Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 57.55
Liaison Michelle Larkins
Submission Date Dec. 20, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Pacific University
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.60 / 4.00 Michelle Larkins
Director of the CSS
Center for a Sustainable Society
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Air & Climate 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Air & Climate?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Air & Climate:
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Buildings  

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Buildings?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Buildings:
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Energy 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Energy?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Energy:
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Food & Dining 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Food & Dining?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Food & Dining:
Multiple students are liaisons to our campus food service provider to work on increasing local food served, relationships with farmers, and streamlining our composting program.

Grounds 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Grounds?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Grounds:
A native plants garden was designed by faculty member Terry O'Day and students. Other project improvements for campus are designed under the guidance of faculty member Deke Gundersen in our Permaculture Science course.

Purchasing 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Purchasing?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Purchasing:
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Transportation 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Transportation?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Transportation:
A bike share program, which operates out of our Outdoor Pursuits program, was created by students as a means to provide sustainable transportation options to students. The university subsidizes public transportation passes.

Waste 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Waste?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Waste:
Students are largely responsible for our on-campus composting program in the residential halls. In the performance year for this audit (AY17/18), we completed our first campus waste audit since 2008, which was a project between the Center for a Sustainability Society, students, and off-campus partners.

Water 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Water?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Water:
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Coordination & Planning 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Coordination & Planning?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Coordination & Planning:
Many of our sustainability initiatives are pieces of cross-campus collaboration, such as our campus food access resource center (a partnership with the CCE) and our multicultural programming (e.g. indigenous heritage events/learning)

Diversity & Affordability 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Diversity & Affordability?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Diversity & Affordability:
Several curricular and co-curricular projects have resulted from the establishment of our Student Multicultural Center, which was founded in the AY 17/18.

Investment & Finance 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Investment & Finance?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Investment & Finance:
We have a 10,000 investment fund, called the Pacific Impact Fund that students administer and analyze. All monetary decisions are theirs, and they are supported by faculty to understand the benefits of a regenerative economy.

Public Engagement 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Public Engagement?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Public Engagement:
Our Tom McCall Center for Civic Engagement, or CCE, works with students, faculty and staff members, and campus groups such as athletic teams and clubs interested in service, awareness campaigns, fundraising, elections and other community activities. Civic engagement can facilitate learning, develop active citizens, and improve communities. Students can gain new insights on academic subjects, information for career exploration, and the opportunity to acquire new skills by serving the community. Working with others, you can experience the power of cooperating to create change. And, giving back to the community through a variety of programs and activities can be deeply rewarding.

Wellbeing & Work 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Wellbeing & Work?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Wellbeing & Work:
Our Campus Wellness Center offers hand-on learning/training for students. Peer Educators are leaders on our campus and play a critical role in promoting the social health and wellbeing of our students. They help with orientation programming and provide workshops throughout the year on healthy relationships, sexual violence prevention and stress management. Examples of available workshops: Let's Talk About Sex and Pizza: Covers healthy sexuality, consent, bystander Intervention, and tips for supporting survivors. Stress and Time Management Workshop: Feeling stressed? Learn some tips to help relieve stress by dancing, coloring and doing some deep breathing. One Love: This workshop explores aspects of healthy relationships and how to identify the warning signs of unhealthy relationships.

Other Impact Areas 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to other areas (e.g. arts & culture or technology)?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to other areas:
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Optional Fields 

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