USC forms committee for sustainability
The Sustainability Steering Committee hopes to set environmental benchmarks.
Kate Mather
Issue date: 2/4/08 Section: News
In an attempt to make the campus greener, USC administrators has created the Sustainability Steering Committee to coordinate existing student and faculty environmental work, marking the first time administrators have led collaborative sustainability efforts.
"I think the important thing is that this is coming from an administrative level," said Ruchika Gupta, vice chair of USC's chapter of CalPIRG and a junior majoring in international relations.
"Until now, a lot of faculty and staff wanted to make changes, but it's hard to do at this school because it is really decentralized. Really the only way for big change to happen is for it to come from the administration."
The group is comprised of 12 members and includes faculty, staff, administrators and student leaders.
These members, appointed by the Senior Vice President of Administration and General Counsel, must play a "potentially large role in the area of sustainability," according to the group's mission statement. Each member represents one specific area of campus life, which include auxiliary services, student affairs, capital construction development and student government.
"In order to get real value out of it, you need to get the whole community involved," said Ed Becker, the executive director of environmental, health and safety and a member of the Steering Committee. "It's not as effective if you don't get the larger community involved and get all of their ideas and perspectives. They each have something to lend to the process that is valuable."
Student involvement was also one of the key goals of a previously formed committee, the Operations Sustainability Committee, in which teams of students and faculty members examined how 15 different campus facilities were working toward sustainability.
The committee's first report, published in January, provided recommendations for additional sustainability measures the university could take part in.
Reports published by the Operations Committee will be given to the new Steering Committee, which will work to achieve the outlined recommendations. This is a key step in making the university more sustainable, as the administrative-led Steering Committee has the authority to enact the Operations Committee's recommendations on a large scale, many involved have said.
"I think the important thing is that this is coming from an administrative level," said Ruchika Gupta, vice chair of USC's chapter of CalPIRG and a junior majoring in international relations.
"Until now, a lot of faculty and staff wanted to make changes, but it's hard to do at this school because it is really decentralized. Really the only way for big change to happen is for it to come from the administration."
The group is comprised of 12 members and includes faculty, staff, administrators and student leaders.
These members, appointed by the Senior Vice President of Administration and General Counsel, must play a "potentially large role in the area of sustainability," according to the group's mission statement. Each member represents one specific area of campus life, which include auxiliary services, student affairs, capital construction development and student government.
"In order to get real value out of it, you need to get the whole community involved," said Ed Becker, the executive director of environmental, health and safety and a member of the Steering Committee. "It's not as effective if you don't get the larger community involved and get all of their ideas and perspectives. They each have something to lend to the process that is valuable."
Student involvement was also one of the key goals of a previously formed committee, the Operations Sustainability Committee, in which teams of students and faculty members examined how 15 different campus facilities were working toward sustainability.
The committee's first report, published in January, provided recommendations for additional sustainability measures the university could take part in.
Reports published by the Operations Committee will be given to the new Steering Committee, which will work to achieve the outlined recommendations. This is a key step in making the university more sustainable, as the administrative-led Steering Committee has the authority to enact the Operations Committee's recommendations on a large scale, many involved have said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Dedee DeLongpre-Johnston
posted 2/11/08 @ 7:09 AM PST
Glad to see alma mater operationalizing its expertise in strategic management.
Dedee DeLongpre-Johnston, MBA
Director, Office of Sustainability
University of Florida
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