Overview

One ultimate intention is the design, establishment and operation of some sort of Institute of Sustainability on campus, tasked both with the management of the initiatives outlined above, and with research into innovative sustainability practices.

The overall objective of this greening project is to develop a portfolio of initiatives that, together, help green the CSUN campus.  Broadly, four initiatives are visualized. 

•  The establishment of a Sustainability Institute, or perhaps a Center for Sustainability, which will anchor the Greening Project, providing a fulcrum for research activities and acting as a clearing-house for campus sustainability-related resources.

•  The second involves the development of an ecological “state of the campus protocol that will begin the process of carbon footprinting the campus, with the ultimate objective of moving CSUN to a carbon-neutral state.  This could take the form of multiple student-faculty projects, all working cumulatively to generate a carbon budget for the campus.  Other factors that might be considered pertain to material, food, and water use.

•  The third involves the development of three projects which would shift the curriculum toward a stronger recognition of emerging global change processes—this would comprise of:

    •  a) a Graduate Certificate program, administered through the Tseng College, aimed at training professionals in the art and science of sustainability centered around the Clean Development Mechanism for Carbon Trading, Clean Technology Manufacturing, and Green Business practices;  
    • b) an interdisciplinary Graduate Degree Program that builds on courses already being offered on campus by various departments, and adding to these in some judicious manner to create a holistic graduate experience that equips our students to deal with changing global realities; and 
    • c) a General Education concentration in the area of sustainability planning that gathers together an interdisciplinary array of undergraduate courses built up around existing departmental curricula, aimed at meeting a specific set of Student Learning Objectives.

    •  The fourth envisions the establishment of a stakeholder group that would consider functional practices both within the academic and the facilities domains, and would generate a set of projects which would, together, move the campus toward a more sustainable mode of operation.

Ultimately, one objective is the design, establishment and operation of some sort of Sustainability Institute on campus, tasked both with the management of the initiatives outlined above, and with research into innovative sustainability practices.

Footprinting the Campus

  • Energy Consumption 
    Transportation 
    Resource Consumption 
    Water Consumption 
    Waste Generation 
    Food 
    Infrastructure

Greening the University Curriculum

  • Graduate Certificate Program In Green Practices
    Graduate Interdisciplinary Sustainability Degree Program
    Undergraduate Concentration In Sustainability
    Sustainability Student Learning Objectives

Sustainability Task Force

  • On-campus Events and Activities
    Programs and Policies
    Recycling
    Conservation and Efficiency

Activity Breakdown

  • Data Collection and Analysis (Survey coordination, alternatives assessments)
    Design and Implementation
    Evaluation and Assessment
    Information Management and Education (Marketing and Outreach?)