Mission

The mission of the Office of Sustainability is to be a catalyst for environmentally positive change by educating, connecting and empowering the members of our community for the wellbeing of people and our ecological systems.

Goals

1.)   Advance sustainability at an institutional level and leverage our impact through cross-campus collaboration. This requires an understanding of qualitative and quantitative sustainability indicators and facilitating partnerships and relationships among university constituents.

2.)   Develop leaders among the university community through co-curricular learning experiences, campus partnerships and academic collaboration.

3.) Increase collective knowledge and awareness of sustainability concepts.

Core Values

Resiliency

We recognize that change is inherent in any system. We actively seek out and support solutions that strengthen our community’s ability to cope with changes related to climate, environmental disaster and resource scarcity. We develop intentional partnerships that enable us to share responsibility across the campus entity, augmenting our ability to withstand shocks and disturbance.

Systems Thinking

We look to address root causes of sustainability problems rather than just their symptoms, and we focus our efforts on interventions that either clear systemic barriers or create positive feedback loops on our campus. We encourage our audience to hold institutions accountable–not just the individuals within those institutions.

Inclusivity

We believe in maintaining an open, safe and welcoming work environment. We believe diverse experiences and nontraditional perspectives are vital to developing good practices and truly solving problems. We explicitly reject any efforts to discriminate, denigrate or otherwise exclude members of our community based on race, gender, sexual preference, class, denomination, ethnicity, nationality or ability.

Intentionality

We consciously prioritize work that reflects our mission and values and is supported by the best available information from our community and our field. We reject performative sustainability and follow through on our word to the extent possible. We are considerate of the impacts of our work on those involved.

Growth Mindset

We meet challenges with curiosity rather than aversion. We withhold judgement for ourselves and others, regardless of where they are in their personal understanding and endorsement of sustainability practices and principles. We emphasize work that builds capacity within individuals and prepares them to reliably apply these concepts in their daily lives.

Well-being

We understand that in order to achieve environmental sustainability, social and economic sustainability must come with it. We recognize that durable, long lasting progress starts with respecting the limits and needs of the individual. Humans are a social species; therefore our work should reiterate the positive social bonds that make progress possible.