Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.95
Liaison Daryl Pierson
Submission Date June 30, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Portland State University
OP-17: Guidelines for Business Partners

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 1.00 Molly Bressers
Program & Outreach Coordinator
Campus Sustainability Office
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How many of the institution’s business partners are covered by policies, guidelines and/or agreements that require adherence to minimum environmental standards?:
Some

How many of the institution’s business partners are covered by policies, guidelines and/or agreements that require adherence to minimum standards governing employee wages, benefits, working conditions and rights?:
Some

A copy of the policies, guidelines, and/or agreements with the institution's business partners (or a representative sample):
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The policies, guidelines, and/or agreements with the institution's business partners (or a representative sample):

Environmental:
PSU's Sustainable Procurement and Lifecycle Considerations Policy states that:
It is the policy of Portland State University to include sustainability as a key consideration in its public contracting programs. The University strives to minimize the adverse life cycle effects of product or service production, transport, use, and final disposition and consider the inherent social, environmental, and economic impacts of procurement decisions and activities.

To institutionalize this policy and our commitment to sustainability in solicitations, "Sustainability shall be considered in every purchase of goods and services made by Portland State. When a competitive RFP is issued for materials (and services where applicable), a minimum of 15% of available points of the selection criteria shall be allotted to sustainability. Criteria may include, but is not limited to: third party certifications, sustainable product attributes, demonstrated commitment to sustainability in business practices, corporate social responsibility, and life cycle impacts of proposed goods or services.
http://www.pdx.edu/ogc/sites/www.pdx.edu.ogc/files/Sustainable%20Procurement%20and%20Life%20Cycle%20Consideration%20Policy%20FINAL_1-20-16.pdf

Our current dining services contract includes Exhibit E with several sustainability requirements and improvement goals around local & organic food purchasing, waste prevention, and conservation practices within the dining contractor's facilities.

Our current custodial contract includes minimum requirements for green cleaning product and sustainable janitorial products purchasing (in compliance with LEED requirements) as well a requirement for evidence of environmental policy within the company.
(Language from both contracts are included within other sections of this report.)

Most of our contracts also include our PSU General Conditions which have provisions for Environmental Clean-Up; Environmental Contamination; Protection of Workers, Property and the Public; Compliance with Government Regulations (including EPA, DEA and OSHA).

Social:
We call out the following policies in all of our contracts: Professional Standards of Conduct; Equal Opportunity; and Prohibited Discrimination and Harrassment. We include a clause regarding Equity and Diversity which requires contractors/consultants to make good faith effort to subcontract, purchase materials, or establish joint ventures with minority or women-owned, and Emerging Small Businesses. And once again, the PSU General Conditions also reiterate these policies, intentions, and provisions.

PSU's Equity in Contracting Policy states that:
It is the policy of Portland State University to provide equity and inclusion in its public contracting programs. All qualified businesses shall have equal access to University contracts and purchases.
It directs that diversity and equity be included in the evaluation criteria for all formal RFP
solicitations, which shall be allotted a minimum of 15 percent of available points. https://www.pdx.edu/ogc/sites/www.pdx.edu.ogc/files/Equity_in_Contracting_Policy_(Final%205.14.14).pdf


A brief description of programs and strategies institution has implemented to ensure that the guidelines are followed, including a brief description of instances when the guidelines have changed purchasing behavior, if applicable:

Both our dining service and custodial contractors are required to provide tracking of purchasing performance around sustainability in their areas (food and cleaning/janitorial products). These requirements pressure the contractors to improve their sustainability performance, and are helping to both change the supply chains and employees' awareness.

Both the Sustainable Procurement and Equity in Contracting policies require RFP's to have a minimum of 15% of total scored points allocated to each subject, and this is shifting the way contractors are selected.


The website URL where information about the institution’s guidelines for its business partners is available:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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