Institutional Mechanisms for Supporting Environmental Sustainability Initiatives
Coordinate, Support, and Uplift USF’s Environmental Sustainability Justice Initiatives.
Across the university, members of our community are already pursuing environmental sustainability and justice in myriad ways – through academic classes and programs, community-engaged learning, faculty research, and co-curricular experiences. We seek to further coordinate our work to realize synergies, enhance internal and external visibility, and to bolster the power of our teaching, research, and actions to change the world from here.
This Priority promotes the success of all areas of the action plan– enhancing ecological education within and outside the classroom, advancing sustainability in facilities and infrastructure, and cultivating ecological spirituality and culture. Uplifting our work will help us fully realize USF’s distinctively Jesuit Catholic approach to environmental justice and sustainability, an approach informed and inspired by Laudato Si’.
This priority and its associated outcomes embody USF’s commitment to the following Laudato Si’ goals:
The structure would provide the administrative resources necessary to fully connect, integrate, and uplift USF’s current and future environmental sustainability and justice efforts. Many schools, including many AJCU schools, already have centers that bring faculty and student efforts together. A summary of a 2019 proposal for a Center for Integral Ecology and Environmental Justice at USF is included in Appendix 4, and could provide a starting point for a renewed effort.
Short-term actions:
- Spring 2025: Assess prior efforts to fund a center, research centers at other schools to identify strengths and weaknesses (OEI; consult with Development Office)
- Identify potential funders (both public agencies and private foundations) for short term and long term needs (Office of Development; Office of Sponsored Programs)
- Empower faculty with expertise in a variety of environmental disciplines (chemistry, biology, hydrology, geography, engineering, geographic information science, law, business, economics, energy, public health etc.) to form a team to co-create a funding proposal in support of a Center
- 2023-25: Launch the Laudato Si Research Collaborative to foster cross-disciplinary engagement with Laudato Si, build community among faculty through nature immersion and dialogues, and prepare for a 2025 conference marking the 10-year anniversary of the encyclical (Lane Center)
Long-term actions
- Establish a fully-funded center with an executive director and administrative support.
- Gather additional information on curriculum, research, service, student organizations, and other activities to document our progress in achieving Laudato Si goals and to assess further opportunities. A faculty survey conducted by the Office of Assessment & Accreditation Support in February 2024 did not reap comprehensive information)(OEI working group members; Horizon Initiative steering committee, Provost’s Office)
- Enhance faculty and staff grant-writing and fundraising skills (CRASE, Office of Contracts and Grants)
Increasing the visibility of USF's initiatives would enhance fundraising efforts, attract and retain students, and enhance awareness of USF's programming both internally and externally.
- Research related websites at other universities (OEI, OMC)
- Work with OMC to develop a website and social media presence that enhances program and event promotion internally and to the larger community (OEI, Horizon Initiative Steering Committee, OMC)
Short-term actions:
- Provide clearinghouse/s of resources for teaching and research. (Gleeson, CTE)
- Establish a working group to determine relevant platforms and categories of information, establish parameters and criteria for the repository, and solicit content from faculty, librarians, and staff.
- Enhance the OEI MyUSF page to include information relevant to internal stakeholders (teaching, research, programs) (OEI)
- Work with CRASE to establish a climate change and sustainability research circle
- Enhance faculty and student research funds (See strategic plan goal 2, obj. 1, actions 3 & 5) (Provost’s Office)
Lane Center
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