Oregon State University
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

In FY16, the Orange Media Network used project grant funds from the Student Sustainability Initiative (SSI) to purchase two trikes to deliver OSU's newspaper, demonstrating their commitment to sustainability in line with SSI's Climate Neutral 2025 initiative. Along with the implementation of trikes, the newspaper conducted twice a term delivery audits to adjust its distribution. Following the audits, they reduced the press run by 2,000 papers per day.

The Ecological Engineering Student Society constructed a rainwater catchment system for the greenhouse on the 6th floor in one of OSU's science buildings. This catchment system is used as an alternative source of water for the plants and aquaponic systems in the greenhouse. Attached to the catchment barrel is a pressure tank and pump to deliver water from the barrel to the plants. The catchment system is also used to educate visitors to the greenhouses on the benefits of renewable water and energy sources and provide an example of systems they could implement in their own homes and communities.

Energy audits of student-fee funded buildings on campus were conducted by three students working at the Energy Center, and based on their assessments the OSU childcare center was awarded $6,767 to upgrade to LED lighting.

The student sustainability coordinator with Recreational Sports worked with a team of consultants and presented a funding proposal to upgrade facilities in Dixon Rec Center, OSU's main gym. The proposal included upgrades in Dixon's Building Management System, utilizing ceiling fans and other air circulation devices throughout the building where possible, and upgrading lighting to LED technology, including daylight control, for the Upper and Lower Gyms, and the Indoor Rock Climbing wall. Students voted to fund this project for $90,000.

http://sli.oregonstate.edu/ssi/pastsustainabilitygrants

The Oregon BEST Green Building Materials Laboratory includes research activities from the Schools of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering and Civil and Construction Engineering and the Department of Wood Science and Engineering. Equipment housed in this Oregon BEST Signature Laboratory will allow OSU researchers to characterize, develop and test high performance sustainable materials for a wide variety of applications including buildings and transportation infrastructure. The GBML interfaces with the Capital Planning and Development civil engineering group to examine best practices within campus infrastructure.

Numerous courses have conducted survey-based projects during pre- and post-occupancy period for new and renovated OSU buildings.

Additionally, student workers in Capital Planning and Development gain real work experience with increasing questions about sustainability in the campus built environment.

The OSU Energy Efficiency Center and Industrial Assessment Center, both part of the school of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, use student labor to offer Rural Energy Audits, industrial and campus facility assessments, and other customized energy analyses. The center focuses on mentored energy efficiency training, performs related research, data accumulation and analysis and offers other related services.

The EEC has the goal of developing and sharing a knowledge base of new and common efficiency opportunities in a range of sectors, including industrial, agricultural, municipal, institutional, commercial and residential. The center is built on student management with faculty mentorship and oversight.

The Eco2Go is a program from University Housing and Dining Services (UHDS) that provides customers with reusable take-out containers. The goal of this program is to prevent plastic and other types of food container waste from reaching the landfill. A student was hired by the Student Sustainability Initiative Wage Grant program to outreach at the three main campus dining centers to educate our campus community on the new Eco2GO process. The student coordinator conducted presentations to Residence Hall Association groups to encourage the Eco2Go return rate within residence halls. Additionally, the student worked collectively with the UHDS marketing team to find strategies to better advocate for the use and sale of local foods, including devising identifiable icons to indicate to customers which menu items include local ingredients.
http://sli.oregonstate.edu/ssi/pastwagegrants

Growing Food Security (GFS) is a student-led and student-fee funded organization focused on creating a space for food system transformation through education, engagement and advocacy for a sustainable and equitable OSU community food system. GFS strives to increase OSU student’s access to locally, sustainably and organically grown foods as well as provide ample opportunities for the OSU community to become engaged with all parts of the food production and distribution system.
http://sli.oregonstate.edu/ssi/foodsecurity

The Oak Creek Center for Urban Horticulture is a six acre site on OSU's main campus. It's easily accessible to students and an excellent learning laboratory for sustainable horticultural practices in both rural and periurban landscapes. Current projects include a mushroom log fence, annual trials, green roof research, a student-run organic garden, permaculture and restoration of Oak Creek.

Oak Creek restoration has been an ongoing point of student learning on campus. The Oak Creek Riparian area has been the focus of numerous studies and restoration efforts over the past decades. One significant outcome was a restoration document created by students participating in the ecological restoration class FOR-FW 445/545.

The Student Sustainability Initiative (SSI) started pursuing Fair Trade University certification, working with campus vendors to increase the amount of Fair Trade products available on campus and drafting a Fair Trade resolution. SSI students also worked with the vending machine contractors in the new Student Experience Center building to ensure local, organic, and healthy options are available in the building's vending machines. SSI had an intern on the Fair Trade campaign during FY16 getting academic credit for her work.

Each year, civil engineering professor Kate Hunter-Zaworski dedicates at least one full course to analyzing and making recommendations for alternative transportation systems/transportation options on and surrounding the Corvallis campus. In most years, the focus of the Public Transportation Class is OSU transportation options. Students gain practical, applied experience with OSU systems and make presentations to OSU administrators each year.

A major focal point of these recurring studies has been the OSU shuttle, known as the Beaver Bus, in which students can interact in the most direct way through system analysis and providing recommendations to Transportation Services about shuttle route, timing, safely and other considerations.

In the FY16 performance year, Campus Recycling supervised a student employee who coordinated the creation and approval of a standard operating procedure for the "All in the Hall" program, which in FY17 became part of campus construction standards. The program focuses on removing all trash receptacles from classrooms and instead placing multi-bin units - that offer recycling along with trash - in adjacent hallways (info at http://fa.oregonstate.edu/recycling/services/all-hall-program).

The student employee was the primary coordinator of the project, with support from a staff member. Her duties included gathering information from past project implementation, reviewing other standard operating procedures documents for reference, drafting the full procedure, soliciting feedback from various campus partners, and working with the appropriate department to determine how to incorporate the procedure into construction standards.

The student employee did not earn academic credit, but gained an understanding of technical writing, operations for recycling programs, and gathering stakeholder feedback. The resulting standard operating procedure became part of campus construction standards in 2017, advancing sustainability by making this proven model the standard for all new construction and major classroom building renovation projects on campus. The student’s learning was assessed through quarterly performance evaluations, which included an evaluation of the work and also goal-setting for the student.

Biological and ecological engineering students continue to work with a group of campus and community water experts to look at stormwater flowing through campus. They designed a water model to show the water moving through different storm watersheds, which allows for the model to be used with any set of parameters. Another project designed a wetland/bioswale project for OSU discharges onto City of Corvallis property and streams. The group is awaiting City funding to implement the project.

More recently, this same community/campus partnership looked at the toxicity of components in the storm water outflow of the Corvallis Campus. http://cbee.oregonstate.edu/sites/cbee.oregonstate.edu/files/sites/cbee.oregonstate.edu/Documents/StudentProjects/2015/expoliteposter_osu_stormwater_assessment_tracie_tran.pdf

More info on these and other water projects can be found at http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/ecologue/?cat=340

Many students in the College Student Services Administration program are using OSU's Division of Student Affairs to examine diversity and diversity-related issues. Many work within Diversity & Cultural Engagement, a part of Student Affairs. CSSA GTAs also working with Human Services Resource Center to run the OSU Food Pantry.

FY16 was the first year the Student Sustainability Initiative (SSI) hired a Social and Environmental Justice Coordinator to more fully integrate economic and social justice into all their programming. SSI hosted the annual Earth Justice Mural during Earth Week and held a panel discussion with campus faculty and staff to discuss the complexities of making holistically sustainable choices when environmental benefits are at odds with social and/or economic factors, focusing on the OSU solar panels that were produced by prison laborers making $0.73/hour.

Some of the campus initiatives to advance and promote diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice at Oregon State University include:

The OSU Campus Coalition Builders group was formed in 1999 in response to the Division of Student Affairs Campus Compact Diversity Initiative. Team members include students, staff and faculty from a variety of backgrounds and workstations within the Division and throughout the campus community. They are committed to work together to make a positive difference in the community, and to eliminate the negative effects of oppression for all people. By listening to every voice, seeking to understand others, and engaging in transformational learning and teaching, they build strong relationships and lasting alliances with those with whom they work and live.

A Human Library functions similarly to a regular library, however, the Books are real, human beings, who teach others about themselves and their experiences through interpersonal dialogue. Experiencing a discussion with a human Book creates an opportunity for constructive interpersonal dialogue and learning between people who may normally not interact. People who volunteer to participate as Books in Human Libraries represent various cultures and identities, may have experienced or witnessed social exclusion or indifference at some time in their lives, or are those who have participated in unique life experiences. The Human Library offers a comfortable environment for diverse people to meet, ask questions, and learn from each other.

http://leadership.oregonstate.edu/diversity/diversity-oregon-state/partners-and-programs

OSU Divest is a campaign to have the Oregon State University Foundation sell off its investments in fossil fuels industries and replace these with investments in socially responsible stock holdings. At least one student leader is writing a thesis based on the work with OSU Divest and its associated campaign, meetings, and community action, but this level of work may not directly result in positive outcomes. This item is marked as "no" above for that reason.

The Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center (NNMREC) was established at OSU in 2008 and is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to facilitate the development of marine renewable energy technologies via research, education, and outreach. Public engagement and K-12 education are a significant part of NNMREC's mission.

NNMREC hosts weekly educational forums on campus, has developed hands-on educational materials for K-12 (accessible through all Oregon STEM centers), and is assisting in the development of two college-level courses on renewable energy technology. Last year, NNMREC hosted 22 presentations at OSU on marine renewable energy through Marine Forum and engaged over 60 K-12 students in build-it-yourself wave energy converter activities.