CSUN Sustainability 2020

  • Education on gray background

Education

CSUN strives to reduce its own footprint on the environment and to educate its students and the broader campus population on sustainable practices.

Main Strategies

  1. Expand education on sustainability principles and practices to entire campus population
  2. Increase formal educational offerings in sustainability
  3. Increase opportunities for hands-on student learning in sustainability
  4. Increase research opportunities in sustainability

Objectives for 2023 

  1. Participation in a sustainability office program by all campus offices/units by 2015
  2. Implement university-wide sustainability education for all students by 2018
  3. Offer M.A. Degree in Sustainability Practices by 2018
  4. Expand service learning and internship opportunities in sustainability
  5. Expand network of faculty engaging in sustainability-related research

2020-21 Priorities and Outcomes

  • Incorporate sustainability into University 100 First Year Experience courses.
    • This was put on hold due to COVID-19, but will begin Fall 2021.
  • Continue providing support for sustainability-related faculty research through the Faculty Innovation Grants Program.
    • This program is jointly funded through the Institute for Sustainability and Facilities Planning, and is open to all colleges/departments. Eight research Fellows were funded over the last two years with faculty from Art, Family and Consumer Sciences, Marketing, Geography, Sustainability, Engineering, Religious Studies, and Education. The Institute will invite faculty to present their projects/findings once employees return to campus in 2021-22.
  • Continue Masters Program Planning for the launch in Fall 2022.
    • The program was officially approved by the CSU Board of Trustees to begin Fall 2021 through the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Due to COVID-19, the first cohort will begin Fall 2022.
  • Integrate Sustainability Learning Outcomes into courses.
    • The Institute for Sustainability will consult with other CSU campuses to learn about successful pathways to adopting SLO's. The Institute will then work with student researchers to create a template for adoption at CSUN.
  • Expand Sustainability Champions program with the goal of 50% of campus departments represented.
    • Even during the pandemic, this program was able to keep our Champions engaged and has seen the addition of eleven new members which now includes over 50 members from 46 departments and all divisions across campus.

Other Highlights

  • The Institute continued its “sustainable menstruation” initiative that was launched last year. The program provides education and alternatives to disposable menstrual products. Institute staff presented about this innovative initiative at three conferences and as panelist at an event hosted by CSU East Bay. A Best Practice award for Social Equity in partnership with CSU San Marcos was received at the CA Higher Education Sustainability Conference in July 2020. Free reusable menstrual cups were distributed to students at the CSUN Food Pantry and Women's Resource and Research Center. This program will be ongoing to continue providing free reusable menstrual cups to the CSUN community.
  • CSUN Sustainability collaborated with campus departments to host virtual events for Earth Month. Session topics included: gardening, fashion, virtual National Park tours, zero waste, transportation, DIY projects, and more. Approximately 30 events were held by CSUN departments in April in honor of Earth Month. CSUN also participated in a systemwide Eco Challenge to collectively engage campus members in completing one- time and daily actions to combat climate change. There were over 400 participants across 11 campuses.
  • The Institute for Sustainability partnered with 10 CSU campuses to host two CSU-wide virtual events - one in October for Sustainability Month and one in April for Earth Day. Collectively, 70 system-wide events were held in the fall and 82 events were held in the spring. Almost 800 people attended the two large events which focused on social justice and climate action.
  • The Institute posted more than 400 posts on social media during the 2020-21 year. Across all social media platforms, CSUN Sustainability accounts have over 8,000 followers. Eleven issues of "The Footprint" newsletter were sent to over 4,000 subscribers. The Institute has published 87 newsletters since 2015.
  • Over 400 people participated in the CSU Earth Month EcoChallenge, with 139 of them being from CSUN. View the results of the challenge as well as the systemwide EcoChallenge summary report.

2021-22 Priorities

  • Identify and flag sustainability-related courses within the course catalog and faculty research.
  • Provide faculty development on sustainability SLOs and on how to incorporate sustainability content into courses.
  • Encourage inclusion of sustainability-related SLOs and/or SUST core courses in programs through faculty.
  • Integrate sustainability information into University 100 courses.
  • Redesign the Sustainable Office Program to generate interest and involvement from campus members.
  • Expand programming for the sustainability champions.

Other

SOP Materials

Issue:

ED1.1

Priority:

1

Strategy:

Develop sustainable office program (SOP) training materials for student trainees and office staff

Status:

Training videos, assessment tool (survey), consultant FAQ sheet, and department resource list have been created. (IS)

Party Responsible:

IS, AS

Next/Action Items:

Completed

Training Workshops/Audits

Issue:

ED1.2

Priority:

1

Strategy:

Establish schedule of training workshops for office staff and execute audits

Status:

Training for student consultants conducted in April, 2014 (IS). There are 4-8 students interested in being consultants. AS will schedule assessments in Student Affairs offices.

Party Responsible:

IS, AS, HR

Next/Action Items:

See AD1.4

SOP Tracking

Issue:

ED1.3

Priority:

1

Strategy:

Establish and maintain tracking system for SOP

Status:

Data collected will be stored in survey monkey. New account purchased.

Party Responsible:

IS, AS

Next/Action Items:

Ongoing

Host Events

Issue:

ED1.4

Priority:

1

Strategy:

Continue to host annual sustainability day and water day events, and participate in America Recycles Day and Earth Day

Status:

IS continues to host Sustainability Day in the Fall and Water Day in the Spring. Approx. 525 students attended Sustainability Day, using Garbology as the theme. Thirteen faculty brought their classes and approx. 400 students attended Water Day, where climate change and the drought were the theme AS continues to host America Recycles Day in the fall (700 attendees) and Earth Fair in the Spring (3,000+ attendees)

Party Responsible:

IS, AS

Next/Action Items:

Ongoing

Film Series

Issue:

ED1.5

Priority:

2

Strategy:

Establish sustainability-related film series

Status:

This has not been started yet.

Party Responsible:

IS, AS, SA, Housing

Next/Action Items:

Look into the potential to run a film series through the MataSphere.

Site Signage

Issue:

ED1.6

Priority:

1

Strategy:

Design and post educational signage at sustainability sites on campus

Status:

Signage has been posted at Orange Grove, Fuel Cell, Rainforest, Institute for Sustainability, Student Rec Center, VPAC, AS Recycling, Food Garden, Weather Station, PV projects, Transit Station, Ecoregion Garden, and other sustainability sites on campus. Signage was added for the Matador Dr. and F5 bioswales.

Signs have been posted by AS for new drinking fountain spigots for filling reusable water bottles.

Party Responsible:

IS, FPDC, PPM

Next/Action Items:

Signage will be added as new installations are made. Signs are being posted for new dual-flush toilets.  Also new signage is being developed for the restrooms on saving water. (Rosenthal)

Informational Signage

Issue:

ED1.7

Priority:

2

Strategy:

Increase informational signage for waste, food, water and energy use

Status:

FPDC/IS have working with VISCOM to develop a sustainability marketing campaign for all aspects of this plan.

Party Responsible:

IS, AS, TUC, PPM, SA sust.comm.

Next/Action Items:

On-going.

Student Media Pieces

Issue:

ED1.8

Priority:

2

Strategy:

Coordinate with film and journalism departments to encourage student films, documentaries, public announcements and articles related to sustainability. These can be screened before events, on MIND screens, and linked to webpages.

Status:

Potential to use students to create sustainability media pieces.

Party Responsible:

IS, faculty, AS

Next/Action Items:

No action taken.

Campus Tour and Orientation

Issue:

ED1.9

Priority:

1

Strategy:

Coordinate with the University Ambassadors (UA) and Student Development Office (SD) to include sustainability education and features in campus tour and new student orientation

Party Responsible:

SA, AS

Next/Action Items:

AS (Crandall) will work with UA and SD on implementation.

Informal Education in Housing

Issue:

ED1.10

Priority:

2

Strategy:

Provide informal sustainability education to students in campus housing and develop a plan for improving related practices

Status:

Potential to do this through the Matasphere as champions in student housing.

Party Responsible:

IS, Housing

Next/Action Items:

No action taken.

Life-Learning Community

Issue:

ED1.11

Priority:

2

Strategy:

Establish living-learning community in campus housing and train students as peer-to-peer educators in sustainability

Status:

Summer 2014 the MataSphere was created in Student Housing as a living learning community.

Party Responsible:

Housing

Next/Action Items:

On-going.

Assess Sust. Literacy

Issue:

ED1.12

Priority:

1

Strategy:

Assess sustainability literacy within student population

Status:

IS (Cox) developed survey based on one conducted at OSU and obtained Human Subjects Approval in Fall 2013. Conducted pre and post surveys for all SUST classes in F2013. IS (Jackiewicz, Geog) and a student assistant are conducting assessment with a range of classes, mostly lower division in Spring 2014. Goal is to assess 1000 students this semester and continue for 4 years. Analysis to take place based a multiple student attributes starting in Summer 2014.

Party Responsible:

IS, Faculty, AS

Next/Action Items:

Ongoing

Identify Courses

Issue:

ED2.1

Priority:

2

Strategy:

Identify and flag sustainability-related courses. Maintain list of such courses

Status:

Created GE course SUST 111/L GE course in climate change.

Party Responsible:

SCC, IS, LSP

Next/Action Items:

On-going. Need to develop more SUST courses.

Faculty Development

Issue:

ED2.2

Priority:

3

Strategy:

Provide faculty development on sustainability SLOs and on how to incorporate sustainability content into courses

Status:

Some of this is being done through the GE path.

Party Responsible:

SCC, LSP

Next/Action Items:

In-progress.

SLOs and SUST Courses

Issue:

ED2.3

Priority:

2

Strategy:

Encourage inclusion of sustainability-related SLOs and/or SUST core courses in programs

through faculty and Department Chairs

Status:

 No action taken.

Party Responsible:

SCC, LSP

Next/Action Items:

No action taken.

Master's Program Tracks

Issue:

ED2.4

Priority:

1

Strategy:

Work with Department Chairs to develop discipline-specific tracks for Master’s program in Sustainability Practices

Status:

MBA with a sustainability concentration has been approved.

Party Responsible:

SCC

Next/Action Items:

In-progress.

Sustainability Literacy

Issue:

ED2.5

Priority:

1

Strategy:

Develop and provide sustainability literacy education to all students

Status:

Also under ED1.6.
Created GE course Sustainability 111/L GE course in climate change.

Party Responsible:

SCC, LSP, IS, AS

Next/Action Items:

On-going.

Identify Faculty

Issue:

ED2.6

Priority:

2

Strategy:

Identify faculty willing and able to teach sustainability

Status:

CSUN has 12 faculty currently teaching Sustainability 300, 2 additional teaching in Sustainability 310.

Party Responsible:

SCC, LSP, IS

Next/Action Items:

On-going.

Online/Hybrid SUST 300

Issue:

ED2.7

Priority:

2

Strategy:

Identify faculty willing and able to teach sustainability

Status:

This has not been done yet. There has not been an issue filling in class sessions. We would add in class sessions before online if expanding.

Party Responsible:

Faculty

Next/Action Items:

On-hold.

Offer Graduate Certificate

Issue:       

ED2.8

Priority:

2

Strategy:

Implement and offer Sustainability Practices graduate certificate through Tseng College

Status:

On-hold.

Party Responsible:

SCC, IS, Tseng

Next/Action Items:

On-hold.

On-Campus SL & Internships

Issue:

ED3.1

Priority:

1

Strategy:

Establish list of service learning and internship opportunities on campus related to sustainability

Status:

This has been expanded, garden compost, lighting inventories, RFC, SOP, farmers market, event org.

Party Responsible:

IS, CIELO

Next/Action Items:

On-going: IS will work on expanding On-campus SL & internships.

Community SL & Internships

Issue:

ED3.2

Priority:

3

Strategy:

Collaborate with local agencies and non-profits to establish a list of service learning and
internship opportunities in the community related to sustainability

Status:

 There are some opportunities on Moodle.

Party Responsible:

IS, CIELO

Next/Action Items:

Need to contact external companies for opportunities.

Active Learning Procedures

Issue:

ED3.3

Priority:

1

Strategy:

Establish procedures for accepting, allocating, and supervising students in active learning opportunities in sustainability

Status:

Keeping a Moodle page updated with available service learning projects and opportunities.

Party Responsible:

IS, CIELO

Next/Action Items:

On-going.

Active Learning Outreach

Issue:

ED3.4

Priority:

2

Strategy:

Engage in outreach to bring in students from a variety of departments into active learning opportunities in sustainability

Status:

On-going.

Party Responsible:

IS, CIELO

Next/Action Items:

On-going.

Internship Course

Issue:

ED3.5

Priority:

2

Strategy:

Create internship course in sustainability, SUST 494

Status:

 In Progress.

Party Responsible:

SCC, Faculty

Next/Action Items:

In Progress.

Faculty Research

Issue:

ED4.1

Priority:

3

Strategy:

Identify and maintain a list of faculty conducting sustainability-related research

Status:

Potential to use the Library team to develop an efficient way to determine faculty involved with sustainability research.

Party Responsible:

IS, RGS

Next/Action Items:

In Progress.

Online Directory

Issue:

ED4.2

Priority:

3

Strategy:

Establish online directory to connect faculty engaging in sustainability-related research

Status:

 No action taken.

Party Responsible:

IS, RGS

Next/Action Items:

No action taken.

Faculty Participation

Issue:

ED4.3

Priority:

1

Strategy:

Increase faculty participation in green core team, and expand size and number of working groups

Status:

Potential to use the Library team to develop an efficient way to determine faculty involved with sustainability research.

Party Responsible:

IS

Next/Action Items:

On-going.

 

Our 10 Focus Areas

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