University of Massachusetts Amherst
PA-2: Sustainability Planning

A. Curriculum objectives within the Sustainability Integration Plan (SIP) from 2017:
The SIP process from 2017-2018 identified 6 top sustainability priorities for the campus to advance and focus on over the next 5 years. These priorities have been endorsed by the Chancellor and the Chancellor's Leadership Council (All VC's and Deans) and are published online on the Chancellor's Sustainability Advisory Committee (CSAC) web page here: http://www.umass.edu/sustainability/about/chancellors-sustainability-advisory-committee-csac). One of the 6 priorities is "Hand's On Learning" which states in the above linked presentation to the CLC:
"Expand ‘Hands-on Learning’ opportunities:
– Becomes a hallmark of a UMass sustainability degree (and our messaging and brand)
– Student career success focus: e.g., professional development workshops, internships
– Sustainability majors in SES take 3-4 classes involving real world projects"

B. Curriculum objectives within the System-Wide Sustainability Policy from 2016:
The policy document has 10 Principles, each with stated Goals. Principle #10 of this document states: "Academic and Research Programming and Community Engagement – Ensuring Sustainability is part of Academic and Research programming and part of community engagement efforts.
1. Goal - The UMass Sustainability Council will work with their respective campus curriculum governance units to identify where Academic and Research Programming and Community Engagement involving Sustainability already exists, and to explore more formal incorporation into core curriculum and identified learning outcomes."

See page 5 (905.5) in policy document here: https://www.umassp.edu/sites/umassp.edu/files/content/T16-055-Sustainability%20Policy_12.9.16.pdf.
See page 905.22 for a metric and other text for this principle and goal.

C. Curriculum objectives within the Climate Action Plan (v2.0) from 2012:
Pg. 6-7
"1. EDUCATION/ENGAGEMENT: Continue integrating and expanding sustainability across the
curriculum and campus life
• Extend sustainability learning outcome requirements5 to a majority of majors and degrees.
• Offer more sustainability focused and related academic courses.
• Increase student engagement in residence halls and student organization activities and increase faculty and staff engagement in classroom and administrative offices.
• Conduct a bi-annual assessment of sustainability literacy of all students, focusing the assessment on knowledge of topics, and not merely on values or beliefs.
• Renew the ACUPCC: Reaffirm leadership and recommit the University to the goals within the commitment text.
• Restructure and grow EPAC to include members from University Relations, Budget office, Student Affairs and Residence Life, Diversity Office, Alumni & Development, and Athletics.
• Place a spotlight on research that is contributing to a just and sustainable future; begin tracking the financial commitment to sustainability related research to highlight how it can potentially offset campus emissions."

Pg.35
"Increase number of sustainability-related courses and learning outcomes:
Identifying courses is important to draw student interest, but it’s equally important to work with faculty to develop more sustainability courses and learning outcomes. In the STARS Report, UMass Amherst did not excel in the percentage of sustainability-related courses offered (Credit ER-7), receiving 0.71 out of 10 possible credits. UMass has over 4,650 courses and about 100 courses (~2%) were considered sustainability-related. The committee will work to increase this number to 7.5% to 15% of all courses in order to receive 2.5 to 5 points for this credit by 2013. It is important that the institution’s students graduate from programs that include sustainability as a required learning outcome or include multiple learning outcomes during some point in their academic experience. UMass Amherst scored very low in this area of the STARS report (Credit ER-9)24, receiving 1.48 points out of 10. Twenty eight degree programs have these learning outcomes, covering 1,000 of more than 6,400 total UMass graduates in 2011. It will be crucial to expand the involvement of faculty in the programs not yet identified in order to have sustainable learning outcomes to score higher on the STARS Report and more importantly the guarantee of reaching more students before they graduate."

A. Stakeholder engagement objectives within the Sustainability Integration Plan (SIP) from 2017:

The SIP process itself was a stakeholder engagement process (it involved interviewing stakeholders across campus and surveying students and interviewing student focus groups).

The SIP process from 2017-2018 identified 6 top sustainability priorities for the campus to advance and focus on over the next 5 years. These priorities have been endorsed by the Chancellor and the Chancellor's Leadership Council (All VC's and Deans) and are published online on the Chancellor's Sustainability Advisory Committee (CSAC) web page here: http://www.umass.edu/sustainability/about/chancellors-sustainability-advisory-committee-csac. In the planning of two of the priorities, producing a Carbon Reduction Plan and producing a Resiliency Plan, include the requirement to, “…design [a] stakeholder engagement plan process…”. These processes are planned to be rolled out by the end of 2020.

B. Curriculum objectives within the Climate Action Plan (v2.0) from 2012:
Pg. 6-7
"1. EDUCATION/ENGAGEMENT:
• Increase student engagement in residence halls and student organization activities and increase faculty and staff engagement in classroom and administrative offices.
• Conduct a bi-annual assessment of sustainability literacy of all students, focusing the assessment on knowledge of topics, and not merely on values or beliefs.
• Restructure and grow EPAC to include members from University Relations, Budget office, Student Affairs and Residence Life, Diversity Office, Alumni & Development, and Athletics.

There are a number of operations related goals explicitly set for the campus and entire UMass System from the UMass [System] Sustainability Policy:
"Goal - Complete a sustainability plan with a focus on energy projects at each
campus, or update any existing plans, to align with the principles and goals outlined in this policy in order to adequately and efficiently understand the energy needs and potential sustainability projects on each campus."

"Goal - Procure a defined amount of annual electricity consumption through renewable and clean energy sources as identified in Goal 1.1 as being necessary to achieve carbon reduction commitments and meet sustainability objectives."

"Goal - Reduce energy consumption and determine goals consistent with capital investments and annual programs implemented in support of energy consumption reduction, as identified in Goal 1.1 as being necessary to achieve carbon reduction commitments and meet sustainability objectives."

"Goal - Build climate resilience and preparedness standards into the University’s
capital planning process, emergency management and business continuity planning."

"Goal - Any new construction must meet the MA Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) Plus green building standards, (LEED most current
version) or other standards as identified in Goal 1.1 as being necessary to achieve
carbon reduction commitments and meet sustainability objectives, and continue to
research and employ improved sustainable building practices."

"Goal - Reduce vehicle fuel consumption of the University vehicle fleet through
promoting the use of public transportation, reducing the number of single
occupancy vehicles and increasing the use of other alternative fuel transportation
for faculty, staff, and students."

"Goal 1 Employ strategies around preventative measures in waste diversion to
promote source reduction, re-use and recycling of used materials."

"Goal - Establish Environmentally-Preferable Products Procurement Program (EPP)
and continue to implement annual procurement goals to move toward alignment
with the standards of the Environmental Purchasing Advisory Council wherever
appropriate and consistent with available funding."

"Goal - Strive for each campus food service operation to procure sustainable food
products while maintaining accessibility and affordability for all students and
campus patrons."

"Goal - Reduce potable water usage and determine goals consistent with capital
investments and annual programs implemented in support of reducing potable
water."

We answered "yes" to the Second Nature’s Carbon Commitment (formerly known as the ACUPCC), Resilience Commitment, and/or integrated Climate Commitment because the institution was a Carbon Commitment signatory during the reporting timeframe of this STARS report during the 2018-2019 academic and fiscal year.

Sustainability is a key "Value" (1 of 6) in the UMass Strategic Plan.

"Integrity and Stewardship. As a community, we set high standards for personal responsibility and institutional integrity, and hold ourselves accountable in managing institutional resources and for advancing sustainability of our planet."

https://www.umass.edu/strategicplan/strategic-plan