Edmonds College
PAE-1: Sustainability Coordination

Statement of Purpose The Sustainability Council is a committee of the college that 1) recommends sustainability goals, objectives, and targets for college operations and instruction; 2) facilitates projects to meet those goals; 3) provides resources and promotes awareness; 4) advises the President's Cabinet in advancing the Sustainability Initiative.

Sustainability Researcher, Center for Service Learning Program Manager, Faculty from across all divisions (goal is to have at least one from each division), some members of the Facilities' Department, at least one Vice-President (Instruction and/or Workforce Development), Student Green Team Consultant, member from Student Government, and any other interested faculty, students, and staff.

The sustainability office resides in the office of the Sustainability Researcher who is also the Energy Management Director (chair of an academic program). We have a somewhat distributed approach to handling sustainability work on campus, which works well in some ways and is challenging in others. This office's goal is to bring together the work of other offices on campus to help meet our sustainability goals. Other offices involved include: 1) Center for Service-Learning; 2) Resource Conservation Manager housed in the Facilities office; 3) Equity and Inclusion (currently under re-org with the hiring of the Special Assistant to the President for Equity and Inclusion.)

The position of Energy Management Director and Sustainability Researcher manifests the College’s support of sustainability as an institutional philosophy and its commitment to becoming a carbon-neutral institution. This position has three main categories of focus: Energy Management Program, Curriculum Design, and Campus Operations. Though not exhaustive, the following list contains examples of related responsibilities: 1) Energy Management Program – Work with others to design Energy Management curriculum; teach program classes and advise potential and existing program students; market the program and maintain the College’s energy website; develop outreach with partnered universities for students wanting to continue their education in the field. 2) Curriculum Design – Work with faculty to create sustainability course modules for incorporation into existing professional-technical courses, and assist in developing new courses; research feasibility of new program options and integration within the community; research funding options and present findings to appropriate parties. 3) Campus Operations - Serve as sustainability resource for campus professional-technical departments and programs and surrounding community, educating both forums on issues relating to sustainability and marketing the College’s sustainability efforts; liaison with surrounding communities as an active partner in working towards carbon neutrality within the context of city/county/state/region’ goals; provide periodic update on sustainability efforts to President’s Cabinet, Instructional Leadership, and the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).