Occidental College
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
Reporter |
Sustainability
Office Sustainability Coordinator Facilities Management |
Sustainability committee(s)
The charter or mission statement of the committee(s) or a brief description of each committee's purview and activities:
President's Sustainability Advisory Council:
- Review and monitor the College's use of resources, including utilities, materials, food, outside services, contractors, and suppliers
- Consider strategies for increasing campus sustainability in the near and long-term
- Set reduction goals for our greenhouse gas emissions and resource consumption
- Develop and maintain a Sustainability Action Plan, and establish priorities to inform the annual operating and capital budget processes
- Pursue new projects in sustainability
- Implement outreach and communication programs for spreading information and awareness about campus sustainability
- Recommend educational programs that promote sustainability
- Conduct an annual assessment of College sustainability efforts and produce an annual Sustainability Report to transparently communicate progress
- Explore business case for a revolving fund as a funding mechanism for sustainability
- Establish and administer loans from the Green Revolving Fund, manage project implementation, monitor savings, and facilitate loan repayment
Members of each committee, including affiliations and role:
BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
- Three BoT members
FACULTY:
- Bevin Ashenmiller, Economics
- Daniel Snowden-Ifft, Physics
- Shanna Lorenz, Music
STAFF:
- Alison Linder, Assistant Director of Sustainability
- Isa Merel, Assistant Sustainability Coordinator
- David Caldwell, Director of Facilities
- Amos Himmelstein, VP of Finance and COO
- Lindsay Nyquist, Chief of Staff
STUDENTS:
- Annabel Ewing, ASOC Sustainability Fund member
- Lucy Roberts, general student population rep
- Emma Galbraith, Sunrise Oxy member
Sustainability office(s)
A brief description of each sustainability office:
The office consists of:
- Alison Linder, Assistant Director of Sustainability
- Isa Merel, Assistant Sustainability Coordinator
- Will Stark, Data and Communications Student Intern
- Carolina Ramirez, Data and Communications Student Intern
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:
The Office of Sustainability at Occidental College re-opened after being unstaffed for four years in August 2023 with the hiring of not one but two full-time staff members. Since then, the Office has been focused on re-establishing itself within the campus community
The Office of Sustainability has spearheaded the signing and implementation of the Second Nature Climate Commitment, signed in January 2024. Since signing, the Office has completed a baseline GHG inventory and published an accompanying public dashboard.
Additionally, the Office of Sustainabilty led its first "Green Move Out" effort in May 2024, collecting 9,000 pounds of dorm goods that would have otherwise been thrown away.
Notably, the Office of Sustainability also initiated a new college tradition: the Olive Harvest Fest, which celebrates sustainable, climate-tolerant landscapes on campus including olive trees. As a community, we hand-harvest olives and press them into olive oil, highlighting local food production and planet-friendly diets like the Mediterranean Diet.
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.