Cal Poly Humboldt
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

The Sustainability Steering Committee (SSC) was formed in 2012 at the request of the Provost and Vice President of Administrative Affairs, with the intent of having representatives from the three colleges represented in addition to representatives from facilities, auxiliaries, and the Office of Sustainability. The goal of the group was to make sustainability initiatives successful on campus by providing diverse expertise and perspectives. The SSC functioned as a working group providing assistance to the Office of Sustainability for large scale projects and/or across division initiatives. In 2015, the SSC became part of the direct working groups of the Climate Action Plan and devoted their time to supporting those efforts.

Members of the SSC included 3 faculty, 1 auxiliary, the head of facilities, and the Sustainability Director as follows: Matthew Johnson, Dept. Chair, Wildlife, (eventually replaced by Kevin Fingerman, Assistant Professor, Environmental Science & Management) Mark Baker, Faculty Coordinator, Environment and Community Graduate Program Kate Lancaster, Associate Professor, School of Business Dave Nakamura, Executive Director of the University Center Traci Ferdolage, Senior Director of Facilities Planning and Design TallChief Comet, Director of the Office of Sustainability

The Office of Sustainability (OS) was created in 2011 to be the campus focal point of sustainability. The OS is responsible for cultivating a culture of sustainability among the University community, comprised of students, faculty and staff by conceptualizing, planning, developing, implementing, managing and overseeing campus wide sustainability programs and initiatives. The office is housed under Administrative Affairs at Humboldt State University, and is further tiered under the purview of Facilities Management. The OS is committed to tracking, reporting and managing progress on a number of sustainability reports and goals, including the Second Nature Climate Commitment, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS), the CSU Sustainability Policy, the campus Climate Action Plan, and others. The OS also works closely with students, and as such, staff members directly oversee and manage the following student groups: the Waste Reduction and Resource Awareness Program (WRRAP), Green Campus, and the Humboldt Energy Independence Fund (HEIF). In addition, staff members in the OS often directly advise the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT) and sit on the CCAT Steering Committee, making recommendations to students on any and all operations and planning matters during monthly check in meetings. Relating to student matters, the OS also works closely with the Resident Sustainability Advisor, assists with student Earth Day Event Planning, and advises other student-led initiatives and projects as needed. Generally, the OS acts as a resource to all areas of campus, (academics, Housing, Dining, student affairs, etc) for on-campus sustainability initiatives. The OS works to consistently identify areas of campus to integrate or improve sustainability operations, working closely and collaboratively with nearly all departments across campus. Over time, the OS hopes to gradually make sustainability operations commonplace across all of campus.

The campus Climate Action Plan was an enormous endeavor undertaken by the OS from 2014 to 2017, requiring collaboration from multiple departments across campus and entailing working group research and production of reports broken into the following subject areas: Energy & Utilities, Research & Curriculum, Solid Waste, Purchasing & Food, and Transportation. The Second Nature Climate Commitment was signed by the campus President in January 2016. Work on this Commitment, in addition to it's resiliency and adaptation components, were delegated to the OS. The commitment requires that the OS partner with local municipal entities. HSU successfully introduced a campus organics composting program in 2016. It is an organics composting project that is solely managed and directed by the campus.

It is expected that a new iteration of the Sustainability Committee will be introduced to campus during Spring 2017. The group will report to the Vice President of Administrative Affairs and the Provost and will take responsibility to advise, govern, and recommend sustainability initiatives across campus.