Susquehanna University
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

FUNCTION: To initiate, support, promote, and assess campus sustainability programs, with the goals of energy conservation, waste and pollution reduction, the purchase of locally and sustainably produced goods, and the integration of sustainability into the academic curriculum. To develop and recommend institutional policies and practices that advance campus sustainability. To offer educational programs on sustainability to campus and community members.

MEMBERSHIP: Five members of the Faculty, as follows: one elected by and from the Sigmund Weis School of Business, one elected by and from Voting Groups 1 and 3 of the School of Arts and Sciences, one elected by and from Voting Groups 2 and 4 of the School of Arts and Sciences, and two elected at large; the Vice President for Finance and Administration and CCOO; the Chief Information Officer; the Director of Facilities Management or designee; the Food Service Director or designee; the Director of Residence Life or designee; the Director of the Center for Environmental Education and Research; the Sustainability Coordinator; and two students.

We employ one full-time Sustainability Coordinator who reports to the Director of the Center for Environmental Education and Research (CEER).

The Office of Sustainability acts as a central catalyst for sustainability efforts across campus. In the past three years the Office of Sustainability has infused sustainability into the curriculum through teaching sustainability courses such as MGMT 373 Managing for Sustainability and ENST 505 Community Project (Environmental Studies capstone course), guest speaking in first year seminar courses, and creating sustainability projects for courses such as EENV 360 Geographic Info Systems and COMM 314 PR Writing and Campaigns. The Office of Sustainability hosts educational events throughout the year focusing on different sustainability challenges and encourages students to get involved on campus and off. This includes programs such as our annual Sustainable Food Fair, EcoChallenge, Earth Month, put on a student-led performance of sustainability plays written about SU, and activism related events in the fall of 2019 like bringing activist George Lakey to campus. In Academic Year 19-20 our programming reached 1,400 participants and in 18-19, our participation reached 1,900 participants. We've created an on-campus thrift store called Hawk Stuff which reduces landfill contributions from move-out. We hire 8 students a year, called Sustainability Project Leaders to help manage the workload and to be a point of communication between the Office of Sustainability and the student body. We've partnered with a local farmer and have reduced our food waste sent to the landfill by 60% in the 19-20 school year. We completed construction on a 3 MW solar array on campus in the summer of 2018 and have been using a flock of sheep from a local sheep farmer to maintain the grass within the solar array. In the winter of 19-20 we launched the EcoHawk Office Program, a green office certification program, to further encourage offices and departments to play a role in sustainability. Our Advancement Office has piloted the program and we've received funding from Enterprise Rentals to fund the program so offices/departments can offset costs for making sustainable changes. Marketing and communication have largely increased over the past three years with the launch of a weekly newsletter, social media accounts, and a new website theginkgo.net to highlight in-depth sustainability stories. We've greatly enhanced our Terracycle program so now every building (with the exception for a few residence halls) on campus has at least one Terracycle box in it. The Terracycle program is now an integral part of our recycling regime. Sustainability has been incorporated into SU's study abroad program through trainings for students who are spending a semester abroad, and for faculty and staff who lead short study abroad programs. The UN SDGs are being incorporated into every short study abroad program and a sustainability themed study abroad trip to Singapore has been created (postponed to Winter 2020 due to COVID 19).

University Committee on Sustainability function and membership from the 2019-20 Susquehanna University Faculty Handbook