Sustainability Action Plan

Action for Sustainability

With direction from the Chancellor, a 5-year plan was created for advancing sustainability at UW Bothell, outlining goals that would drive the direction of the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Environmental Sustainability (CACES) members' recommendations and actions. The recommendations listed throughout the Sustainability Action Plan reflect the campus’s aspirations for new and improved programs, initiatives, and practices that are achievable, yet require commitment to improvement and leadership in the field. The goals in this plan are intended to be implemented by 2023.

Recognition of Place

We acknowledge that our campus occupies a specific place with a unique ecological and cultural history. We inhabit the land of the Sammamish people. They lived here long before our institution was founded. We occupy land within the temperate coniferous forest biome. Our mature Douglas-fir trees serve as a reminder of a once unbroken stand from Alaska to Northern California. We inhabit land within the North Creek basin; water flowing through the campus flood plain wetland connects us to Lake Washington, the Salish Sea and the Pacific Ocean beyond.   

Recognition of Purpose

“What if higher education was to take a leadership role, as it did in the space race and the war on cancer, in preparing students and providing the information and knowledge to achieve a just and sustainable society? Imagine the societal impact that higher education could have if, as a sector, it incorporated sustainability principles and practices into fundamental decisions about purchasing, building design, and operations. Imagine the impact of higher education forming partnerships with local and regional communities to help make them socially vibrant, economically secure, and environmentally sustainable. And imagine the long-term leverage if higher education faculty and students, working in conjunction with administrators and staff, conducted the research for and helped to implement sustainability programs on campus and surrounding communities. Graduating students could then bring the knowledge, skills, and values of sustainability to their future employment, consumption decisions, lifestyle choices, and to the improvement of the communities in which they live.” – Herman Miller

We propose that UW Bothell become a recognized leader in sustainability education that is interdisciplinary and student-centered, imbues sustainability literacy, promotes sustainable practices, connects with community partners throughout our region, and supports innovative scholarship and creative expression. What follows are our specific recommendations for creating an invigorated educational culture oriented around sustainability.

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background

Sustainability is a core element of the fabric of the University of Washington Bothell and has been since our inception nearly 18 years ago. The current campus strategic plan (the 21st Century Initiative) identified sustainability as one of seven key initiatives in 2008, and we have continued to build on early successes and expand our sustainability efforts ever since.

We envision UW Bothell, in partnership with Cascadia College, as having a distinctive reputation for sustainability, both regionally and nationally. This reputation will be based on synergies arising from staff, faculty, and students engaged together and with the surrounding community to produce tangible accomplishments in research, teaching, operations, student life, and community partnerships around sustainability. We will build on our history of a collaborative and interdisciplinary culture to enhance sustainability for students, faculty, staff, and community partners. We recognize that the health and well-being of our people is connected to the health of our natural spaces and are committed to advancing and improving the well-being of the university and its spaces.

With a campus-wide Strategic Plan underway for 2020, it is time for UW Bothell to re-evaluate and re-prioritize its goals and strategies for integrating sustainability across all functions of the campus. While we have made immense strides toward reducing our environmental footprint and infusing sustainability throughout campus, there remains much room for improvement. Doing so will allow us to continue to lead and be innovative in our strategies, as well as align with current campus goals. 

1.2 Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Environmental Sustainability

The Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Environmental Sustainability (CACES) is a campus advisory body that serves to coordinate and guide progress in fulfilling our commitment to environmental sustainability by directly advising the Chancellor and Vice Chancellors on sustainability-related topics (see Appendix 1). CACES works to promote and facilitate the cooperative efforts of the campus community members, including faculty, students, and staff to educate, develop values, share knowledge, recommend policies, and implement sustainable practices.

1.3 5-Year Sustainability Plan

With direction from the Chancellor, CACES was tasked with creating a 5-year plan for advancing sustainability at UW Bothell, outlining goals that would drive the direction of the Committee’s recommendations and actions. The Committee chose to use the framework of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education reporting program, called the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (AASHE STARS). Use of this framework allowed for the goals to be aligned with best practices in sustainability within the higher education setting and allows for the campus to more easily measure and benchmark its initiatives against other similar institutions. The Chancellor’s Advisory Committee formed subcommittees to represent the various sections located throughout this plan, to outline goals and connect efforts. The recommendations listed throughout the Sustainability Plan reflect the campus’s aspirations for new and improved programs, initiatives, and practices that are achievable, yet require commitment to improvement and leadership in the field. The goals in this plan are intended to be implemented by 2023; the university’s 5-year mark.

1.4 Sustainability and Campus Priorities

UW Bothell has a deep commitment to creating an environment that sustainably and equitably meets the needs of the present, without compromising the needs of the future. Effective work regarding sustainability must include efforts toward and recognition of the importance of equity, inclusion, and diversity within our human community. As a university, we weave these important concepts into everything that we do, ensuring the consideration of perspectives, opinions, and impacts to our entire UW Bothell community.

In 2015, the UW Bothell Diversity Council produced the campus Diversity Action Plan, which established immediate, mid, and long-term goals for the campus to meet in terms of supporting underrepresented groups at UW Bothell. The successful implementation of initiatives identified in this strategic plan will require coordination with the UW Bothell Diversity Council to take advantage of effective synergies that can arise from our efforts. Following the adoption of this strategic plan, CACES will work with the Diversity Council to ensure such coordination and collaboration on initiatives as appropriate.

“Human sustainability” is specifically identified as a part of the sustainability priority in the 21st Century Plan. Though this is a very broad arena, one aspect of human sustainability undergoing considerable scrutiny on-campus is well-being and work. In 2016, the Chancellor’s Office and the Engagement Planning Group partnered with the Office for Organizational Excellence and Human Resources to conduct a faculty and staff survey about the work environment on campus. The feedback from that survey has guided the development of a campus “People Strategy” to celebrate and improve the work environment on campus and its impacts on employee well-being.

As with diversity, successful fostering of sustainability on campus will require coordinating initiatives in environmental sustainability with campus efforts and perspectives on human sustainability. CACES will work with appropriate offices on campus to coordinate work and promote both environmental and human sustainability.

2.0 Strategic Goals for Campus Sustainability

2.1 Curriculum

UW Bothell seeks to become a leader in sustainability across disciplines, promoting sustainable practices, literacy, and knowledge of the earth’s systems. Many courses and curricula related to sustainability exist at UW Bothell, however expansion of these programs and additional collaboration would help to create an interdisciplinary culture around sustainability and spread it throughout the university. We want to shift the paradigm of sustainability being simply an “environmentalist movement” and expand its reach.

2.1 a. Integrating and Assessing Sustainability Across the Curriculum

Create tools and resources to facilitate the incorporation of sustainability into courses
  • Develop a web-based resource for teaching sustainability in different topic areas (including archived assignments, a discussion board, etc.)
  • Maintain a cross-campus sustainability teaching circle comprised of faculty across academic units.
  • Develop resources to facilitate broader use of campus natural areas in courses and a tracking system for such use (see 2.3 d. 4.).
  • Work with the UW Bothell Diversity Council to develop ways of supporting faculty in exploring the intersections of environmental sustainability with equity, social justice, inclusion, and diversity. (This could include possible activities such as (a) joint roundtables / panel discussions / workshops for faculty development, (b) joint Earth Week activities involving a broad range of classes, (c) collaborative teaching opportunities, and so on.) 
  • Cultivate pedagogy that models education as sustainability rather than education for or just about sustainability.
Explore means of assessing sustainability literacy on campus  
  • Form a task force to report on the assessment of sustainability literacy on other campuses and develop recommendations for our campus.
Construct tools and resources for faculty to implement green practices in course delivery
  • Create (or identify an existing) model that can be easily used by faculty to assess primary environmental impacts of their current course delivery approaches and the effects that possible changes in practice would have.    
  • Continue to encourage all UW Bothell laboratories and offices to achieve Green Laboratory Certification / Green Office Certification.

2.1 b. Expanding Academic Exposure and Opportunities in Sustainability

Strengthen and expand sustainability offerings in current and additional degrees / curricula
  • Work with IAS faculty on the role of environmental sustainability in the reconfiguration of the environmental studies curriculum (currently ongoing), including an examination of sustainability themed courses accessible to (and possibly targeted at) non-majors.             
  • Update and expand web-based information on courses and degrees in environmental sustainability, including highlighting integrative, hands-on experiences for student selection.
  • Create additional sustainability degrees - Interface with faculty in IAS, STEM, and other potential units to develop a Minor in Sustainability Studies that would be available and attractive to students within many of our academic units on campus. Work with IAS faculty on the development of an environmental master’s degree explicitly addressing the challenges of sustainability at the graduate level and elevate our scholarly profile in sustainability research and community-based learning and outreach.
 Strengthen the exposure of all students to concepts surrounding sustainability
  • Collaborate with colleagues at UW Seattle and UW Tacoma on a UW-wide Sustainability Course Requirement.    
  • Explore the possibility of reintroducing the “UW Common Book” reading assignment to introduce students to sustainability challenges and opportunities.

2.1 c. Promote Scholarship and Service in Sustainability

Encourage Community-Based Learning and Research (CBLR) components in sustainability teaching
  • Identify, promote and sustain current community partnerships associated with courses that provide exemplary community-based sustainability learning, reciprocal relationships, and beneficial outcomes.
  • Expand courses incorporating Community-Based Learning and Research (CBLR) and co-curricular programs for first-year students that teach about local and regional sustainability issues through community engagement.

2.2 Research

UW Bothell strives to build knowledge and solutions in sustainability through innovative research and its application and dissemination. We wish to maintain our unique legacy in research partnerships that involve staff and students working together with faculty to investigate sustainability using our campus as a living laboratory. We aspire to become leaders in developing strategies and technologies for addressing sustainability challenges that can be applied beyond campus, and our research creates the foundation for building toward that goal. 

2.2 a. Increase Engagement in Sustainability Research

Foster faculty and staff Sustainability Research Fellows Program
  • Create a Faculty and Staff Sustainability Fellows Program (modeled after the UW Bothell CBLR Fellows Program) to promote faculty and staff engagement in sustainability research.
Showcase sustainability research
  • Work with organizing committees to include / expand the presence of sustainability research in campus events that highlight research for the campus community and beyond. This includes sustainability-themed Research-in-Progress talks, Earth Week, the annual Inspire STEM Festival, and the annual Campus Crow Festival (launching in the fall 2018). Also support the development of new events that bring together external partners with campus researchers (e.g., Pacific Science Center’s Lake Washington Watershed Internship Program, Friends of North Creek Forest). Host an annual campus sustainability research fair / workshop to bring faculty, staff, and students together for (1) discussions of past research on campus sustainability and (2) future research, funding, and proposals.
  • Support the development of “Broad Impact Legacies in Sustainability Research” stories for the Sustainability website, as well as annual updates of faculty, staff, and student sustainability research. Highlight the diversity of sustainability research and its intersections across different disciplines, campus priorities, and members of the campus community (i.e., faculty, staff, students).
Promote student research opportunities
  • Promote student sustainability research projects through the undergraduate research database, showcasing opportunities at the Fall Research Fair, and working with community partners and the CBLR office to provide sustainability research opportunities that serve the surrounding community.
Develop Research support
  • Support and expand the Office of Research’s ongoing efforts to support, facilitate, and finding funding for sustainability research and explore the development of research facilities (e.g., the current efforts to develop a Research and Learning Center at Saint Edwards State Park).

2.3 Campus Operations

We recognize that the climate is changing and understand our role in this. The day to day functioning of our campus has vast environmental impacts. Every day, students, faculty and staff on campus use electricity, generate trash, burn fuel, and consume resources. UW Bothell intends to lead the way to sustainability through the way we operate and expand our university. The Facilities Services team and other partners within the UW Bothell campus community work to reduce the impacts of our operations, through finding ways to improve or replace our existing infrastructure and tracking our inputs/outputs. We recognize the need to advance our operations in order to achieve the university climate neutrality goal of being climate neutral by 2050.

2.3 a. Building Energy Conservation

Upgrade all lighting to energy efficient LEDs
  • Upgrade all lighting to LED, including all hallway lighting, lights in the greenhouse at the Sarah Simonds Green Conservatory, and remaining parking garage lighting.
Build load shedding into the Metasys Johnson Controls Building Automation System
  • Work with Puget Sound Energy to determine peak times and adjust Building Automation System to minimize peak usage consumption.
Revise Building Hours Policy to include blackout times during academic breaks when campus is shut down.
  • Save energy by eliminating individual event use during times where buildings would otherwise be shut down.

2.3 b. Waste Management

Centralize waste operations
  • Move to a centralized waste area in corporation yard to improve waste management (i.e. tracking, diversion, storage, and transportation).
Improve waste education
  • Continue to educate the campus community about waste diversion and proper waste sorting.
  • Identify ways to connect with courses and programs on waste education and diversion.
Reduce landfill waste
  • Reduce landfill-bound waste through the creation and promotion of green purchasing policies that encourage items and their packaging that (a) create less waste, (b) can recycled or composted (see 2.6 2.).
  • Improve tracking of waste in order to benchmark successes and opportunities.
Add Minimax service to leased buildings
  • Reduce waste through the elimination of garbage bin liners and improve waste diversion through integration of the Minimax service in leased buildings.  

2.3 c. Water Conservation

Improve tracking of water consumption
  • Sub-meter water use in areas that we do not control (i.e. leased spaces such as Food For Thought, Common Grounds and Subway) to allow us to work with campus partners to educate on the impacts they have on our overall efforts to reduce our water and other resource use university-wide.
Implement rainwater capture for irrigation use
  • Identify and implement opportunities for rainwater capture and storage systems to be used for landscape irrigation. Careful consideration of impacts of diverting water flow with such systems on the natural landscape (including the campus wetland) should be included.
  • Install a highly visible rainwater capture system and cistern on one of the smaller historic buildings (Chase House or Truly House), as a demonstration installment for education and outreach.
  • Ensure rainwater capture and storage and their impacts is considered in all future campus building projects.
Enhance water conservation in landscape irrigation
  • Recommission and upgrade the Rainbird Maxicom Irrigation System for better leak detection and improved technological capabilities to maximizing the efficiency of water use in irrigation.

2.3 d. Landscape

Restore and conserve upland coniferous forest
  • Select significant stands of existing upland coniferous forest for conservation and teaching use based on stand integrity, tree health, diversity, connection to surrounding greenspace, and integration into campus buildout as indicated by the Campus Master Plan.
  • Enhance and restore ecological function in upland coniferous forest patches through partnerships with student classes, research projects, and student organizations.
Implement on-campus plant material propagation
  • Develop infrastructure (e.g., heated greenhouse, solar hoop house, shade house) to facilitate the propagation and production of plant material for support of wetland and upland forest restoration and campus upland display gardens.
Advance on-campus food production for Food Services and Husky Pantry
  • Develop on-campus systems and infrastructure to support the production of food in the campus landscape to be used in Food Service locations and to be donated to Husky Pantry (see 2.5 3.).
Improve wetland access
  • The aim of improved access should be to enhance the opportunity for academic engagement of the site while mitigating the destructive effects of that use on the site and to open up the resource to passive use by the community at large through a network of boardwalks, viewing towers, and designated class research locations that are developed for common educational applications.

2.4 Transportation

The University of Washington Bothell/Cascadia College campus community understands the positive impacts associated with sustainable transportation. The Commuter Services workgroup supports our educational mission by encouraging and advocating for innovative and sustainable transportation solutions. Commuter Services actively supports the reduction of vehicles on campus by supporting the U-PASS program, UCar program, bicycling, trip reduction strategies, Electric Vehicle use, walking, carpooling, Community Van, rideshare, bike-share, active transportation, and skateboarding. Commuter Services provides resources, information, and access to dependable and sustainable commuting options. 

2.4 a. Encourage Alternative Transportation Options

Promote alternative fuel vehicles
  • Continue adding electric vehicle charging stations to promote alternative fuel vehicles.
Prioritize implementation of strategies in the university Trip Reduction Plan
  • Reduce the number of single-occupancy trips to and from campus and subsidize alternative transportation solutions.
Reduce vehicle volume on campus
  • Reduce vehicles and driving on campus by students who live on campus by charging for parking for on-campus students, creating an incentive to not have a car on campus.
  • Find space for and build/install structure for safe, covered bicycle parking.
  • Incentivize electric bus routes through campus by providing charging station for King County Metro electric buses.

2.4 b. Investigate Opportunities to Reduce our Transportation Impacts 

Develop a transportation study
  • Create a transportation study with the end goal of decreasing the number of single-occupancy-vehicles coming to campus.
Minimize impervious surfaces
  • Pursue parking garages over surface lots as much as possible to minimize impervious surfaces and negatively impacting stormwater runoff.
  • Investigate and pursue Park Smart Certification for designing to certification standards in new parking garages.
Investigate certification opportunities
  • Pursue Bicycle Friendly University designation. Track our successes and recognize opportunities to improve on making UW Bothell a bike-friendly campus.
Engage in future research projects connected to our regional bike trails
  • Involve the community through encouraging travel through campus, providing tips and tricks about access and transportation, advertising our work, and engaging people who wouldn’t otherwise be involved with campus activities.

2.5 Food and Dining

UW Bothell is committed to sustainability in its food services and dining operations. With a rapidly growing and changing commuter campus, dining and food options on campus are currently being evaluated and re-imagined with sustainability in mind. UW Bothell Dining Services aspires to provide access to fresh and wholesome food that caters to the diverse range of preferences of the campus population. We strive to provide food options that are ecologically sound, economically viable, and socially responsible for students, staff, faculty, and guests, while embracing the entrepreneurial spirit of UW Bothell in our food service options. Food and dining services is quickly expanding; therefore, this is the opportune time for development in this area.

Enhance sustainability in food purchasing
  • Establish environmentally and financially sustainable food purchasing guidelines for self-operated dining locations on campus in the next 2-3 years.
  • Establish an internal tracking and evaluation system to assess guidelines.
  • Identify human resources and support to manage purchasing guidelines and assessment.
Educate food service staff and consumers
  • Build on existing partnerships with UW Bothell Facilities Services, Grounds and the UW Bothell Sustainability Coordinator to foster education, programming, and training for both dining staff and customers around food waste diversion at self-operating dining venues.
  • Enhance consumer awareness of existing commitment to compostable products used for service as self-operated locations.
Increase sustainable food options
  • Implement creative ways to work with external vendors to provide low impact dining solutions (i.e. farmers markets, campus garden, food trucks, etc.).
  • Set criteria for vendor partners (Food Trucks, Subway, and catering companies) with regards to requirements for service, including use of compostable products, energy efficiency, waste diversion, sustainable packaging, etc.

2.6 Purchasing

The products that the university supplies across the board, including office supplies, electronics, construction materials, appliances, equipment, furniture, etc., represent an enormous component of the campus’s overall environmental and social impact. With increased enrollment and size, UW Bothell can expect purchasing, and its associated impacts, to increase dramatically. The manufacture, transport, and disposal of materials have drastic environmental impacts, from source to sink. Large purchasers, like universities, have a responsibility to ensure that their purchasing of products and services minimizes harm while maximizing societal benefit. UW Bothell is currently creating guidelines on purchasing, and several efforts are in progress. We want to prioritize purchasing from small, local businesses wherever possible to promote our commitment to sustainability within our community. The following goals will get UW Bothell on track toward socially and environmentally responsible purchasing:

Bring Supplier Diversity Program from UW Seattle to UW Bothell
  • Leverage the existing work that is being done at UW Seattle encouraging departments to buy from diverse business owners by bringing the same program to UW Bothell, using their guidelines, and developing Bothell-specific outreach and implementation strategies that work for the campus.
Develop Green Purchasing Guidelines and encourage their use
  • Green purchasing guidelines should be developed that help buyers understand what environmental criteria to consider and prioritize when making purchases. These guidelines should be published and promoted as part of the overall Supplier Diversity program, so buyers understand that purchasing decisions need to be made considering a holistic set of criteria and should seek to purchase in ways to promote social and environmental benefits.
Investigate opportunities and feasibility for tracking and reporting environmental and social impact criteria within purchases
  • A tracking system should be developed for both social and environmental criteria that allows UW Bothell to quantify types of purchases and set specific targets and improvement goals for achieving improved environmental and social performance.

2.7 Campus Engagement

UW Bothell works to strengthen engagement among campus community members to inspire collective action in sustainability. As a leader in sustainability, we can inspire action within the community based on our own actions. We believe that collective action is the most powerful way to create change; this action starts at home. Some of these efforts include the Campus Garden, Community-Based Learning and Research (CBLR), and various volunteer opportunities throughout campus. Faculty and staff also support these efforts through ongoing involvement in class projects, research, and curricula.

We want to create a culture around sustainability that reflects the important priority it was identified as by members of the campus community in the development of the UW Bothell 21st Century Plan. Experience outside of the classroom guides students to integrate their knowledge into real-world experiences and further develop their understanding. We aspire to bridge the gap between environmental sustainability, equity and social justice, acknowledging that these topics are intertwined. We would like to further the engagement of students, staff and faculty in these experiences, to create opportunities to inspire change throughout the world as they graduate and move on from UW Bothell.

2.7 a. Campus Sustainability Engagement

Create a formal peer-to-peer education program
  • Improve the student educators program by developing a formal peer-to-peer program, modeling the HEROs or Outdoor Wellness programs with a sustainability and environmental justice focus.
Integrate sustainability into orientation programming
  • Continue to add new campus sustainability initiatives and programs to the sustainability slide within the orientation slideshow and campus tour (i.e. bike maintenance stations).
  • Identify new opportunities to create more comprehensive sustainability programming to incorporate into orientation (staff, student, faculty, and visitor orientation programs).
Develop support for campus sustainability projects
  • Identify potential funding sources for student sustainability projects, such as the creation of a student sustainability project fund (e.g. a Campus Sustainability Fund).
Integrate sustainability into Residential Life
  • Advance the UW Bothell Sustainable Living Guide for all students, including a focus on how students can learn and adopt sustainable lifestyle habits in their own homes and in the campus residence halls, and incorporate green living tools into Move-in Day orientation.
  • Develop an energy use contest between residence halls to build awareness about energy consumption.
Develop sustainability programming in Outdoor Recreation and Wellness
  • Integrate programming during the pre-orientation outdoor program and recruit more speakers that focus on outdoor and environmental justice topics in coordination with outdoor wellness programming.

2.7 b. Outreach Materials and Publication

Develop campus-wide sustainability outreach campaign
  • This would include developing cohesive sustainability branding, identifying and creating partnerships that can expand the audience, and leveraging the platforms and audiences of other departments. It would also include the development of a plan to adapt and distribute existing outreach and publications, such as the Sustainable Living Guide, the Sustainability Newsletter, and social media, so that they are more effective and reach a broader audience.

2.7 c. Staff Involvement

Incentivize involvement in campus sustainability activities for staff and faculty.
  • Encourage staff and faculty to become involved with campus sustainability activities such as special events, the Campus Garden, the UW Bothell Herbarium, etc. (see 2.7 d. 1.)
Provide continuing education opportunities for staff and faculty on sustainability topics
  • Provide workshops, courses, and seminars on sustainability topics for staff and faculty at the University (i.e. Leave No Trace Certification, LEED Green Associate, etc.).
Increase access to and attendance in University of Washington wellness programs
  • Create additional on-campus courses and workshops, to reduce the need for employees to travel to Seattle to participate.

2.7 d. Sustainability Programming

Increase engagement in current sustainability programming
  • Work to increase the engagement of faculty and courses with UW Bothell Earth Week activities, along with other extracurricular events with a sustainability focus or application.
  • Develop more regular special programing around sustainability on campus. Identify partnerships that cut across the curriculum with shared interest in sustainability.
Improve engagement with Campus Garden and the Sarah Simonds Green Conservatory
  • Identify and develop ways to include leadership and decision-making authority for students in the Campus Garden and identify ways to increase involvement.
  • Promote student volunteer opportunities in the conservatory greenhouse and herbarium.

2.8 Public Engagement

UW Bothell has a strong history of rich partnerships with many community organizations around issues of sustainability and we are committed to building on these relationships. We intend to assess our existing community engagement efforts and identify opportunities to improve and modify these efforts to meet the needs of our community and our campus. UW Bothell recognizes that community partnerships help connect students with real-world experiences, developing relationships with partners outside of the community, helping them to develop a deeper appreciation for the unique place which we find ourselves in. At the same time, we want to engage university scholars with the surrounding community to cultivate partnerships that address local challenges in order to advance scholarship and knowledge.

2.8 a. Community Partnerships

Leverage community partnerships to meet other sustainability goals
  • Enhance involvement between food services offered on campus and local farms in order to give students a farm-to-table experience while eating at UW Bothell (see 2.5 3.).
Build upon existing relationships with community partners in organizing summer camp programs
  • Develop summer camp programs with community partners such as Friends of North Creek Forest and Pacific Science Center with focus on wetland and other campus-based topics.

2.8 b. Strengthen Resources for Campus-Community Members

Strengthen online resources about sustainability for public access
  • Enhance online resources that enable the public to access sustainability information.
Improve signage and interpretation of UW Bothell grounds to enhance understanding and appreciation of the environmental history and sustainability projects
 
Create a “green ribbon” graduation pledge
  • Develop a voluntary “green ribbon” graduation pledge for students graduating to explore and take into account the environmental consequences of any job they consider. This pledge engages graduates into the future through pledging to try to improve environmental aspects of any organization where they work.
Identify and implement a system for qualitative and quantitative assessment of public engagement efforts on the UW Bothell campus
  • Pinpoint opportunities for improvement, as well as successes in public engagement efforts.

2.8 c. Community Service

Enhance and expand community service programs related to sustainability
  • Enhance and expand programs such as Alternative Spring Break to increase student participation in sustainability projects throughout the region.
Magnify involvement and participation in wetland projects
  • Increase student, faculty, and staff participation in projects relating to the upkeep/maintenance of the wetland.
  • Host a Crow Festival, featuring crow photos, children’s activities, and research talks by UW Bothell faculty (see 2.2 a. 2.).

2.8 d. Community Stakeholder Engagement

Incentivize community engagement for faculty, staff, and students throughout the university
  • Collaborate with Cascadia College on incentivizing community engagement throughout the UW Bothell/Cascadia College community.
Build out Community-Based Learning capstone projects with Cascadia College and external organizations
  • Work with new IAS/Environment faculty on capstone course development in building out 1-3 quarter community-based learning capstone projects with internal and external community organizations (see 2.1 c.).
Diversify and expand CBLR sustainability partnerships
  • Diversify and increase our CBLR sustainability partnerships with environmental/sustainability-based organizations, policy-based organizations, and climate-focused organizations.
Create an inter-campus effort around creating community engagement opportunities
  • Work with UW Seattle and UW Tacoma to establish tri-campus community engagement opportunities.
  • Continue our collaboration with Cascadia College, and align efforts where possible.

2.9 Campus Planning and Development

As a university, our main priority is to educate and provide the best experience for as many students as possible. As such, growth is a given; our campus is bound to see new infrastructure, increased space use, tighter budgets, and many other changes that will come our way. We want the voices of the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee to be heard in the design and planning process of our campus to allow for feedback and opportunities to reduce the impacts that these changes to the campus environment will cause. 

Ensure CACES involvement in future campus development and planning
  • Steps should be taken to ensure that the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Environmental Sustainability is involved in the design and planning of future campus development and is granted the opportunity to review and provide feedback about proposed developments with respect to potential environmental impacts.
  • Build funding for sustainability projects into institutional/unit budgets.

2.10 Campus Events

UW Bothell hosts many events throughout the year, all which have a large environmental impacts through the products used, waste generated, activities, food and other various impacts. With increased engagement on campus, we will without a doubt see additional events on campus; as such, we want to create guidelines for our community to follow when holding university events to reduce their impacts.

Create guidelines and implementation strategy for “greening” events across campus
  • A green event program and culture should be established for the campus and implemented across all departments that hold events on campus. The process of greening events will require a multifaceted approach that requires collaboration across several sectors. Key components of green event guidelines should include purchasing guidelines specific to events purchasing that reduces waste and prioritizes products with environmental attributes, as well as requiring that compost and recycling are offered in addition to trash service.

3.0 Celebrate Sustainability

We see the intrinsic value in every action that our community makes toward shifts in sustainability and want to celebrate these efforts in a variety of ways. From conferences to awards, we believe that by commending these efforts, we can inspire future action.

3.1 Participation in Sustainability-Related Conferences and Organizations

We want to collaborate with others in the sustainability field and share ideas and perspectives with those that we wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to interact with. We believe that these opportunities help foster growth and development for students, staff, and faculty and want to support efforts to expand the reach of UW Bothell.  

Support faculty, staff, and students in the attendance of sustainability conferences and other off-campus development opportunities
  • Support the participation of faculty, staff, and students in regional and national sustainability conferences to present sustainability research and campus accomplishments through the availability of dedicated stipends for registration and travel.
  • Identify opportunities for students, staff and faculty to present at various sustainability-related conferences highlighting the sustainability initiatives and features that make UW Bothell unique.
Bring sustainability conferences to the UW Bothell/Cascadia College campus
  • Work with Cascadia College to determine opportunities for collaboration and shared leadership in building a conference.

3.2 Establishment of a Sustainability Award

We see the value of recognizing the diverse and meaningful efforts of our campus community in the variety of different aspects of sustainability which we surround ourselves in. We want to solidify our appreciation for these efforts and impactful actions through the formation of a Sustainability Award.

Establish a Sustainability Award to be presented by CACES for students, staff, and faculty in various categories

Categories could include:

  • Sustainability research and creative practice
  • Faculty award for creative and effective implementation of sustainable practices in course delivery
  • Scholarship, stewardship and service
  • Faculty-staff collaboration and teamwork
  • Campus activities
  • Making a meaningful contribution to sustainability-related organizations

4.0 Collaboration

UW Bothell fosters a strong partnership with Cascadia College, through our spaces which we share. We work closely with students, staff, and faculty to join efforts and collaborate whenever possible. We want to strengthen these ties, through increased integration and partnership across campuses, highlighting opportunities to enhance sustainability practices throughout.

We have a very unique ability on this campus to collaborate with staff, faculty, and students to enrich operations, education, and inspiration and engagement around sustainability, and it is something that we pride ourselves on. We desire to keep promoting and recognizing the value of these efforts and continue to strengthen them further.

Support the goals of other regional campuses to enhance their own sustainability practices
  • Establish lines of communication to share our sustainability practices with other institutions. This could include hosting a working group, regularly scheduled conference calls, or a regional sustainability conference with a goal of collaborating to learn best practices.
Build on relationships between university councils and campus sustainability entities
  • Campus sustainability entities include the Sustainability Office, the Chancellors Advisory Committee on Environmental Sustainability (CACES), Cascadia College, and the Campus Garden.
  • Expand relationship with Student Government and develop a plan to align efforts where possible.
  • Work with the Diversity Council to identify goals that can be a joint effort.
  • Coordinate with other campus advisory bodies and Chancellor’s committees where appropriate, and recruit representatives from these groups to be a part of CACES.

5.0 Next Steps

The purpose of this plan is to create a roadmap as to how to advance sustainability in the future, and these goals can be used to create opportunity pathways that hadn’t been considered before. The next step will involve discussions of priorities and strategies for implementation of these goals. We recognize that implementation of these goals will require participation from many campus stakeholders, and we appreciate all efforts made toward reaching our sustainability goals.

Appendix I: Contributors

Curriculum

Warren Gold

Associate Professor of Environmental Science
Director, University of Washington Restoration Ecology Network
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences

Rob Turner

Senior Lecturer
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences

Heather Galindo

Lecturer
School of STEM  

Research

Carolyn Brennan

Assistant Vice Chancellor
Office of Research

Campus Operations

Tony Guerrero

Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities Services and Campus Operations
Planning and Administration

Cassie Lubenow

Former Sustainability Coordinator
Facilities Services

Alexa Russo

Former Sustainability Coordinator
Facilities Services

Therese Zorich

Director of Administrative Services
Facilities and Operations

John Egdorf

Construction Project Manager
Physical Planning and Space Management

Tyson Kemper

Grounds Supervisor
Building and Grounds

Tyson Monsaas 

Facilities Operations Maintenance Specialist
Facilities Services: Building Maintenance

Tammy Cox

Facilities Operations Maintenance Specialist
Facilities Services: Building Maintenance

Transportation

Martin Arroyo

Commuter Services Manager
UW Bothell/Cascadia College: Facilities and Operations

Daniele Raymond

Parking Enforcement Supervisor
Commuter Services

Food and Dining

Chelsea Knodel

Director, Auxiliary Services
Institutional Planning and Budget

Janel Nonhoff

Dining Services Manager
Housing and Food Service

Purchasing

Kendra Yoshimoto

Director of Fiscal and Audit Services
Planning and Administration

Campus Engagement

Katie Stultz

Program Manager, Student Engagement and Activities
Facilities Services

Carrie Newman

Assistant Director, Orientation and Transition Programs

Amy Pearl

Senior, Environmental Studies
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences

Matthew Bush

Program Manager of Outdoor Wellness
UW Bothell Recreation and Wellness

Maria Raza

ASUWB Sophomore Senator
Student Engagement and Activities
Sophomore, Pre-major

Rene Galindo

Resident Director
UW Bothell Residential Life and Student Conduct

Avery Shinneman

Lecturer
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences

Public Engagement

Kelly Snyder

Assistant Vice Chancellor of Government and Community Relations
Planning and Administration

Joren Clowers

Government and Community Relations Intern
Master’s Student in Policy Studies
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences

Coordination and Planning

Ruth Johnston

Vice Chancellor UW Bothell​

Diversity

Wayne Au

Interim Dean of Diversity and Equity, Chief Diversity Officer
Professor, School of Educational Studies