Southern Oregon University : President : Blog : A Sustainable Community

On Friday, May 9, we held a President's Breakfast organized by our SOU Advisory Board. Focused on sustainability, the breakfast centered on an inspiring discussion and laid an excellent foundation for further communication and partnership. I was delighted that representatives from the Ashland City Council and the cities of Talent, Phoenix, and Grants Pass, as well as individuals from organizations such as Avista and the Land Conservancy, were able to attend.

Sustainability continues to be a major initiative on the campus. Last year, as you know, the student initiative for green tags made SOU the first Oregon campus to offset all of its electricity and natural gas with renewable energy added to the grid. The following are a few highlights of our work on campus:

The Medford Higher Education Center has been designed for LEED Gold certification; with the OUS support for solar panels, it may be the first LEED Platinum building in Southern Oregon.
The Deer Creek Center in the Illinois Valley has been designed with sustainable features, including a bath house with solar panels that preheat water for the showers, radiant heating in the floor slab, and low-flow plumbing fixtures.
The Science I rooftop HVAC replacement provides new energy efficient exhaust and make-up air equipment for lab spaces. This replacement will also eliminate steam energy loss associated with the rooftop piping system connected to the old systems.
The Boiler Renewal Project will decrease natural gas energy consumption from 81,143 mmBtu/yr. to 69,795 mmBtu/yr., a 14% reduction in energy usage.

We have long had sustainability and environmental issues built into all areas of our curriculum-from Art (with one of the few "green" printmaking programs in the country) to Business classes focused on sustainable practices. Commitment to our bioregion is a core commitment in our mission statement.

Environmental programs have been one of the star areas that attract students to SOU from around Oregon and around the country. Last year, we created Environmental Studies, with faculty from geology, biology, geography, anthropology, and other disciplines. I am hopeful that this curriculum will develop into one of the strongest undergraduate programs in the West.

The following summarizes some of the ideas generated during the President's Breakfast as we discussed partnership opportunities for SOU and community organizations.

Partnership between SOU and school districts: sharing sports facilities, housing-related needs, student projects, recycling and food service initiatives.
Leadership from the university in tandem with counties and communities to coordinate sustainability planning and projects, speakers, a Green Website, as well as coordinated purchases related to renewable energy (such as solar panels).
University classes or workshops intended to increase community awareness of sustainable practices (water, air, and food) and increase communication about sustainable planning. Potential partnerships may exist with the Home Builders Association and other private sector entities.
Partnership with OIT as well as RCC to create broader Southern Oregon sustainability efforts.
Increased visibility through a variety of media: partnership with RVTV; student articles in local media; press releases on all aspects of sustainability for business sections of newspapers; outreach to service clubs; webcasts and video links; ongoing P.R. focus on sustainability.
University/RCC/community efforts in areas such as recycling, tracking waste, improving "small footprint" transportation, working with the Land Conservancy.

With our strong commitment to sustainability as a campus, SOU is a natural leader for the region. We are also the natural campus to be hosting the June conference that will bring presidents and administrators from COPLAC institutions around the country to discuss the role of sustainability for liberal arts institutions within their respective states.

I am delighted at the strong sentiment expressed at Friday's breakfast to continue our conversations and strengthen our partnerships. I will discuss next steps with SOU's Sustainability Council and with leaders in our communities.

My thanks again to SOU's Advisory Board for helping to organize Friday's breakfast. And my thanks to everyone who attended. I look forward to working on these important initiatives.

Mary Cullinan