Saint Michael's College
PA-2: Sustainability Planning

Vision 2020 college strategic plan:
*Goal 5: Advance a culture that values trust and human dignity and promotes diversity and inclusion. Specific objectives: establish Diversity and Inclusion Council, expand campus programming, expand student and employee training programs, establish recruitment targets for students and employees.
Goal 3: Increase and expand programs which enhance mutual respect, collaboration and wellness for the individual and the institution. Specific objectives: establish a well-integrated Wellness Center, establish a robust program for substance-free options for students, train and support faculty and staff in their role as mentors and supporters for student development.

We are at a critical point in our strategic planning at Saint Michael's College. A formal strategic planning process has just ended, and the administration is in the process of articulating a final strategic plan. Given the current president's support of the Center for the Environment as a major defining center at the institution, it is clear that sustainability will be an integral part of the new strategic plan. We will develop measurable objectives in response to such a plan.
The Board of Directors voted in June 2019 to provide funds for the creation of the Center for the Environment, whose goals are the following and include numerous references to sustainability:
*Use natural resources wisely and efficiently to preserve them for future generations
*Integrate environmental, social, human and economic goals in college policies, activities and operating practices
*Provide educational programs to promote understanding of the environmental challenges of our rapidly changing planet
*Provide students with opportunities to develop skills necessary to create change
*Be mindful and appreciate the beauty and limits of the natural world
*Provide leadership and coordination of sustainability efforts on and off campus through the Center for the Environment

The College was an early adopter and signatory of the St. Francis Pledge (https://catholicclimatecovenant.org/program/st-francis-pledge), an initiative in support of the Catholic Climate Covenant. This pledge expects each member of our community to commit to a more sustainable life, and to contribute to actions that will help to address climate change. The list of desirable actions include those on the website below. The decision to sign the pledge was made by the college president at the time, and it was reviewed by the Board of Trustees.

In addition, the Board of Directors approved the establishment of the Center for the Environment, which currently coordinates sustainability efforts at the College. The link above (https://www.smcvt.edu/academics/center-for-the-environment/sustainability/) contains goals, although not measurable at this point, that have been established by the Center.

A previous strategic plan (prior to the "current" Vision 2020) included a sustainability goal as a major theme. Vision 2020 was developed without a reference to environmental sustainability, although it does contain specific goals related to diversity and inclusion, as well as student and employee wellness. A current strategic planning process will likely include sustainability as a major theme, given the centrality of our new Center for the Environment in campus academics and operations.