As such, unless the BOT takes a position, we do not engage in advocacy efforts to support legislation at the local, state or federal level.
One example of recent public policy advocacy at the national level was Chancellor White's stance on supporting undocumented students. This is a critical component of our social justice link to sustainability.

https://www2.calstate.edu/attend/student-services/resources-for-undocumented-students/Documents/Chancellor%20White%20Memorandum%202-22-17%20-%20Immigration.pdf

More can be found here: https://www2.calstate.edu/attend/student-services/resources-for-undocumented-students/Pages/default.aspx


Does the institution advocate for public policies that support campus sustainability or that otherwise advance sustainability at the international level?:
Yes

A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability at the international level, including the issues, legislation, and ordinances for or against which the institution has advocated:

In November 2015, the CSU, and over 300 other universities signed the White House pledge "American Campuses Act on Climate Change" to amplify the voice of the higher education community in advance of the United Nations COP21 climate negotiations in Paris, and to inspire world leaders to commit to action on climate change. In addition to supporting the Paris conference, the CSU committed to reducing carbon emissions from energy use and transportation, increasing on-site generation of clean renewable energy, and utilizing campuses as living laboratories to educate the climate change leaders of the future.


A brief description of other political positions the institution has taken during the previous three years (if applicable):

The university routinely supports and opposes legislation on matters related to higher education.
https://www2.calstate.edu/impact-of-the-csu/government/advocacy-and-state-relations/Pages/default.aspx


A brief description of political donations the institution made during the previous three years (if applicable):

N/A


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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