The Office of Sustainability is committed to its mission of leading the integration of sustainability into the University of Oregon’s operations, curriculum, co-curriculum, research, and engagement with the broader community. We will continue to distinguish ourselves with our innovative, flexible, entrepreneurial approach. We’ll find creative ways to remove barriers to change by working collaboratively across our large, decentralized institution. Our goal is to build on the University of Oregon’s reputation as a national sustainability leader by developing and managing innovative, high quality projects and programs and tracking and reporting institutional progress.

Moving forward, we have identified three new strategies to guide our continued success during our next phase of development:

Goal I: Establish Clear Vision & Measurable Goals

Responsibilities for administering sustainability practices and programs are dispersed widely throughout the University of Oregon. We want to continue supporting the decentralized campus culture that encourages innovation and experimentation. We also want to develop a comprehensive vision that guides individual units’ programs, clarifies roles and responsibilities, improves service delivery and reporting, and ultimately strengthens the community of staff responsible for managing and implementing these programs and policies. Specifically, we plan to:

• Work with key units to draft plans that respond to the University of Oregon’s recently updated Environmental Policy

• Update the University of Oregon’s Climate Action Plan

• Facilitate an assessment of institution-wide sustainability programming and make recommendations for improvement

Goal 2: Increase the Size of the Pie

We recognize that we must attract external resources in order to support the growing interest in expanding sustainability programming in operations, academics, athletics and co-curriculum. We will work to increase the Office of Sustainability’s operating budget by diversifying our sources of funding. Perhaps more importantly, we will devote more time to securing external funding on behalf of and in collaboration with other campus units pursuing sustainability initiatives. Specifically, we plan to:

• Write grant proposals that support the aspirations of other campus units

• Market products and services to both UO and non-UO clients

• Establish a multi-million dollar green revolving loan fund

• Diversify Office of Sustainability annual program budget with 35% coming from sources other than the Finance and Administration annual allocation

Goal 3: Increase Engagement

Sustainability requires broad participation and significant behavior change in order to succeed at a large scale. While we have successfully implemented scores of projects and programs, our 2013 survey confirms that the majority of the UO community has little knowledge of or interaction with them. We will refocus on initiatives designed to increase awareness and participation. Specifically, we plant to:

• Partner with the Rec Center, Athletics, Housing, the Duck Store and other high use programs to develop visible, engaging programs

• Use social media to more immediately and informally share the UO’s sustainability successes