GOAL SETTING AND PLANNING

 

Teaching and modeling holistic sustainability that embraces human and environmental well-being are strategic priorities for Keene State College (KSC), expressed at the highest levels, beginning with the stated values for the College. The following five provide a strong foundation and framework for KSC’s commitment to sustainability (See: https://www.keene.edu/administration/mission/):

• Balanced development of mind, body, and character

• Diversity, civility, and respect

• Civic engagement and service to the community

• Environmental stewardship and sustainability

• Partnerships that enhance the quality of life in the Monadnock region, New Hampshire, and the world.
   

HIGHEST GUIDING DOCUMENTS AFFECTING SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability and climate planning and action are values that infuse all levels of the College. Therefore, there is not one single sustainability and climate action plan, but several that work together to form the body of sustainability and climate action planning for Keene State College. All of the plans listed below address sustainability and all are official college documents that have been approved by the appropriate governing authority. Most of the plans are published on the KSC web site. Two are not, but they are still considered to be formal plans that impact sustainability practice at KSC.

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The most influential highest guiding document is the 2015 Strategic Plan that identified a Collegewide goal of attaining AASHE STARS Gold by 2020 and required developing roadmaps to achieve that goal. As a result of this Collegewide strategic priority, KSC considers AASHE STARS to be an official planning tool and the published STARS report a formal planning document. The STARS report provides the Executive-approved record of sustainability at KSC. The Office of Sustainability, with the President’s Council for a Sustainable Future, uses AASHE STARS to identify goals, develop implementation actions, and track progress. The College uses the AASHE STARS platform to declare new goals to be achieved by the time of the next submission. The STARS report goes through extensive review throughout the College and in the Provost’s and President’s Office. Through the President's signing of the STARS Executive Letter, the goals and actions become the official record. It is the 2015 published Strategic Plan that set this process in motion, including hiring a Director of Campus Sustainability to develop annual AASHE STARS roadmaps (Office of Sustainability strategic plans) and ensure completion of the AASHE STARS report. The primary plans directing and/or influencing sustainability at KSC are:

 

Keene State College Campus Master Plan, Winter 2014: A 10-year master plan that called for a number of sustainability actions, including energy management and environmental stewardship (See: https://www.keene.edu/administration/mp/). Capital planning is completed in conjunction with the University System of New Hampshire (USNH). The Facilities Master Plan (last completed in 2013), undergoes comprehensive review every 10 years in compliance with USNH policy. The Physical Plant Department uses a deferred maintenance database, Sightlines (a national benchmarking study), and departmental requests as the basis for distributing the limited resources for renovation, repair, and small projects.

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KSC Master Plan Energy Management Considerations, 2014: Identified overarching Energy and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Goals. Also named energy conservation measures and other facility improvements needed to attain goals. This information was updated in 2020 as part of the Sustainability and Guaranteed Energy Savings Contract (SESCO) currently underway at KSC. Goals established in 2014 included (See: https://www.keene.edu/administration/mp/):

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• Enable KSC to be below the peer average for energy use through energy efficiency

• Establish energy conservation as a strategic priority

• Plan to achieve GHG objectives.
   

Strategic Plan V 4.0: Goals, Objectives, Actions, and Considerations, 2015: Important document that transformed KSC’s approach to sustainability by identifying AASHE STARS as the key benchmarking and planning tool, creating a priority Collegewide goal based on AASHE STARS, and creating a new Director of Campus Sustainability position to oversee comprehensive sustainability and climate action (See: https://www.keene.edu/administration/president/svp/planning-archive/planning/strategic-plan/). Most critical was the following goal:

Goal 4: Community and Culture: Through a consistent practice of shared stewardship, Keene State College will strengthen its community, enrich its campus culture, and advance environmental sustainability.

- Objective 4.5) Promote a culture and instill and communicate policies and practices that value and support environmental sustainability and improve the quality of life locally and globally.

4.5.1) Review Sustainability Tracking and Rating System (STARS) data.

4.5.2) Develop and implement a plan to move Keene State to the STARS Gold rating no later than 2020.

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Sustainability and Vitality Plan (SVP), 2019: In March 2019, President Treadwell released a draft of the SVP to the entire KSC community. The SVP is a tactical, goal-oriented three-year plan (2019-21) focused on addressing KSC’s enrollment and financial deficit with three goals per year and priorities under each goal. The president created the SVP with advice and input from the cabinet, informed by campus listening sessions and a full day retreat in May 2019. Because the SVP overlapped the timeframe of the 2015 Strategic Plan, actions from that plan already in place or underway, continued. This was the case for sustainability as the College implemented a road map to achieve its AASHE STARS Gold by 2020 goal.

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Three overarching goals were identified in the SVP: (1) improve recruitment, retention, and achievement of students and faculty; (2) improve fiscal planning and stewardship; and (3) rethink our work as a student-centered organization. The College strengthened its commitment to sustainability in the SVP under Goal 2, which specifically calls for optimizing energy efficiency and continuing to “introduce green initiatives”:

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Goal 2: Improve Fiscal Planning & Stewardship

• Priorities: We are focused on streamlining our finance infrastructure and tools and realigning our budget allocation and processes. At Keene State, we are committed to efficient stewardship of our resources while maintaining the quality of our educational offerings and experiences. To remain a viable and strong institution for future learners, we will continue to forge new community partnerships and pursue mutually beneficial co-location opportunities with other institutions. Through our sustainability efforts we will optimize energy efficiency for Keene State’s physical plant and reinvest our savings, and will continue to introduce green initiatives that make the best possible use of our resources.
   

Implementation and tracking of the SVP is managed by the Director of Strategic Project Management, appointed in fall 2019. In spring 2020, KSC began using Project Charters to define initiatives and to quantify the expected outcomes. The Charters require that priority initiatives have an executive sponsor, a project manager, and defined and measurable outcomes that can be tracked. Sustainability is well represented in the SVP Charters with the approved SIEMENS Sustainability/Energy Services Contract (SESCO) Charter and a draft Zero Waste Management Charter. The SESCO Charter represents the most recent official published plan for Sustainability and Energy at KSC.

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Academic and Co-Curricular Plan (ACP), 2016: Academic planning is included in the ACP of 2016, which flowed from the 2015 Strategic Plan. The ACP is a broad document with many proposals intended to bring together the students’ curricular and co-curricular experiences. KSC prioritized those proposals that focused on the first-year experience. The priorities include advancing KSC’s College-Wide Learning Outcomes (CWLO); revisions to the Integrative Studies Program (ISP); and a broad first-year experience program with living-learning communities, an early alert system, and a first-year advising program. All of these initiatives represent avenues for promoting sustainability at KSC, but the development of a Collegewide Learning Outcome that directly addresses sustainability, along with compatible Collegewide Learning Outcomes that emphasize citizen engagement, multicultural awareness, well-being (all sustainability challenges according to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the international Earth Charter), ensures that sustainability is infused through all curricular and co-curricular activities on campus. The sustainability-related Collegewide Learning Outcomes are:

 

Sustainability:

Keene State College students will explore their place in interconnected natural and human systems; evaluate the personal, social, and environmental impacts of their choices; and apply their knowledge and skills for building a just, resilient, and thriving world.

 

Intercultural Competence:

Keene State College students will reflect critically on their own culture and on the intersectionality of culture and social location, demonstrate knowledge of a diversity of cultures, and communicate effectively with people from a variety of backgrounds.

 

Civic Engagement:

Keene State College students will demonstrate knowledge of one or more social or environmental issues including relevant cultural, political and policy contexts; take action individually or collectively to address issues; and reflect on the ethical dimensions of civic engagement.

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Commitment to Well-Being:

Keene State College students will reflect critically on their own well-being and that of the larger world, demonstrate knowledge of issues that impact health and wellness, advocate for themselves, and commit to one or more practices that promote well-being.

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GOVERNING/PLANNING AUTHORITIES FOR SUSTAINABILITY

The highest governing documents of Keene State College establish the various planning authorities that affect sustainability, including:

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• President and her Cabinet: Collegewide initiatives requiring significant financial investment require the President’s and Cabinet’s approval. For example, Campus Sustainability Goals requiring the investment of capital beyond what is currently budgeted, such as large energy projects, require Cabinet approval. The College has autonomy in spending up to a certain point. Currently, new capital projects over $500,000 require review and approval by the University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees.

• College Senate (including Provost): The Senate is the policy making and legislative body for Keene State College regarding all matters that impact on the quality of education at the College. All proposals for new courses, majors, and other academic programs must receive Senate approval. The Sustainability Collegewide Learning Outcome and new Sustainability Studies major and minor required Senate approval, but not Cabinet.

• Vice Presidents: For initiatives affecting the budgets of their respective Divisions (e.g., purchasing of new toters for recycling), the appropriate Vice President must be briefed and grant approval.

• Directors are granted autonomy for decisions affecting their respective Departments for items that are funded in their budgets and/or that do not need financial investment (e.g., rolling out new campus sustainability education programs like workshops and movie nights).
   

In 2015 KSC hired its first Director of Campus Sustainability with dual reporting to the Provost/Vice President of Academic Affairs and the Vice President of Finance and Administration. The Director was charged with establishing an autonomous Office of Sustainability;  liaising across campus to facilitate actions needed to achieve the 2015 Strategic Plan goal of attaining AASHE STARS Gold by the end of 2020 and the new goal announced in KSC’s 2021 AASHE STARS report—Platinum no later than 2025; and facilitating the President’s Council for a Sustainable Future (PCSF), the designated advisory and action stakeholder group for sustainability and climate change actions for the campus. The Director of Campus Sustainability, with Office of Sustainability staff, hold the “big picture” view of sustainability and climate action for the whole campus, and are the leads for establishing sustainability and climate responsibility goals and actions. For example, the Director of Campus Sustainability Co-Chairs the Subcommittee that developed and now implements the Sustainability Collegewide Learning Outcome. The Director also facilitates goal-setting processes, engaging the PCSF and seeking appropriate Cabinet, Senate, and/or Provost or Vice President approval as needed. The Director, and/or other members of the Office of Sustainability staff, are also the managers or co-managers of sustainable energy contracts, recycling and food waste initiatives, and many other programs.

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Other sustainability and climate responsibility actions require review by the President’s Council for a Sustainable Future and/or other relevant Committees or Subcommittees (e.g., Collegewide Learning Outcome Committee and its Sustainability Collegewide Learning Outcome Subcommittee). Approval by any of these bodies indicates an official policy from which more specific implementation proposals and plans are developed. KSC also uses its AASHE STARS reports as a planning tool and plan. For example, goals that have been vetted by the PCSF, and other campus stakeholders, but that do not need Cabinet or Senate approval, are identified in the AASHE STARS report, which becomes the official document. The STARS report is reviewed by the Provost and President’s offices, respectively, and through their acceptance of the STARS report and by signing the Executive Letter, they acknowledge their acceptance of the goals. In some instances, the AASHE STARS report is the official record. 

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It is important to note that this robust sustainability planning structure is not meant to preclude other sustainability actions. Sustainability planning and implementation occurs throughout the campus as individuals and departments take action to meet the College’s goals. A good example of this is the College’s Grounds Crew, who implement organic landscape management because it is the right thing to do and it meets the College’s goals.

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Sustainability and climate planning and action are values that infuse all levels of the College. This is intentional in order to engage and empower students, faculty, staff, and administrative leaders in creating a culture of sustainability that encourages participation and makes meaningful change.

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MEASURABLE SUSTAINABILITY OBJECTIVES

Specific sustainability and climate action goals and objectives are determined and codified in myriad ways depending on the type of planning authority required. The College’s highest guiding documents set the tone, but more specific plans describe implementation approaches. Three examples are:

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• Conservation and Sustainable Energy Plan for Keene State College, approved by Cabinet March 26, 2018

• The Sustainability and Vitality Strategic Plan and its Charters, especially the Siemens Sustainability/Energy Services Contract (SESCO), 2020

• Keene State College Sustainability Academics Plan, approved by the Provost on June 27, 2018.

 

Table 1 identifies KSC’s measurable sustainability and climate action goals identified during the AASHE STARS reporting period of 2017 through end of 2020. It also identifies the affiliated published plans and/or official documents.

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Table 1. Measurable sustainability and climate action goals identified during the AASHE STARS reporting period of 2017 through end of 2020