Final Report

Making Place Matter: Positioning NSU as a Premier National Model for SCCD

Kelly D. Cain, PhD
Director, St. Croix Institute for Sustainable Community Development
University of Wisconsin River Falls

Submitted: October 8, 2010

Note: This report is the result of the Sept 19-22, 2010 visit to NSU's Tahlequah, Muskogee, and Broken Arrow campuses in order to provide a basic assessment of progress in achieving Strategic Goal 2 Develop sustainable communities, encompassing environmental responsibility, and community capacity-building ; and to make recommendations for further action.

The draft language of NSU's Goal 2 is some of the most aggressive in aspiration and intent as can be found in the United States. The courage, foresight, and leadership reflected in pursuit of this vision is a recognition of the revolutionary opportunities that exist at the local level, disguised as daunting challenges that we all face as planetary citizens.

With that said, it is important to understand that many of the following recommendations can be considered and acted upon individually and in isolation from each other, but are best considered and acted upon collectively for advancing the full breadth and depth of the sustainability agenda (Goal #2).

The underlying assumption is that NSU wishes to position itself as a premier national model for Sustainable Campus Community Development (SCCD). Doing so is not only central to exemplary leadership, but is of incalculable value to NSU's students and faculty, as well as to its regional partners and external stakeholders, from local to global.

This report also assumes that stated as Goal 2, it is in a priority position among other goals. At the same time, it recognizes that a genuine SCCD approach cannot be accomplished without recognizing the mutual interdependence that exists with all of other strategic goals, both conceptually and in practice.

While sustainability is the primary contextual framework for this report, it recognizes that each goal (and the planning for each) represents their own individual silos for programming and administration. It also assumes however, that in order for SCCD to truly serve as the single richest framework and platform for a fully integrated, multi-disciplinary and holistic systems thinking approach to student learning outcomes, that those who have responsibility for each strategic goal, must be able to visualize and articulate those goals in relationship to all others, especially sustainability.

In other words, SCCD is impossible without global literacy. It is also impossible without a socially just, equitable, and inclusive process. And so on, and so on. However without ecologic literacy of human dependency upon the integrity of fully functioning ecologic systems as a foundation to economic development, community well-being, etc., the rest are moot points for or as Thoreau said, What is the good of a nice house without a decent planet to put it on simply substitute all other strategic goals and aspirations for nice house .

Based on NSU's demonstrated intent to pursue an Integrated Planning approach to the future, the following are foundational recommendations, combining relative priority of action with that of a Sustainability-Based Integrated Planning (S-BIP) approach:

Mission Vision & Values (MVV) Recognizing that these are fully in place and provide a solid foundation from which to approach Goal 2, recommendations include:

1. Establish campus consensus of definition for sustainability / sustainable campus-community development that fit NSU's aspirations;
2. Establish a campus-based (NSU) institute that serves also as the walk-the-talk regional organization for deliberation, demonstration, and facilitation of values, principles, and practices of sustainable campus and community development;
3. Sign the American Colleges & Universities Presidents Climate Commitment(ACUPCC), and follow with academic programming, operational systems, and administrative processes consistent with the institutional values, principles, and practices of such;
4. Sign the Talloires Declaration, and follow with academic programming, operational systems, and administrative processes consistent with the institutional values, principles, and practices of such;
5. Sign the Earth Charter and follow with academic programming, operational systems, and administrative processes consistent with the values, principles, and practices of such;
6. Apply for Fair Trade Campus certification, and follow with academic programming, operational systems, and administrative processes consistent with the values, principles, and practices of such;
7. Integrate sustainability-based values, principles, and practices based on The Natural Step (TNS), Transition Towns, and/or Permaculture into all facets of campus and community integrated planning.

Learning Outcomes, Curricular & Co-Curricular Options (LOCC) recognizing NSU's already strong set of curricular and co-curricular offerings that reflect a foundation for sustainability, recommendations include:

Curricular:

1. Inventory of existing courses and programs with significant content and pedagogy that contribute to the sustainability agenda as defined in MVV 1;
2. Inventory of existing courses and programs with sustainability as a minor element as defined in MVV 1;
3. Develop and/or refine one or more General Education course options for a holistic systems thinking approach to sustainable community literacy and applied problem solving as a requirement for graduation of all students;
4. Identification of new or revised programs that maximize a delivery approach to SCCD, including face-to-face, distance learning, undergraduate and graduate research, service learning, internships, and all co-curricular options;
5. Consider expanding GIS faculty capability with state of the art hardware, software, professional development, and additional faculty as necessary to establish performance backbone for data and spatial support to campus and regional sustainability initiatives and tracking of indicators of success;
6. Consider hiring of an APA (American Planning Association) Certified Land Use Planning (Sustainable Community Design and Development Specialist) faculty as the primary lead in integrating campus and community based sustainability initiatives and maximizing service-learning opportunities. This faculty might be housed in association with the GIS-based option noted in LOCC and/or with a SCCD Institute as noted in MVV 2;
7. Establish an experiential-learning staff position for academic excellence devoted to sustainable community-based service learning, undergraduate research, and internships;
8. Establish a faculty release position of Coordinator of Sustainability- Based Curriculum Development and Pedagogical Strategies.

Co-Curricular:

1. Establish co-curricular policy criteria /standards for green event planning, travel, and administrative operations;
2. Establish a resident hall based learning community based on sustainable community values, principles, and practices;
3. Establish an on or off-campus SCCD demonstration house for student experience of sustainable lifestyle and community-based values, principles, and practices.

Outreach:

1. Establish advisory positions for community and regional representatives on the NSU institute for sustainable campus and community development ;
2. Facilitate a regional economic development conference devoted to sustainability community-based comprehensive planning and economic development for the northeast Oklahoma / Green Country region, with a general theme of The Future of Higher Education as a Vehicle for Sustainable Community Development .
3. Assessment and Evaluation:
4. Establish sustainability-based assessment and evaluation criteria for all curricular, co-curricular, and outreach programming.

Campus Planning, Facility Design, & Operational Systems (PDS) recognizing that the campus is either the walk the talk immersion experience / shadow curriculum / living laboratory for SCCD, or it is not:

1. Pursue national exemplary standard for sustainability community based, campus master plan for all three campuses;
2. Bring SCUP to campus for facilitation of Step 3 completion for large cadre of Step 2 graduates, (sending any other critical individuals to Steps 1 and 2 prior);
3. Hire a SCUP Planning Institute certified campus planner with a strong sustainability-based advocacy and performance capability that can serve all three campuses;
4. Establish new and existing building construction policy to reflect carbon negative- energy self-sufficiency criteria;
5. Complete a comprehensive solar energy study for all three campuses assessing both thermal & electric potential, with ROI scenarios.
6. Negotiate with Sodexo for a premier national model for locally sourced food system (as the primary institutional food consumer market), that drives vertically integrated production markets and food entrepreneurship in the region;
7. Convert original energy audit of eight years ago to carbon values for both thermal and electrical contexts to gain a gross approximation of carbon footprint. This could be done as part of a class project and checked against an internal staff and/or consultant calculation.

Administrative Systems & Budgetary Processes (ASBP): - recognizing that administrative systems and budgetary decisions must reinforce the critical and intimate relationship between student learning outcomes and the environments in which outcomes reflect either consistency or hypocrisy:

1. Complete a Climate Action Plan (CAPlan) that is foundational to planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of a fully integrated planning backbone for alignment of mission, vision, values, programming, facility design, operations, administrative systems, budgetary decisions, and financial strategies, and a requirement of signing the ACUPCC;
2. Complete a sustainable campus Community Plan (SCCPlan), consistent with the CAPlan, that is foundational to planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of a fully integrated planning backbone for alignment of mission, vision, values, programming, facility design, operations, administrative systems, budgetary decisions, and financial strategies;
3. Establish sustainability and carbon negative-based criteria for all budget requests (staff, equipment, facilities, and travel related requests);
4. Integrate explicit sustainability-based responsibilities into all faculty, staff, and administrative position descriptions, and titles wherever appropriate;
5. Establish an Office of Sustainability-Base Integrated Planning and Institutional Research
   (OSBIPIR);
6. Establish a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) position on the President's Cabinet.

Financial Strategies & Advancement (FSA) recognizing that the financial health of the institution is dependent upon its various investors and underwriters (including students in the form of self-imposed fees beyond tuition and as eventual alumni):

1. Develop a Student Green Fee for support of sustainability-based staffing, programming, and/or infrastructure, most pertinent to student life;
2. Launch an alumni effort for establishing an Endowed Faculty Chair for Sustainable Community Studies;
3. Establish socially and ecologically responsible investing criteria for all institutional investments;
4. Establish sustainable community-based endowed scholarships for the breadth and depth of student demographics and academic programs; and finally
5. Establish an unrestricted funds Foundational account for Sustainable Campus Community Development .