Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 74.78
Liaison Daryl Pierson
Submission Date March 5, 2021

STARS v2.2

Portland State University
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Amanda Wolf
Program + Assessment Coordinator
Campus Sustainability Office
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have at least one sustainability committee?:
Yes

The charter or mission statement of the committee(s) or a brief description of each committee's purview and activities:

The College of Urban and Public Affairs (CUPA) Sustainability Committee's mission is to generate actions and support the Dean of CUPA in direction and implementation of sustainability issues at the university level.

Sustainability 2.0 was formed by PSU's interim President to explore the future of Sustainability at PSU and assess the impact of our sustainability work in recent years. The committee will assess current strengths and opportunities in the broad area of sustainability, collaboration across campus units, points of intersection across campus related to sustainability and resilience.


Members of each committee, including affiliations and role:

The College of Urban and Public Affairs (CUPA) Sustainability Committee membership:
Melody Valdini, faculty, Chair
Sahan Dissanayake, faculty
Christa McDermott, faculty
Kim Heavener, staff
Jennifer Martinez, student
Jack Corbett, faculty,
Megan Horst, faculty
Leopoldo Rodriguez, faculty
Ryan Moczulski, staff
Chris Shortell, faculty
Sara Violante, staff
Vivek Shandas, faculty,
Randy Morris, staff
Stephanie Erev, student
Amy Delahanty, student
Elena Sokol, staff, Operations Subcommittee Chair
Kevin Kecskes, faculty
Mika Sakai, staff

Sustainability 2.0 members:
-Jason Podrabsky, Interim VP, Research and Graduate Studies
-Todd Rosenstiel, Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Programs, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
-Fletcher Beaudoin, Director, Institute for Sustainable Solutions
-Rich Corsi, Dean, Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science
-Sy Adler, Interim Dean, College o f Urban and Public Affairs


Does the institution have at least one sustainability office that includes more than 1 full-time equivalent employee?:
Yes

A brief description of each sustainability office:

The Campus Sustainability Office (CSO) is housed within Finance and Administration.

CSO Mission: The Campus Sustainability Office nourishes a growing culture of sustainability within PSU and enables a vibrant living laboratory for exploration and innovation. Through partnership and collaboration, we aim to align policy, practice, and planning with
PSU's sustainability, resilience, equity, and educational goals.

CSO Values: Sustainability is an adaptive, changing process; not a finite destination. We value reciprocal communication, striving both to learn from and respond to the campus community. We believe an equitable and regenerative future requires:
● diverse perspectives
● creative exploration
● bold questions and innovative approaches
● a continuous commitment to community well-being and environmental recovery and stability

CSO Core Functions:
Leads planning efforts to ensure continuous progress towards sustainability and resilience
● Facilitates collaboration and builds capacity to meet campus sustainability goals
● Supports students, faculty + staff through educational and inclusive programming, responsiveness, and engagement
● Provides guidance on best practices for campus operations, planning, and policy
● Benchmarks PSU's sustainability performance

Institute for Sustainable Solutions: We bring people together to protect our future. At the Institute for Sustainable Solutions, our mission is to match the passion and expertise of PSU faculty and students with the experience and needs of community groups, government agencies, and businesses to develop practical solutions for more equitable, livable, sustainable cities and regions.
What We Do:
-We build lasting and effective community partnerships that are the foundation for progress toward a more equitable and sustainable city, region, and world.

-We reach across the university through our network of more than 140 Faculty Fellows to access the multidisciplinary expertise necessary to take on complex sustainability challenges.

-We provide a conduit for students, including more than 400 Student Fellows, to add capacity to our partners while gaining valuable experience working on community challenges.

Student Sustainability Center:
The Student Sustainability Center (SSC) offers transformational hands-on learning experience on campus and in the community. Their mission is to connect sustainability and student life at PSU, and programs are open to any student enrolled at PSU. The SSC is managed by one full-time staff, a graduate assistant and student staff.

SSC Vision: The SSC empowers all students to be keepers of an interdependent, healthy, regenerative world.

SSC Mission: The Student Sustainability Center is an accessible hub that empowers students to become intersectional sustainability leaders by providing experiential learning opportunities and resources.


Full-time equivalent of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
18.38

Does the institution have at least one sustainability officer?:
Yes

Name and title of each sustainability officer:
Jenny McNamara, Campus Sustainability Director; Fletcher Beaudoin, Director of Institute for Sustainable; Solutions Heather Spalding, Student Sustainability Coordinator

Does the institution have a mechanism for broad sustainability coordination for the entire institution?:
Yes

A brief description of the activities and substantive accomplishments of the institution-wide coordinating body or officer during the previous three years:

Committees: Living Lab Team, Dining Services Task Force, Green Revolving Fund Task Force, Waste Reduction Task force.

Offices: Campus Sustainability Office, Student Sustainability Center, Institute for Sustainable Solutions

Officer: Campus Sustainability Director, Director of ISS, and Student Sustainability Coordinator

Accomplishments of various offices:
-Energy Conservation guidelines
-Approval and budgeting to seek LEED O+M certification for at least one campus building (one certified already)
-Development of a carbon offset for air travel
-Tree care plan, IPM plan, Tree Campus USA certification
-Living lab project selection and development
-Sustainable Procurement and Life-Cycle Consideration Policy
-Involvement with all new capital building projects
-Involvement with hiring of high level officers in other departments
-Environmental stewardship statement on all job postings
-Revision of dining services contract for sustainable food procurement
-Revision of custodial contract for green cleaners and other sustainability features
-All Gender Restroom Standards
- Sustainable Neighborhoods Initiative
-Student fellowship program
- Social Sustainability Month, Cultural Sustainability Tour
- Development of Sustainability Scholars program
- Graduate certificate in Sustainable Food Systems
-Graduate certificate in Energy Policy & Management


Job title of the sustainability officer position:
Jenny McNamara, Campus Sustainability Director

Job description for the sustainability officer position:
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Job description for the sustainability officer position:

The Campus Sustainability Director provides campus leadership for institutionalizing sustainable practices in campus operations, policies, and contracts. This position also oversees efforts to benchmark sustainability performance, facilitate collaboration, and provide resources for campus conservation. The Sustainability Director works in conjunction with the Institute of Sustainable Solutions and the Sustainability Leadership Center to connect academic and operational efforts to spur innovative approaches to campus sustainability. In addition, the Sustainability Manager focuses efforts on achieving the goals and objectives the Climate Action Plan.


Job title of the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
Fletcher Beaudoin, Director of the Institute for Sustainable Solutions

Job description for the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
---

Job description for the sustainability officer position (2nd position):

Fletcher works with the ISS staff and PSU faculty, students, and community partners to advance the Institute’s research, academic, and community service agendas and to attract the resources needed to increase the impact of ISS


Job title of the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
Laihha Organna, Interim Coordinator, Student Sustainability Center

Job description for the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
---

Job description for the sustainability officer position (3rd position):

Coordinator, Student Sustainability Center - Coordinates student leadership and engagement activities with emphasis on Enrollment Management and Student Affairs division. Manages student staff, leadership fellows and volunteers. Facilitates progress toward Center's strategic plan, learning outcomes, assessment, and programmatic improvements. Manages initiatives including campus garden education programming, apiary, events, and leadership fellows program. Supports student-related data gathering for sustainability assessments and certifications. Partners with Student Affairs departments to offer opportunities for students and departments to connect with sustainability opportunities.


Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainability coordination is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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