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Click on the arrows below to see details of each Priority Initiative.
GOAL 1 – Build communities of care, resilience and preparedness in the face of climate change.
Priority Initiatives:
Identify campus mental health needs and offer support and resources to build climate resilience.
The People of Color Sustainability Collective (PoCSC) hosted a student-focused climate anxiety event in January 2024. The newly formed Well-being Collective will focus their efforts in the coming year on advancing sustainability within the health and wellbeing of all on campus.
Develop an implementation plan to launch the Okanagan Charter at UCSC.
The Okanagan Implementation Task Force held 13 engagements with 915 faculty, staff, and students throughout academic year 2023-24.
UC Santa Cruz successfully adopted the Okanagan Charter on May 13, 2024 after a year-long effort by members of the Okanagan Charter Workgroup. The UC Santa Cruz Well-being Collective was formed, which will provide essential support and a dedicated program manager overseeing faculty and staff wellness initiatives.
Provide UC-level leadership to elevate and implement DEIJ best practices throughout the UC system’s sustainability teams.
UC Office of the President hired a systemwide consultant to consolidate approaches and insights to their mandated Just Transition and Equity Analysis across the UC locations, resulting in the development of 33 potential equity indicators for the working group to explore in academic year 2024-25.
The Sustainability Office co-led Just Transition and Equity report development and submission, drafted an equity impact analysis worksheet for broader Finance, Operations, and Administration Divisional consideration.
Offer co-curricular social and environmental justice programming across campus, including opportunities to get actively involved.
We were not able to list all opportunities developed to include climate related service work since the student volunteer center was in a transition year. However, the Sustainability Office students led several events in partnership with various departments across campus such as the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI), the People of Color Sustainability Collective (PoCSC), and the Arboretum. This includes:
– Fall Garden Tour
– BIPOC Outdoors Hike (held three times)
– Ethnobotany Hike
– Personal Care Products Workshop (held twice)
– Fire and Fungi
– People Planet Power Summit (PPP)
– Patty Krawec Visit and Book Club (3 seperate events)
– Indigethanx
– IndigeFest
– Women of Color Environmentalist Panel
Sustainability Office student employees hosted 15 student-led events in partnership with Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, People of Color Sustainability Collective, the Arboretum, and others.
Develop and share sustainability related onboarding materials with students, staff, and faculty.
The new student orientation was updated this year with new resources about waste, including Recycle Coach.
4,055 undergrads took the online sustainability modules in orientation. 1,426 graduate students were given a resource guide with sustainability modules. 642 employees took Staff Human Resource’s new employee orientation.
Create and distribute emergency preparedness trainings informed by the realities of climate change.
Risk and Safety Services created a new emergency preparedness training that covers climate change related disasters such as severe storms, fires, and flooding.
Strengthen ties to the greater Santa Cruz community to build participatory-based and community-led climate capacity and resiliency.
As part of the Transformative Climate Communities planning grant, residents and community nonprofits serving Pajaro Valley and parts of downtown Watsonville began meeting monthly to co-develop a cross-sectoral list of 3-5 infrastructure projects that provide climate adaptation and resiliency within the community.
Monthly meetings began in March and are facilitated by the UC Santa Cruz Sustainability Office. To date, we have held 7 community meetings, are planning one community-wide event, and the group has outreached to approx 300 residents in planning grant area.
Advance green building practices in all capital projects.
Current construction projects are on track to meet Sustainable Practices Policy goals: Green Building Progress.
GOAL 2 – Decarbonize campus to build an equitable, accessible, & fossil-free future.
Priority Initiatives:
Conduct Just Transition and Equity (JT&E) analysis on Decarbonization and Electrification technical plan.
Just Transition and Equity report completed.
Fossil free dates and interim targets are still in progress and being discussed with campus leadership.
Identify and pursue funding opportunities to advance fossil free efforts.
A consultant report creating a financial roadmap to fund the D&E effort has been completed. A D&E Infrastructure Program Manager has been hired. An electric vehicle charging station grant over $650,000 has been awarded.
Develop and implement Transportation Demand Management (TDM) strategies to meet annual per capita vehicle miles traveled threshold.
The Transportation Demand Management Program Final Report and Toolkit was completed: A Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) baseline year was established (academic year 2018/19) and a 15% reduction in VMT was achieved this year. A consultant was selected to develop a campus-wide Circulation Master Plan.
4,100 subsidized UCSC-affiliated BCycle electric bike share memberships were provided. 5 new vanpools were established. 1 new shuttle service to the Silicon Valley campus was established. A $97,174 grant was received for a UC Santa Cruz Community Transportation Needs Assessment. A $46,305 Carbon Fund grant was received to create an online bus tracking service. 500 METRO Highway 17 fare vouchers were provided for Baskin School of Engineering affiliates. 30 one-on-one customer service calls to discuss the UC e-bike discount and the 0% interest bike loans were made.
Implement process for “carbon free first” procurement and track purchases of equipment and vehicles.
A Memo to purchase electric technology first has been disseminated. A fossil fuel versus electric purchases tracking sheet has been created and is being communicated across relevant stakeholders. The tracking sheet will be a living document planned for publication this calendar year.
Pursue additional planning and design of photovoltaic and battery storage.
Westside Research Park microgrid: 1MW PV solar+ 1MW/4MWh BESS advanced from pre-design to design Monterey Bay Education, Science and Technology Center: 80kW PV Solar + 120kW/240kWh BESS advanced from pre-design to design Emergency Response Center: 90kw PV solar + 125kw/500kwh BESS advanced from pre-design to design Hagar Family Student Housing: 800kW PV Solar + (4) BESS @ 100kW/372 kWh, and (1) BESS @ 250kW/558kWh in construction.
Discussions around solar PV installations at additional UCSC locations are beginning.
Launch Power and Resiliency Working Group.
Working group formed and priorities identified.
Prioritize LED building conversions and building commissioning opportunities.
Five buildings are at 50% Construction Design for LED replacements: Jack Baskin Engineering, McHenry Library, Communications, Athletics & Recreation Building, Hahn Student Services, & Interdisciplinary Sciences Building Physical Sciences Building is undergoing its first phase of commissioning.
GOAL 3 – Steward the land and water to support healthy ecosystems while balancing infrastructure needs.
Priority Initiatives:
Develop campus-wide Habitat Conservation Plan.
The draft Habitat Conservation Plan has been completed.
Preserve and monitor natural resources and ecosystems.
UC Santa Cruz has completed and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Western Cave Conservancy for Empire Cave. The Natural Reserves has monitored the California red-legged frog egg mass, tadpole, and metamorph and utilized students to study and report on the findings. They conducted weekly adult monitoring and summer larval burrow surveys of Ohlone tiger beetle in occupied UC Santa Cruz sites and created the Ranch View Terrace Habitat Conservation Plan annual report documenting survey and management efforts and results.
Engage faculty and students in living lab engagement opportunities related to advancing the goals of the S&CAP.
Two classes were created to teach decarbonization & electrification courses in the 2024-25 academic year. One in Earth & Planetary Sciences and one in the Arts Department.
Continue discussions with campus leadership about potential options for developing an MOU with local tribes that focuses on campus natural and future built environments.
The campus is in the early process of exploring what a formalized Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band could look like.
Begin master plan for campus fleet and commuter EV charging while advancing immediate EV charging infrastructure needs.
Physical Planning, Development & Operations (PPDO) and Transportation & Parking Services (TAPS) began preliminary planning and stakeholder engagement to develop a Fleet and Commuter electric vehicle (EV) Charging Master Plan. PPDO is advancing Fleet EV charging stations: -6 level 2, and 2 Direct Current Fast Chargers (DCFC) at the Emergency Response Center -5 level 2, and 2 DCFC at the Heat Plant.
8 solar charging EV ports have been installed across campus.
Advance the Integrated Watershed Management Plan and work to expand the non-potable water network across campus, manage stormwater, and advance water conservation and efficiency efforts.
The Integrated Watershed Management Plan final draft has been completed. Two grants were submitted for the Jordan Gulch Sewer Relocation. One did not receive funding, the other one is still under consideration.
10 Beacon water submeters were installed at Center for Agroecology. A new weather station has been installed at the East Field. The sprinkler heads at Coastal Science Campus were upgraded. Kresge Phase 1 is purple piped with a rainwater harvesting system.
Upgrade irrigation fixtures to smart automated controllers.
The Energy Department started a formal leak detection and mitigation program with state and housing staff. A student intern was hired to improve water leak detection. Funding constraints limited additional irrigation upgrades.
The Grounds department upgraded 10 irrigation systems to Calsense efficient controllers. For the month of August (the first month of the leak detection program), 13 leaks were detected and remediated with an average gallon per hour of 50 gallons per leak.
GOAL 4 – Advance a circular economy in the consumption cycle.
Priority Initiatives:
Outreach to campus about sustainable procurement and collect information to evaluate the effectiveness of the university’s purchasing system to support sustainable spend.
Procurement, working in conjunction with eProcurement, implemented a Guided Buying strategy into CruzBuy which highlights vendors that have been evaluated to help UC Santa Cruz meet our small and diverse business spend goals, as well as offer sustainable and accessible products and/or services. Procurement has developed the Strategic Sourcing Partner program to work with campus clients on current and future procurement projects. One of the areas of focus is to instruct, guide and better prepare for the inclusion of sustainable procurement practices and as well as guidelines in the Request For Proposal (RFP) process.
Secure resources and develop infrastructure that supports a culture of reuse and reusables.
Dining re-established its EcoBox program to mandate all to-go meals from dining halls be given out in a reusable EcoBox and no single-use items are given out with the meal. All meal plan holders were automatically enrolled.
20,628 EcoBox deposits were charged. 8,959 Bring Your Own Cup discounts given. 424,890 Santa Cruz Single Use Cup fees charged. 70,013 Single Use Bag fees charged.
Increase consistency and accessibility of zero waste stations, including compost bin availability.
New waste infrastructure was added across campus in academic year 2023-24 based on campus demand and to meet state waste laws.
56 new zero waste stations added. 29 single compost bins added.
Roll out an app for campus to help users sort waste properly.
Recycle Coach launched in January 2024 as the newest tool to help campus sort waste properly.
238 Average Recycle Coach users per month.
Update waste standards in New Construction and Major Renovation Design Standards.
New design standards for waste were written by the Sustainability Office and Physical Planning, Development, and Operations (PPDO) and review of the new standards were shared with all relevant parties over the summer of 2024.
Conduct a complete accounting of food that is plant-based, meets the AASHE STARS definition of sustainable food, and/or from vendors who are building a resilient food system.
The Real Food Calculator team analyzed 85% of food expenditures for academic year 2023-24. During the year, Dining transitioned vendors to sourcing fish (salmon, rockfish, and sole) using sustainable practices.
13% of food expenditures were sustainably sourced, 32% of food expenditures were plant-based.
GOAL 5 – Manage Sustainability Office programs and resources to maximize effective outreach, engagement, and transparency across campus community.
Priority Initiatives:
Host programs and events that advance a culture of sustainability amongst diverse campus community members.
The Sustainability Office, in conjunction with other partners, continued to host and create events that advance a culture of sustainability amongst our diverse campus community members.
Student Sustainability Advisors put on 20 events in FY24 and engaged with 3,300 people. Sustainable Food team put on 2 events and engaged with 65 people. Sustainability Environmental Justice Ambassadors put on People Planet Power Summit and several other events and engaged with over 300 students.
Provide paid student employment opportunities in relevant priority topic areas.
The Sustainability Office had 21 student positions in academic year 2023-24.
Visit Student Team Accomplishments to learn more.
Build and maintain a strong web and social media presence.
Across all social media channels – Followers: 4.8k, Reach: 12.7k, Content Interactions: 2.6k
Create and maintain regular feedback mechanisms for events and programs.
Multiple Sustainability Office programs assessed their effectiveness. Survey results include:
Carbon Fund: End of year participant survey: “How likely are you to recommend applying to a friend or coworker 1 (not very likely) – 5 (very likely)?”
Responses: 17%: 4 and 83%: 5.
Green Labs: End of year assessment of certified labs, “Did you learn anything new from this assessment?”
Responses: 10/11 said yes. 100% of respondents didn’t think any info was missing and thought the hyperlinks were useful.
Green Office: End of certification assessment, “Did the Green Office Certification Program help you identify and implement sustainable practices?”
Responses:100% of respondents said yes.
People Planet Power Summit (PPP): 100% of respondents said they would recommend PPP to a friend. Participant quote: “Loved it and really want to help organize next year’s summit and lead a workshop!”
Advance professional development for Sustainability Office staff.
The Sustainability Office team collectively averaged 2.2 professional development opportunities a month (classes taken, certificates achieved, networking, webinars, conferences, etc.)
Manage the Carbon Fund committee, awarding funds at least twice annually.
The Carbon Fund remained on schedule all year.
The Carbon Fund awarded 18 projects totaling $234,000.
Participate in Joint Senate/Admin committee on Climate Change, Sustainability & Resilience for Research and Teaching, and co-chair Operations Subcommittee.
The Sustainability Office built the Operations Subcommittee this fiscal year. A draft charge was developed and 13 staff and students were invited and accepted the committee membership. Teaching and Research Subcommittees are still under development with the Academic Senate.
Establish and maintain regular annual cycle for sustainability reporting, including: UCOP, S&CAP, Carbon Fund, and Sustainability Certificate reports; distribute reports broadly.
University of California Office of the President (UCOP) Annual Report: data successfully submitted.
Sustainability & Climate Action Plan (S&CAP): progress report completed and new priority initiatives established.
Carbon Fund: annual report completed.
Sustainability Certificate Program: annual report completed.
Student Team Accomplishments: annual report completed.
The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s (AASHE) Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS): on schedule for early 2025 submission.