Montana State University
EN-10: Community Partnerships

Former president Geoff Gamble created the Campus Sustainability Advisory Council (CSAC) to guide the university in meeting and exceeding the requirements of the University Presidents Climate Commitment while positioning Montana State University as a true leader in energy and resource management, research, education and outreach. The committee is comprised of faculty, students, administration, and community members and meets regularly throughout the year. MSU provides annual funding of $12,500 to be allocated by the council in sustainability oriented projects spanning the three pillars of sustainability.
https://www.montana.edu/csac


The MSU Campus Sustainability Advisory Council (CSAC) was created in 2008 with the following charge:
a. Provide a university framework to coordinate and advise sustainability efforts on a campus-wide basis
b. Advise the University President regarding national, regional, institutional and community-based sustainability efforts.
c. Explore and propose methods to fund campus sustainability initiatives and improvements. Review, analyze and determine funding support for sustainability proposals, including performance measures, progress reporting, etc.
d. Sponsor and guide the development of policies to increase and promote sustainability. As noted in the MSU Vision Statement: sponsor “a comprehensive Campus Sustainability/Energy Policy that includes guidelines for building energy conservation, new construction criteria, water conservation, transportation, purchasing, and recycling, with the goal of minimizing our impact on the environment and develop and implement an educational outreach program and oversee a baseline inventory of campus energy consumption, benchmarked against national and international standards, and establish meaningful timelines and goals to optimize consumption.”
e. Guide the development of a set of sustainability measures/indicators for the campus.
f. Guide the development of a communication strategy to promote, publicize and raise awareness of MSU’s sustainability efforts, benefits and successes among campus, community and statewide constituents.
g. Solicit and support the involvement of students and student organizations relative to sustainability efforts undertaken by the Council.
h. Advocate strategic planning for continued sustainability to MSU governance groups.
i. Guide coordination with the university system and state government sustainability efforts.

MSU Extension is a statewide educational outreach network that applies unbiased, research-based university resources to practical needs identified by the people of Montana in their home communities. Across Montana, there are 92 agents and 32 specialists in Extension who are MSU faculty members, living and working in more than 60 offices and communities statewide. These professionals serve in their local communities and counties, responding to emerging needs of families, producers, businesses and industry.
http://aboutus.msuextension.org/

Streamline Bus Service is a program of the Bozeman Human Resources Development Council that is funded and guided in partnership with MSU, the City of Bozeman, Skyline, Bozeman Deaconess, and community stakeholders including representatives and advocates of vulnerable and underrepresented populations such as the elderly and disabled communities. MSU provides annual funding through student fees that help to maintain Streamline as a fare-free service for the community at large. MSU also provides resources and labor to help promote and manage programs of Streamline, including the Latenight Service available during weekends to provide safe transportation from downtown during weekends. Streamline reduces single-occupant drivers, provides a fare-free transportation option to the community, and extends access to Bozeman's resources. In April of 2021, the MSU student body voted to approve an increase in the student activity fee which will expand Streamline services and add another bus route.
https://streamlinebus.com/

Kristin Blackler, the Director of the MSU Office of Sustainability serves on the Bozeman Sustainability Advisory Board. This position provides and opportunity to formally liaison with the City of Bozeman on sustainability programs and initiatives.

MSU has partnered with the City of Bozeman and Northwestern Energy to create the Bozeman Solar Project. “This project will be able to evaluate long-term sustainable models for the integration of renewable energy while providing the City of Bozeman with data to better understand how they can meet their community climate action plan”. MSU has utilized this project to develop senior design capstone projects associated with these solar pilot projects.

In FY22 the Campus Sustainability Advisory Council became the Campus Sustainability Advisory Committee.