University of California, Santa Barbara
EN-9: Staff Professional Development and Training

PACES (Program for the Assessment and Certification for the Environment and Sustainability): PACES assesses how departments currently apply ecological practices, raises awareness about campus policies and standard practices, and offers resources to help implement them. The program also connects departments with knowledgeable stakeholders who can provide technical assistance to help implement new practices. PACES interacts with various faculty in various departments.
LabRATS (Laboratory Resources, Advocates, and Teamwork for Sustainability):
LabRATS is a UCSB program dedicated to promoting sustainable practices in the university’s laboratories. When a lab works with the program, LabRATS staff does a thorough analysis of the lab’s usage of water, disposables, machinery, lighting, space, and transportation. LabRATS provides the lab with recommendations for practices and improvements that the lab can undertake. For example, they will provide recommendations for materials that are more recyclable and provide information about more energy efficient lab fixtures. At the end of LabRATS analysis, their findings and recommendations are presented to the laboratory members.

CHESC (California Higher Education Sustainability Conference): The University of California, Santa Barbara organizes the annual California Higher Education Sustainability Conference, a multi-day, inter-campus program that offers workshops and guest speakers that discuss campus sustainability efforts and goals. The 16th California Higher Education Sustainability Conference was hosted at UC Santa Barbara in 2019. The 2020 Conference was Virtual.

Central Coast Sustainability Summit: Staff are invited to attend the annual Central Coast Sustainability Summit where local municipalities and community organizations get together to share best practices and discuss common issues in energy, transportation, waste, and water management. The annual regional sustainability summit is open to all campus staff. The Summit hopes to encourage dialogue that can bring about positive environmental change. The 2020 summit was canceled due to COVID19.

Global Climate Leadership Council Meetings - The global climate leadership council (GCLC) which was formed to advise UC on achieving the goal of carbon neutrality by 2025 holds meetings 3 times a year at different campuses throughout the UC system. Funds from the sustainability budget at UCSB are used to send faculty to these meetings so that they can participate. Meetings were held virtually in Spring of 2020 due to COVID19.

Sustainability Steering Committee - each year we send a staff, and a high level administrator to the annual in-person Sustainability Steering Committee meetings at the UC Office of the President. The Sustainability Steering Committee (SSC) engages decision makers from all ten campuses in developing and implementing a successful systemwide sustainability policy.

Sustainability Officers Retreat & Priority Setting Workshop - Each year we send staff to attend a UC System wide retreat and priority setting and training on campus sustainability. These are held in Blue Oak Rance Reserve near San Jose. The 2020 retreat was canceled due to COVID19.

AASHE Annual Conference - we typically send staff to the annual AASHE Conference each year.

Please note that due to the COVID-19 Pandemic some that all of the above except for the Central Coast Sustainability Summit which was canceled, went virtual in 2020.

Central Coast Summit Info:
https://sustainability.ucsb.edu/2019-central-coast-sustainability-summit

Sustainability is incorporated into a wide variety of other professional development programs. Sustainability coordinators also frequently offer guest lectures in departmental staff meetings and events. Our percentage is approximate, and there is a chance that some individuals may have been double-counted.