Portland Community College
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Stephania
Fregosi Sustainability Analyst Academic Affairs |
1.1 Coordinating committee, officer, or office for sustainability
Narrative and/or website URL providing an overview of the institution’s sustainability committees:
The Sustainability Leadership Council (SLC) works in partnership across Portland Community College and within the community to steer and implement PCC’s Climate Action Plan and uphold the college’s commitment to sustainability. PCC takes a holistic approach towards Climate Action, integrating adaptation and mitigation with racial equity and social justice to create a thriving campus community. The SLC’s work involves creating culturally responsive and equity-focused programming including student-centered curricular and co-curricular offerings. The SLC supports a just transition through green workforce development and models innovative pathways towards carbon neutral operations to build a resilient campus community.
PCC’s Sustainability Practices and Resources for Curriculum (SPARC) Council is primarily a volunteer council that oversees the integration of sustainability into PCC’s curriculum across all disciplines (the chairs are paid). SPARC members include staff, administrators, and instructors from across the disciplines. SPARC facilitates sharing, design and development of all curriculum between faculty. This is done through workshops, meetings and conferences (see below for events). It also serves as an advisory board for sustainability-related academic curricular and program development. As part of this latter work, SPARC coordinates the Student Sustainability Focus Award.
Does the institution have one or more sustainability officers?:
Narrative and/or website URL providing an overview of the institution’s sustainability officers:
Information about the District Sustainability Team and other sustainability staff can be found on our About Us page.
At PCC we’re all in this together. Issues of environmental degradation, inequity, and economic disparity impact us all. That’s why PCC takes a dynamic, collaborative approach to sustainability, weaving triple-bottom line thinking throughout our strategic planning, campus operations, student initiatives, and academics.
PCC recognizes the role that higher education plays in leading the charge towards a sustainable future and formally adopted the PCC Board of Directors Sustainable Use of Resources Policy (B-707) in 2006. Since then, the college has strengthened its commitments to sustainability, developed three iterations of its Climate Action Plan and have taken significant strides to reduce its environmental footprint and promote education for sustainable development.
Does the institution have a sustainability office that includes more than one full-time equivalent employee?:
Description of each sustainability office:
Overview PCC’s District Sustainability Office acts as a hub to institutionalize sustainability, in line with the College’s mission and Board policy, across three major areas: Operationalizing Sustainability, Outreach & Education, and Community Impact. PCC’s District Sustainability Office *Is responsible for fulfilling PCC’s sustainability promises to our students, staff, faculty, and the community through policy, programs, outreach, and education; *Serves as a hub to connect faculty, staff, and students with administration; *Works across silos on complex issues that create systemic changes; *Develops programs that align our operational practices with our mission; and, *Collaborates with the greater Portland sustainability community to ensure local climate resilience and work towards an equitable future for the Pacific Northwest.
The Sustainability Office is part of the Teaching & Learning Support division under Academic Affairs.
Full-time equivalent of people employed in the sustainability offices:
Is at least one of the institution’s sustainability committees, officers, or offices charged with coordinating various campus constituencies in the advancement of sustainability across the entire institution?:
Narrative outlining the activities and substantive accomplishments of the institution-wide coordinating body or officer during the previous three years:
- Joined Academic Affairs (leaving Facilities Management Services)
- Lead the charge to update the Sustainability Charter, with the inclusion of a Diversity Leadership Statement
- Strengthened the programming with the Sustainability and Basic Needs program run by Student Life
- Completed our 3rd iteration of our Climate Action Plan (2021)
- Led the fleet electrification program as part of the implementation of our 2021 Climate Action Plan, which has led to the purchase of six? EV’s to date with more to come
- Continued to participated in two Higher Education Benchmarking Initiative (2022)
- Supported the Energy Manager in making our energy data ready for statewide building reporting standard legislation
- Created sustainable procurement guidelines
- Updated the green cleaning plan
- Supported the development of multiple green buildings and other projects in Planning & Capital Projects
- Continued to support the hosting of the Washington-Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conferences (Bellingham, 2024)
- Is working to host and plan the 2025 Washington-Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conference (WOHESC)
- Made numerous presentations at conferences and to other colleagues in the higher education and public sectors on PCC’s 2021 Climate Action Plan around the creation and inclusion of an equity framework into the planning process and plan
- Provided feedback and support to AASHE and Second Nature to better understand the needs of community colleges and around issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and social justice
- Provided continual support for faculty interested in using our 2021 Climate Action plan in curriculum efforts
- Hosted several successful Earth Week events, both on-line and in-person
- Piloted new durables program during in-service
The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following figure:
Optional documentation
potential to add Environmental Center coordinator, Recycling Coordinator, Sustainability Analyst, etc.
Additional documentation for this credit:
Job descriptions
Associate Dean of Sustainability Strategies - file attached
Copy of the job description for the institution’s sustainability officer (1st position):
Text of the job description for the institution’s sustainability officer (2nd position):
Sustainabilty Coordinator - file attached
Copy of the job description for the institution’s sustainability officer (2nd position):
Text of the job description for the institution’s sustainability officer (3rd position):
Sustainability Analyst - file attached
Copy of the job description for the institution’s sustainability officer (3rd position):
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