Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 79.39
Liaison Yolanda Cieters
Submission Date March 5, 2021

STARS v2.2

Seattle University
EN-11: Inter-Campus Collaboration

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Yolanda Cieters
Associate Director
CEJS
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Is the institution currently a member of a national or international higher education sustainability network?:
Yes

The name of the national or international sustainability network(s):

AASHE: Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education


Does the institution actively participate in a regional, state/provincial, or local higher education sustainability network?:
Yes

The name of the regional, state/provincial or local sustainability network(s):

WAHESC: Washington Higher Education Sustainability Coalition


Has the institution presented at a higher education sustainability conference during the previous year?:
Yes

A list or brief description of the conference(s) and presentation(s):

--2020 WOHESC conference: Dr. Phillip Thompson (Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering; Director, Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability) presented at the Washington and Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conference, Eugene, OR. Session title: "Aquaponics Systems for Sustainable Agriculture.”

--2020 WAHESC Earth Day virtual summit: "Taking Action for Climate Solutions". Two presentations by SU students:
• Environmental Racism and the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Hanna-Marie Lucero, SU student
• Where are the leftovers? Environmental and social impacts of food waste. Taylor McKenzie and Dae Durisko, SU students
https://wahesc12.wixsite.com/website/blank-page

--2021 WOHESC virtual conference: Three sessions presentations by Seattle University:
• Investing in Sustainability: How to Leverage Your Institution's Endowment: Dr. Wes Lauer (Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Seattle University) and Dr Valentina Zamora (Associate Professor, Accounting, Seattle University)
• Divesting From Fossil Fuels And Investing In A Just Future: Emily Nilsen and Keira Cruickshank, Sustainable Student Action Members, Seattle University
• Environmental and Social Justice Impacts of our Food Choices and Food Waste: Taylor McKenzie, student, Seattle University
https://www.wohesc.org/program/


Has the institution submitted a case study during the previous year to an external higher education sustainability resource center or awards program?:
No

A list or brief description of the sustainability resource center or awards program and submission(s):
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Has the institution had employees or students serving on a board or committee of a sustainability network or conference during the previous three years?:
Yes

A list or brief description of the board or committee appointment(s):

--SU’s Sustainability Manager served on the WAHESC 2019 Conference Planning Committee (the conference took place at the University of Washington).

--SU's Sustainable Operations & Projects Manager (SU Facilities) serves on the Board of the Colleges & Universities Recycling Coalition

--The SU Chemical Hygiene and Biosafety Officer has been appointed to other organizations' EHS committees: She serves on two committees for the Pacific Northwest Research Institute. Her EHS advisement services include all areas of environmental, health and safety including environmental stewardship topics related to waste management, procurement, recycling, research safety and risk mitigation.


Does the institution have an ongoing mentoring relationship with another institution through which it assists the institution with its sustainability reporting and/or the development of its sustainability program?:
Yes

A brief description of the mentoring relationship and activities:

The SU Chemical Hygiene and Biosafety Officer continues to provide support to the University of Washington Medical Center Environment of Care Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Subcommittee. Her efforts support the annual progress report developed for and submitted to Practice Greenhealth. This effort reassesses UWMC’s sustainability performance and identifies new areas of opportunity. This is an annual gap analyses that is used to set ambitious new goals for the organization. The UWMC has been recognized for its commitment to creating a positive, sustainable change regionally and nationally since 2002, and has been recognized as a top healthcare operation for multiple consecutive years.

--SU's Sustainability Manager initiated a monthly "STARS Q&A" session with other sustainability professionals from WAHESC schools who are working on the STARS report (AY2020-2021). At the sessions we review credits and help answer reporting questions or issues.


Has the institution had employees or students serving as peer reviewers of another institution’s sustainability data and/or STARS submission during the previous three years?:
Yes

A brief description of the peer review activities:

The SU Chemical Hygiene and Biosafety Officer continues to provide support to the University of Washington Medical Center Environment of Care Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Subcommittee. Her efforts support the annual progress report developed for and submitted to Practice Greenhealth. This effort reassesses UWMC’s sustainability performance and identifies new areas of opportunity. This is an annual gap analyses that is used to set ambitious new goals for the organization. The UWMC has been recognized for its commitment to creating a positive, sustainable change regionally and nationally since 2002, and has been recognized as a top healthcare operation for multiple consecutive years.


A brief description of other inter-campus collaborative efforts around sustainability during the previous year :

In 2018 and 2019 , the Chemical Hygiene and Biosafety Officer hosted two Professional Development seminars for regional EHS professionals. In 2018 the guest speaker was Mr. Sean Kaufman, Safer Behaviors. In 2019 the guest speaker was Dr. Amy Orders, NCSU. Both sessions we designed to expand the EHS knowledge base regionally and introduce small EHS programs to environmental resources that benefit their organizations (regulatory, environmental health, stewardship and sustainability) and support measuring environmental performance. The emphasis for these two speakers was behavior based safety and Competencies development.

In 2019 the Chemical Hygiene and Biosafety Officer present a professional development session at the CSHEMA Annual conference in Indiana. The topic was Biosafety Program Development. One of the key tools shared in the session was the waste flow diagram and a brief discussion of cross-over opportunities.


Website URL where information about the institution’s inter-campus collaborations 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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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.