University of California, Merced
PAE-14: Sustainability in New Employee Orientation

As the first new research campus of the 21st century, the University of California, Merced has an opportunity to demonstrate from the ground up sustainable environmental, economic and social systems that conserve the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Therefore, the New Employee Orientation (NEO) at UC Merced exposes new faculty and staff members to their first encounter with sustainability. NEO is conducted the first Friday of every month and Gene Barrera, Associate Planner from the Physical Planning Design and Construction Department of UC Merced, conducts a 20 minute presentation to new employees explaining the importance of sustainability. Mr. Barrera provides the basic foundations of the sustainability initiatives and explains how they are important to on-going UC Merced Management. In addition, he explains to new employees how they can play an indispensable role into attaining our campus sustainability goals. Additionally, Mr. Barrera explains that the Sustainability Strategic Plan is UC Merced’s roadmap to incorporate sustainability practices throughout the campus. Therefore, after attending to NEO our new faculty and staff members should embrace the opportunities to collaborate into every aspect of the campus Strategic Academic Vision.