Campus Sustainability

Sustainability Action Plan

In this page

  1. Introduction
  2. Strategic Goals for Campus Sustainability
  3. Campus Planning and Development
  4. Appendix

Action for Sustainability

With direction from the Chancellor in 2018, 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 plan was updated at the end of 2022 to reflect changes since the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent disruptions. We remain committed to our goals and you can view the updated plan below.

Download the PDF version of the 2023 Update (1MB)

Land Acknowledgement

The University of Washington acknowledges the Coast Salish peoples of this land, the land which touches the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip, and Muckleshoot nations.

The language we use to honor place was developed over the course of several years by the UW Tribal Liaison with input from tribal elders, elected tribal leaders, attendees of the annual UW Tribal Leadership Summit, the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI), UW Native American Advisory Board, and others across our community. This language template is spoken by UW leadership during events to acknowledge that our campus sits on occupied land. We recognize that this is a difficult, painful, and long history, and we thank the original caretakers of this land.

Recognition of Purpose

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.

Introduction

Background

Since the founding of our campus, sustainability has been a core element of the fabric of the University of Washington Bothell. The 2008 campus strategic plan identified sustainability as one of seven key initiatives, 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 our history of a collaborative and interdisciplinary culture where students, staff, faculty, and the surrounding community work together to produce tangible accomplishments in research, teaching, operations, student life, and community partnerships around sustainability. 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 environment.

With a campus-wide Strategic Plan underway for 2023, 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.

Campus Advisory Committee on Environmental Sustainability

The Campus 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. 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.

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 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. As of the end of 2022, 37% of the goals have been achieved or remain in progress. The COVID-19 pandemic as well as staffing changes hampered advancement and created unprecedented challenges. The University remains committed to its original goals and the intention of this report is to measure our progress so far and outline a plan for the future.

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, a historical document that established immediate, mid, and long-term goals for the campus to meet in terms of supporting underrepresented groups at UW Bothell. Since 2020, strengthening diversity, equity, and inclusion has been one of the three core pillars of the University’s Strategic Plan, and continues to be so in the 2023 plan.

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

Sustainability Definition and Mission Statement

At the University of Washington, we define sustainability as the capacity to create and maintain healthy, equitable, and diverse communities and ecosystems. That capacity comprises 1) an understanding and respect for the interdependence of the atmosphere, the waters, the land, and all life on Earth, 2) a full recognition of legacy and on-going impacts of human activity, and 3) a commitment to cultivate collective wisdom and to deliberately act out of that understanding, respect, and recognition.

The Sustainability Office at UW Bothell works to advance the campus sustainability vision. We do this by:

  • Promoting sustainability on campus and throughout the community in a way that is inclusive, equitable, and accessible
  • Connecting students, staff, faculty, and other stakeholders to the resources needed to implement sustainability projects
  • Engaging students and the campus community in sustainability-related activities taking place on campus and in our surrounding community
  • Monitoring our progress through data tracking and maintaining industry certifications

Our vision is that UW Bothell will have a distinct regional and national reputation for a culture of sustainable practices and achievements on campus. Our commitment to this vision is reflected in this document as well as the UW Sustainability Action Plan.

Strategic Goals for Campus Sustainability

I. 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.

A. Integrating and Assessing Sustainability Across the Academic Curriculum

Steps we will take in 2023-2024
  • Work with the UW Bothell Office of Community Engaged Learning and Research (CELR) to develop ways of supporting faculty in exploring the intersections of environmental sustainability with equity, social justice, inclusion, and diversity.
  • Design and Implement a sustainability survey for students, staff, and faculty to assess student’s current exposure to sustainability topics and their desires for future sustainability projects on campus.
  • Collaborate with colleagues at UW Seattle and UW Tacoma on a UW-wide Sustainability Course designation in MyPlan.
  • Advance efforts to establish a minor in Climate Justice.
Responsible Parties and Linkages
  • UWB Sustainability, UWB Office of CELR, UW Tacoma Sustainability, UW Sustainability
  • CELR programs and faculty, CELR Fellows Program, Sustainability Curriculum Coalition at UW
Future Goals
  • Develop a web-based resource for teaching sustainability in different topic areas (including archived assignments, discussion boards, etc)
  • Maintain a cross-campus sustainability teaching circle comprised of faculty across academic units
  • 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 in all departments.
Past Accomplishments
  • Developed a form to process wetland access requests and expedite communication.
  • Established Earth System Science major and GIS minor.
  • The pandemic switch to online learning provided an alternative structure to classroom education with lower emissions.
  • UW Tri-campus Restoration Ecology Network and RE minor established.

B. Promoting Scholarship and Service in Sustainability Extracurricular Activities

Steps we will take in 2023-2024
  • Expand courses incorporating Community Engaged Learning and Research (CELR) and co-curricular programs for first-year students that teach about local and regional sustainability issues through community engagement.
  • Develop resources to facilitate broader use of campus natural areas in courses and a tracking system for such use.
  • Develop sustainability focused student employment and internship opportunities.
Responsible Parties and Linkages
  • UWB Sustainability, CELR, and faculty
  • First-Year Programs, CELR faculty, Environmental Education and Research (EERC) Center at St. Edwards State Park
Future Goals
  • Support students in establishing a Campus Sustainability Fund
  • Work with IAS/Environmental faculty on capstone course development
Past Accomplishments
  • Ongoing partnership between Office of Sustainability and CELR to offer community-based sustainability learning through CELR projects.

II. 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.

A. Increase Engagement in Sustainability Research

Steps we will take in 2023-2024
  • Continue to encourage all UW Bothell laboratories and offices to achieve Green Laboratory Certification/Green Office Certification.
  • Reinvigorate the Faculty and Staff CELR Fellows Program to promote faculty and staff engagement in community-engaged sustainability research.
Responsible Parties and Linkages
  • UWB Sustainability, CELR, Office of Research, EH&S
  • CELR Fellows Program, Office of Research, UW Seattle Undergraduate Research Fair, Inspire STEM Festival
Future Goals
  • Highlight the diversity of sustainability research and its intersections across different disciplines, campus priorities, and members of the campus community.
  • Amplify the Office of Research’s ongoing efforts to support, facilitate, and find funding for sustainability research.
Past Accomplishments
  • Development of Research and Learning center at St. Edwards State Park.
  • Multiple faculty sponsored research programs

B. Showcase sustainability research

Steps we will take in 2023-2024
  • Work with organizing committees to include/expand the presence of sustainability research in campus events that highlight research for the campus community and beyond.
  • Promote students sustainability research projects through the undergraduate research database, showcasing opportunities at the Fall Research Fair, and working with community partners and the CELR Office.
Responsible Parties and Linkages
  • UWB Sustainability, Office of Connected Learning
  • CELR Programs, Office of Research
Future Goals
  • 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.
  • Host an annual campus sustainability research fair/symposium to bring faculty, staff, and students together to discuss past research on campus sustainability and future research, funding, and proposals.
Past Accomplishments
  • Ongoing Climate Dialog Speaker Series hosts talks by UW faculty and community partners and engaged with students, staff faculty, and community members from all UW campuses and Cascadia College.
  • Development of Connected Huskies online research database.

III. 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.

A. Conserve Building Energy Use

Steps we will take in 2023-2024
  • Continue to work with Puget Sound Energy and Campus Facilities to build load shedding into the Metasys Johnson Controls Building Automation System to reduce energy peak demands.
  • Early adoption of the 2026 Washington Clean Buildings Performance Standards.
Responsible Parties and Linkages
  • UWB Facilities and Campus Operations
  • Load Shedding Project and Clean Buildings compliance
Future Goals
  • Upgrade all lighting to energy efficient LEDs.
  • Revise Building Hours policy to include blackout times during academic breaks when campus is shut down.
  • Establish a formal green revolving fund.
  • Establish a formal building sustainability operations and maintenance policy.
Past Accomplishments
  • All hallway lighting upgraded to energy efficient LEDs and some human centric motion-detecting lighting.
  • Use of energy savings to fund other energy efficiency upgrades.
  • Integrated load shedding program into building automation to reduce peak energy usage by 35 kW.
  • Upgraded boilers to high efficiency.

B. Manage Waste Sustainably

Steps we will take in 2023-2024
  • Continue to educate campus community about waste diversion and proper waste sorting through upgraded signage, trainings, and interactive bin system.
  • Identify ways to connect with courses and programs on waste education and diversion.
  • Purchase and install sonar technology in dumpsters to start tracking waste data.
  • Institute paper towel composting program for Husky Hall and NCEC.
Responsible Parties and Linkages
  • UWB Sustainability, Facilities Services, and Recology
  • UW Recycling, Recology programs and training
Future Goals
  • Reduce waste through the elimination of recycling bin liners.
  • Increase campus engagement with waste management through participation in the campus race to zero waste competition.
  • Reduce landfill-bound waste through the creation and promotion of green purchasing policies that encourage items and their packaging that create less waste or can be recycled or composted.
Past Accomplishments
  • Triple bin stations available inside and outside of every building.
  • Integration of Minimax service in all buildings.
  • Comprehensive composting for each building.
  • BIS 246 Intro to Sustainability course has a waste sorting component.
  • Green kitchens, offices, and sustainable living guides created and posted around campus.

C. Conserve Water Use and Quality

Steps we will take in 2023-2024
  • Ensure rain gardens and rainwater capture and storage and their impacts are considered in all future campus building projects.
  • Recommission and upgrade the Rainbird Maxicom Irrigation System for better leak detection and improved efficiency of water use in irrigation.
  • Sub-meter water use in areas that we do not control 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.
Responsible Parties and Linkages
  • UWB Facilities, Space planning, Campus design and review team
  • Campus Master Plan
Future Goals
  • 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 should be included.
  • Install a highly visible rainwater capture system and cistern on one of the smaller historic buildings as a demonstration installment for education and outreach.
  • Improve efficiency of water chillers.
Past Accomplishments
  • Discovery Hall rain garden/art installation.
  • Reduced water use for landscape irrigation by planting natives and letting lawns go dormant during the summer.

D. Organic Landscape and Grounds

Steps we will take in 2023-2024
  • Improve wetland access through signage updates that enhance the opportunities for academic engagement with the site, while mitigating the destructive effects of use on the ecosystem.
  • Continue to monitor the crow population on campus and their impacts on maintenance work, water quality, pathogen exposure, and wetland biodiversity.
  • Establish expectations and standards for management of grounds on contracted spaces on campus such as the Residential Village that adhere to our campus vision for an organic landscape.
Responsible Parties and Linkages
  • UWB Grounds, faculty
  • CELR programming, UWB Sustainability signage
Future Goals
  • 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.
  • Improve wetland access through a network of boardwalks, viewing towers, and designated class research locations that are developed for common educational applications.
Past Accomplishments
  • Sarah Simonds Green Conservatory built in 2013 to facilitate propagation of plant material for wetland and campus farm.
  • Platinum Green Grounds certification from Re:Wild Your Campus.
  • Campus farm donates extra produce to Husky Pantry and Kodiak Cave.

IV. 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.

A. Encourage Alternative Transportation Options

Steps we will take in 2023-2024
  • Reduce vehicles driving to campus by managing daily rates for parking during peak times while decreasing evening and weekend rates.
  • Find space for and build/install structure for convenient, safe, covered bicycle parking.
  • Add electric vehicle charging stations as demand dictates to promote alternative fuel vehicles.
  • Continue to work with transit agencies to ensure efficient, convenient, reliable, and safe routes through campus remain a priority.
Responsible Parties and Linkages
  • UWB Commuter Services
  • UW Sustainability Action Plan
Future Goals
  • Incentivize alternative transportation solutions by providing a fully subsidized UPASS for students.
  • Incentivize electric bus routes through campus by providing charging stations for King County Metro electric buses.
  • Continue to electrify the campus fleet as vehicles are retired.
Past Accomplishments
  • With the addition of the West Garage, 7 new dual head EV charging stations were added.
  • UPASS is partially subsidized by Commuter Services and fully subsidized for faculty and staff.
  • Priority parking offered to carpools.
  • Students living on campus must pay to park a vehicle.

B. Investigate Opportunities to Reduce our Transportation Impacts

Steps we will take in 2023-2024
  • Investigate Bicycle Friendly University designation.
Responsible Parties and Linkages
  • UWB Commuter Services
Future Goals
  • Investigate and pursue Park Smart Certification for parking garages.
  • Involve the community through encouraging alternative travel to campus, providing tips and tricks about transportation, and engaging people who otherwise wouldn’t be involved.
Past Accomplishments
  • Annual commuter services transportation survey is conducted to analyze commute modal split.
  • Parking garages pursued over surface lots to minimize stormwater runoff. Stormwater is sent through oil-water separators and bioswales to filter out pollutants.
  • Programming offered by Commuter Services to promote bike month and transit services.

V. Food, Dining, and Purchasing

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. 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.

A. Implement Sustainable Purchasing Program

Steps we will take in 2023-2024
  • Set criteria for vendor partners (Food Trucks, Aramark, catering) with regards to requirements for service, including use of compostable products, food waste, energy efficiency, waste diversion, sustainable packaging, purchasing, etc.
  • Establish a green event program and culture for the campus, to be implemented across all departments that hold events on campus.
Responsible Parties and Linkages
  • UWB Sustainability, Procurement Services, Capstone, Campus Events Board
  • UW Seattle Supplier Code of Conduct, Results Washington state campaign
Future Goals
  • Leverage the existing work 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.
  • Green purchasing guidelines should be developed that help buyers understand what environmental criteria to consider and prioritize when making purchases.
Past Accomplishments
  • UW procurement manages a sustainable purchasing program that promotes environmental preferred purchasing (EPP).

B. Increase Sustainable Dining Options

Steps we will take in 2023-2024
  • Offer sustainable food options in the dining hall including 50% plant-based choices, 25% locally sourced ingredients, and low-carbon meals.
  • Rebuild on-campus food composting program.
  • Make the transition to 100% compostable takeout containers for food vendors and events.
Responsible Parties and Linkages
  • UWB Sustainability, Capstone, Aramark
  • UW Sustainability Action Plan, Aramark Cool Food Meals program
Future Goals
  • Build on existing partnerships with Recology, UW Bothell Grounds, and Sustainability to foster education, programming, and training for dining staff and customers around food waste diversion at on-campus dining venues.
Past Accomplishments
  • Implemented creative ways to work with low-impact vendors such as food trucks.

VI. 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 Farm, Community-Engaged Learning and Research (CELR), and various volunteer opportunities throughout campus. Faculty and staff also support these efforts through ongoing involvement in class projects, research, and curricula. 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.

A. Increase Campus Sustainability Engagement

Steps we will take in 2023-2024
  • Identify new opportunities to create more comprehensive sustainability programming for orientation programs.
  • Advance the UW Bothell Sustainable Living Guide for all students and incorporate green living tools into Move-in Day Orientation.
  • Develop an energy use “ecolympics” contest between residence halls to build awareness about energy consumption.
Responsible Parties and Linkages
  • UWB Sustainability, Residential Life, Capstone
  • Residential Life and Orientation programming
Future Goals
  • Improve the student educators program by developing a formal peer-to-peer program, modeling the HEROs or Outdoor Wellness, but with a sustainability and environmental justice focus.
  • Identify potential funding sources for student sustainability projects, such as the creation of a student sustainability fund.
  • Develop a sustainability training program for residence hall RAs.
  • Integrate sustainability programming into other established annual campus events (Welcome Week, Spring Fest, Club Fair, Job Fair, etc)
Past Accomplishments
  • Collaboration with Outdoor Wellness Leaders (OWLs).
  • Annual Earth Month and Climate Dialog programming.
  • Campus history and sustainability training offered to Orientation Leaders and campus tour guides.
  • Campus sustainability tours offered throughout the year and a self-guided tour is available online.

B. Develop and Distribute Outreach Materials and Publications

Steps we will take in 2023-2024
  • Develop cohesive sustainability branding, identifying and creating partnerships that can expand the audience, and leveraging platforms and audiences of other departments.
  • Develop 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.
Responsible Parties and Linkages
  • UWB Sustaianbility
  • UWB Marketing and Communications
Future Goals
  • A joint Cascadia-UWB Sustainability Office on the main campus with room for student engagement.
Past Accomplishments
  • Ongoing sustainability newsletter published bi-monthly.
  • Implemented social media strategy to increase online engagement.
  • Website redesign to be more student centric.
  • Common Caws for Sustainability Podcast.

C. Increase Engagement with Sustainability Programming

Steps we will take in 2023-2024
  • Work to increase the engagement of faculty and courses with UW Bothell Earth Week activities, along with other extracurricular events with a sustainability focus.
  • Encourage staff and faculty to become involved with campus sustainability activities.
Responsible Parties and Linkages
  • UWB Sustainability, Cascadia Sustainability, faculty
  • The Whole U programs
Future Goals
  • Develop more regular programming around sustainability on campus. Identify partnerships that cut across the curriculum with shared interest in sustainability.
  • Promote student volunteer opportunities in the Sarah Simonds Green Conservatory greenhouse.
  • Provide workshops, courses, and seminars on sustainability topics for staff and faculty.
  • Create additional on-campus courses and workshops, reduce the need for employees to travel to Seattle to participate.
  • Provide formal training on waste diversion and sustainability research/teaching for new staff and faculty.
Past Accomplishments
  • Sustainability programming is open and advertised to all.
  • Working with professors to offer extra credit or bring their classes to sustainability events.
  • Campus farm work parties and leasing beds out to departments.

VII. 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.

A. Leverage Community Partnerships

Steps we will take in 2023-2024
  • Develop summer campus programs with community partners such as Friends of North Creek Forest, City of Bothell, EERC, or Pacific Science Center with a focus on wetlands and other campus-based topics.
Responsible Parties and Linkages
  • UWB Sustainability, Campus Events team
  • Champions Camps
Future 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.
Past Accomplishments
  • Community partners engagement with Earth Month activities and CELR programs.

B. Strengthen Resources for Campus Community Members

Steps we will take in 2023-2024
  • Improve signage and interpretation of UW Bothell grounds to enhance understanding and appreciation of the environmental history and Indigenous worldviews.
  • Enhance online resources that enable the public to access sustainability information.
Responsible Parties and Linkages
  • UWB Sustainability, Wetland and Grounds Department
  • Burke Museum
Future Goals
  • Develop a voluntary “green ribbon” graduation pledge for students graduating to explore and take into account the environmental consequences of any job they consider.
  • Work with CELR of UW Program on the Environment students to develop a podcast or GIS layer that functions as a virtual wetland tour.
  • Identify and implement a system for qualitative and quantitative assessment of public engagement efforts on the UW Bothell campus.
Past Accomplishments
  • Sustainability website redesign has focused on being more clear and easier to navigate.
  • Grounds team places signage to educate about pollinators, no mow areas, water conservation, and native plants.

C. Provide Community Service

Steps we will take in 2023-2024
  • Increase student, faculty, and staff participation in projects relating to the upkeep/maintenance of the wetlands and campus farm.
  • Work with campus and community partners to connect students with volunteer opportunities.
Responsible Parties and Linkages
  • UWB Sustainability, Career Services, Grounds Department
  • Career Fairs
Future Goals
  • Enhance and expand programs such as Alternative Spring Break to increase student participation in sustainability projects throughout the region.
Past Accomplishments
  • Crow festival held in 2018.
  • Grounds team works with student volunteers and student employees in the wetland and upper campus landscape.

D. Increase Community Stakeholder Engagement

Steps we will take in 2023-2024
  • Diversify and increase our CELR partnerships with environmental/sustainability-based organizations, policy-organizations, and climate-focused organizations.
  • 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.
Responsible Parties and Linkages
  • UWB Sustainability
  • One UW, UW Tri-campus Sustainability Network
Future Goals
  • Collaborate with Cascadia College on incentivizing community engagement throughout the shared campus community.
Past Accomplishments
  • Ongoing collaboration with Cascadia Sustainable Practices program.
  • Ongoing collaboration with CELR to offer sustainability partnerships and community-based learning opportunities.
  • Ongoing collaboration with UW Tri-campus sustainability network.
  • Climate Dialog Speaker Series co-hosted events on UW Seattle and Tacoma campuses.
  • Hosted 2022 WAHESC summer conference.

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 Campus 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 Campus 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.

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

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
  • Rachel Luther, Current 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
  • 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