University of the Pacific
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

The Sustainability Committee is an administrative standing committee with faculty membership and charged to advise the President on the development of strategies and policies that contribute to the practice and understanding of sustainability across the University.

To continuously improve campus performance on matters of sustainability the Sustainability Committee will:

- advise on establishing and integrating sustainability strategies across the institution;
- recommend policy, institutional goals and resource allocation;
- monitor related indicators and progress through assessment and benchmarking activities;
- encourage the alignment and expansion of education practices, teaching and learning, scholarship, and co-curricular activities.

The Committee consists of no more than 14 voting members and is not to exceed 16 total members. Voting members consist of:

- Sustainability Director;
- 2 students, undergraduate or graduate nominated by respective student government bodies;
- 3 faculty, nominated by Academic Council;
- At least one representative from each campus;
- At least one representative from the following areas: Physical Plant, Student Life, IT, University Development and Alumni Relations, Procurement, Athletics

Members can fulfill 2 roles, for example a faculty member from the San Francisco campus would fulfill the role of faculty and campus representative. The Garden Program Director and Sustainability Coordinator serve as ex-officio, non-voting members and the Sustainability Director is an ex-officio, voting member. Student members serve one-year terms; all other members serve three-year staggered terms. All members are appointed by the President. The Sustainability Director and a faculty member serve as co-chairs.

AY2023-2024

Laura Rademacher: Co-Chair. Faculty, College of the Pacific, Dept. Geological and Environmental Science
David Ojcius: Faculty, Dugoni School of Dentistry, Office of Research and Scholarship
Xander Beck: Undergraduate student representative, ASUOP
Andrew McGowan: Graduate student representative, SBA
Toby Rose: Facilities, Senior Superintendent
Josh O'Connor: Student Life, Assistant Vice President of Student Life
Jessica Bane: Pacific Technology, Executive Assistant to Chief Technology Officer
Carrie Fox-Buttram: University Development/Alumni Relations, Director Event Services
Ronda Marr: Director Procurement Services
Cooper Gill: Athletics, Assistant Director Athletic Facilities Operations
Lynne LoPresto: Faculty, Sacramento representative. School of Health Sciences, Assistant Clinical Professor
Eve Cuny: San Francisco campus representative. Dugoni School of Dentistry, Executive Associate Dean
Jessica Bilecki: Sustainability Director, Co-Chair
Kelsey Smith: Sustainability Engagement Manager

Sustainability has three full-time staff and about 8-10 student interns working 6-12 hours a week. Full time staff include: Sustainability Director, Sustainability Engagement Manager; Garden Coordinator.

Pacific's Sustainability office consists of a Sustainability Director, Sustainability Engagement Manager, and Garden Coordinator. Staff are resources for all three campuses and initiatives span all campuses. Over the past three years, the Sustaining Pacific office has continued to coordinate programing, annual events and regular outreach. These activities include: Green Move In/Move Out program, Pacific Green Team, Pacific Kitchen Co-op, Garden Program, Food Pantry, monthly newsletter, social media and tabling.

In the last three years, office staff have implemented and coordinated new initiatives that span operations, programs and strategic, intentional partner engagement.

Operational initiatives include:
-Completed 5 MW solar installation
-Began operating 20 electric vehicle charging stations
-Implemented a number of transportation initiatives including Zipcar, a Pacific Shuttle and bus pass pilot.
-Began collecting organics from residential campus neighborhoods
-Committed to conducting an all campus investment grade audit to identify future energy conservation measures
-Completed a greenhouse gas inventory
-Implemented an online surplus program

Programmatic initiatives include:
-Established the Food Resource Center. Adjacent to the Ted & Chris Robb Garden, it is a full-service stop for food, gardening and food system resources. The space houses the food pantry, a student work and lounge space, the garden coordinator office and a library focused on all things food: food system issues, how to grow food more sustainably and how to cook it.
-Launched the Green Office Program
-Revitalized the Kitchen Co-op, moving to a new location and partnering with Residential Life
-Launched an office volunteer portal and established regular volunteer days
-0-waste: Refreshed and distributed Sort Smart guides to all student residents. Provided new students with an eco-clam

Strategic and Intentional Partner Engagement
-Engaged leadership in development of Pacific’s first Sustainability Action Plan
-Serve on Responsible Investment working group
-Intentionally engage faculty in sustainability course assessment; applied sustainability class projects and utilizing campus gardens as experiential learning resources.
-Partner with Human Resources to include sustainability in staff onboarding
-Coordinate with Event Services to ensure signature university events reflect sustainability

The Sustainability Committee meets on a monthly basis to share about upcoming sustainability engagement opportunities and to discuss updates and next steps on sustainability initiatives. The committee is also responsible for the Sustainability Project Investment Fund in which $150,000 is awarded to a variety of impactful sustainability projects at Pacific.