Gonzaga University
PA-2: Sustainability Planning

In assessing the current sustainability standards within the curriculum, there is a survey (March 2016), which is focusing on establishing a baseline for sustainability courses in the curriculum. This work follows a survey sent out in 2013 that was trying to establish similar classification goals.

In addition to the above survey, the university's Climate Action Plan's 1st Goal focuses on sustainability objectives in academics. The following strategies were included in the Climate Action Plan, along with the intended outcomes/goals.

-Strategy 1.1: Assess and Evaluate Sustainability in the Curriculum; Outcome: Appropriate benchmarks for sustainability in curriculum and for student eco-literacy
-Strategy 1.2: Deepen Sustainability Across the Curriculum; Outcome: Integration of sustainability concepts and issues throughout the curriculum.
-Strategy 1.3: Support Creation of a Sustainable Business Concentration within the School of Business Administration. (Completed)
-Strategy 1.4: Increase students' engagement with faculty research on sustainability; Outcome: Increased faculty/student sustainability research; effective publication of research opportunities.

Out of these goals came The Cataldo Project. The Cataldo Project began its first cohort in 2016 and, there has been an addition of sustainability business concentration in the Business Department (2014), a hiring of a Director of Sustainability and the creation of an Office of Sustainability (summer 2014), and plans to take a “slow way forward” approach to develop a more ecologically minded curriculum.

Goal 2 of the University's Climate Action Plan focuses on co-curricular and engagement efforts and goals for the university. These include the following strategies and outcomes.
-Strategy 2.1: Create a "Green Fund" to support student-generated sustainability initiatives. (Completed)
-Strategy 2.2: Expand Sustainability Related Service-Learning and Place-Based Learning; Outcome: Sustainability annual growth in internal and external sustainability partnerships.
-Strategy 2.3: Incorporating Sustainability Concepts and Practices into New Student Orientation; Outcome: Continuously increased awareness of and engagement with sustainability concepts and practices by all students.

Gonzaga is committed to reducing emissions by at least 20% by 2020 and by at
least 50% by 2035 from 2009 levels. By 2050 the University intends to achieve climate neutrality. Gonzaga will reduce natural gas emissions by 10% by 2020, and 25% by 2035 through energy efficiency and help from the Green Fund. A goal of 3% reductions in fleet-related emissions per-year (for a total of 24% by 2020) will be achieved through increased energy efficiency and a University-wide vehicle policy. Electricity efficiency and conservation strategies aim for a 25% reduction in electricity use by 2035 through upgrades to building exteriors, retro-commissioning, lighting upgrades, plumbing and HVAC improvements.

Electricity mitigation strategies aim for a 25% reduction in electricity use by 2035 through upgrades to building exteriors, retro-commissioning, lighting upgrades, plumbing and HVAC improvements.

This stems from Goal 3 of Gonzaga's Climate Action Plan.

Gonzaga University published in December 2018 a new Socially Responsible Investment plan to help create a clear way forward in addressing SRI. The plan established the following strategies and goals:

-Develop specific positive impact investment objectives and allocate a portion of the endowment toward such investments. The Investment Committee will target approximately $10 million towards new investments in funds or companies that reduce carbon emissions and greenhouse gases, promote social responsibility, and seek solutions for climate change.
-Measure and evaluate current and prospective fund investments, as well as the underlying companies within funds, against socially responsible investing criteria. All equity funds, as well as the underlying company holdings within each equity fund, will be evaluated using new socially responsible investing criteria designed to quantitatively and qualitatively measure environmental and social risks and opportunities. Such measurement will compliment other relevant information used by the Investment Committee to make investment decisions. Those equity managers who measure poorly using this new criteria are less likely to be a component of the Gonzaga endowment investment portfolio moving forward.
-Communicate to investment managers the University’s view on the importance of socially responsible investing. On an annual basis, formally convey to all of the investment managers within Gonzaga’s endowment investment portfolio our mission and the importance we place, as a University, on having our values reflected in our investments. This effort builds awareness among our investment managers and promotes Gonzaga’s environmental and social concerns.
-Create transparency in how the Investment Committee is fulfilling its commitment to socially responsible investing. Deliver an annual report of the actions taken by the Investment Committee in fulfilling socially responsible investing responsibilities. Provide opportunities for members of the Gonzaga community to review and offer feedback, observations and suggestions.
-Revise the Endowment Investment Policy where needed to add clarity. Make necessary revisions to the Endowment Investment Policy to incorporate these recommendations.

In keeping with our mission, Gonzaga University takes seriously our solemn responsibility to safeguard the integrity of our natural world for present and future generations and is committed to being a leader in responsible environmental stewardship.

Sustainable Development is defined in a Jesuit context as, “a commitment to respect and care for the community of life. It is economic growth that promotes the values of human rights, care for the natural world, and the striving for the common good of the whole earth community, especially the poor and most vulnerable. It involves sustaining the present generation without imposing long-term costs or penalties on future generations. It replaces the use of non-renewable resources with renewable ones and reduces the consumption of all resources. It entails reuse, recovery, and recycling wherever possible; and replenishment or restoration of the natural balances affected by our actions. It implies sound life-cycle planning and economics—economics that truly reflect the environmental and human costs of our technologies and decisions. Sustainable development will succeed only if it expands to include a vision of sustainable communities which hold all creation as sacred.