Sustainability Planning at OIT

Oregon Tech's mission is to be the leader in Sustainable Technology Education and to excel in full sustainability integration in campus operations, academics, and community involvement.  This commitment requires strategic planning, involvment with national sustainability organizations, and tracking and monitoring of progress.  As such, Oregon Tech has a 10-year Sustainability Plan based on a White Paper created from the Oregon Tech 2017 Strategic Planning process and will be creating a Climate Action Plan; is a member of the American College and University President's Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) and the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education; and tracks sustainability progress through a Sustainability Assessment Annual Report, a Green House Gas Inventory for the ACUPCC, and annual reporting for the College Sustainability Report Card.

In 2007, Oregon Tech participated in a 10-year, institution-wide, strategic planning process. Through this process, one of the mail goals of Oregon Tech was to "be in the forefront of the higher education sustainability movement in the areas of campus operations, academics and community involvement. Oregon Tech will develop campus operations that utilize and model the greatest degree of sustainability possible [and] Oregon Tech will make sustainability an educational priority; key concepts will be integrated into all levels of the curriculum and community."

Oregon Tech also created a Sustainability Plan in May of 2008 that covers 3-and 10-year goals on Plan Administration, Monitoring and Reporting; Academics; the Oregon Tech Campus Community; Energy; Facilities; Food; the Greater Klamath Basin Community; Landscape; Procurement; Research; Transportation; Waste; and Water. Annual reports on these areas will inform the campus community of progress on our goals. Several subcommittees of the Oregon Tech Sustainability Committee focus on accomplishing these goals. These goals will be assessed through an annual Sustainability Tracking System and reports will be available on-line starting with the 2008-2009 academic year.

In November of 2007, Interim President Dr. David Woodall signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), compelling Oregon Tech to make significant changes in greenhouse gas emissions over the next five years. Membership in the ACUPCC requires submission of Green House Gas Inventories and a Climate Action Plan. Oregon Tech submitted a Green House Gas Inventory to the ACUPCC on May 15, 2009 and is projected to submit a Climate Action Plan by January 15, 2009. Oregon Tech's goal is to be climate neutral by 2017 through a combination of conservation projects, geothermal heating and electicity generation, solar energy electricity generation, purchase of "green" power from the utilities, and carbon offsets.

The College Sustainability Report Card (www.greenreportcard.org) independently evaluates college campus sustainability activities across the United States and Canada.  "The Report Card's grading system seeks to encourage sustainability as a priority in college operations and endowment investment practices by offering independent yearly assessments."  Categories evaluated by the report card include Administration, Climate Change and Energy, Endowment Transparency, Food and Recycling, Green Building, Investment Priorities, Shareholder Engagement, Student Involvement, and Transporation.  Oregon Tech submitted a report for the 2008-2009 academic year and plans to improve its grades in each category over the next several years.