University of Southern California
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

1) The USC Presidential Working Group on Sustainability in Education, Research, and Operations (PWG) is comprised of faculty, staff and students who provide leadership and guidance on a comprehensive, university-wide approach to sustainability, and make recommendations to the President on how to make meaningful changes to lessen USC's environmental impact.
More information: https://presidentialsustainability.usc.edu/

2) The Student Sustainability Committee (SSC) is the student arm of the PWG. The SSC consists of a diverse array of 36 students from across USC’s many schools, who are passionate about sustainability. SSC's mission is to integrate sustainability as a core value in university planning, and to help to develop campus sustainability goals and initiatives.
More information: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UhPCzI4uW2RmrV4cAQ2piPQOkbVNMmR_3rSzTpzw96s/edit

3) Sustainability Leadership Team
The Sustainability Leadership Team (SLT) will convene monthly to ensure that USC’s Assignment: Earth framework is successfully implemented across the university and that its goals are accomplished according to the established timeline commitments

1) Presidential Working Group on Sustainability in Education, Research, and Operations (PWG):

Mick Dalrymple – Co-Chair; Chief Sustainability Officer
Mahta Moghaddam – Co-Chair; Research Director, USC Center for Sustainability Solutions; Ming Hsieh Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering-Electrophysics and Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Vice Dean for Research, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
China Adams – Assistant Professor of Teaching, USC Roski School of Art and Design
Paul Adler – Harold Quinton Chair of Business Policy and Professor of Management and Organization, Sociology, and Environmental Studies, USC Marshall School of Business
Jan Amend – Divisional Dean for the Life Sciences and Professor of Earth Sciences and Biological Sciences, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Joe Árvai – Director, Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies; Dana and David Dornsife Chair and Professor of Psychology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Burcin Becerik – Dean’s Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Christina Bellantoni – Director, USC Annenberg’s Media Center; Professor of Professional Practice, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
Marlon Boarnet – Professor of Public Policy and Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Analysis, USC Price School of Public Policy; Director, METRANS Transportation Center
Emily Briscoe – Undergraduate student; Co-Chair of the Student Committee of the Presidential Working Group
Connor Castillo – Undergraduate student; Co-Executive Director, Environmental Student Assembly
Ellen Dux – Associate Director, USC Office of Sustainability
Hannah Findling – Sustainability Program Administrator, USC Office of the President, USC Office of Sustainability
Sam Garrison – Senior Vice President, University Relations
Elizabeth Graddy (ex officio) – Executive Vice Provost, USC Office of the Provost
Genevieve Giuliano – Margaret and John Ferraro Chair in Effective Local Government and Professor, USC Price School of Public Policy
Howard Hu – Chair and Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences and Flora L. Thornton Chair in Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC
Nichelle Huizar (Nikki) – Sustainability Administrator, Auxiliary Services
Lisa Krohn – Assistant Professor of Practice, Product Design, and Innovation; Iovine and Young Academy
Valerie Kuo – Undergraduate student; Co-Executive Director, Environmental Student Assembly
Marty Levine – Vice Provost and Senior Advisor to the Provost, USC Office of the Provost
LaVonna Lewis – Associate Dean of DEI and Teaching Professor of Public Policy, USC Price School of Public Policy
Colin Maclay – Research Professor of Communication, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism; Executive Director, USC Annenberg Innovation Lab
Christopher Manning – Vice President and Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer
Sean McCalla – Undergraduate student, Presidential Working Group Administrative Assistant
Rob McConnell – Professor of Population and Public Health Science, Keck School of Medicine of USC
Mahta Moghaddam – Co-Director, USC Center for Sustainability Solutions; Ming Hsieh Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering-Electrophysics and Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, USC Viterbi School of Engineering and
Daniel Pecchenino – President, Academic Senate; Associate Professor of Writing, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Ishwar Puri – Vice President for Research, USC Office of Research
Jon Reuter – Chief of Operations, Keck Hospital of USC
Gabriel Romero – Graduate student; Co-Chair of the Student Committee of the Presidential Working Group
Bhavna Sharma – Assistant Professor, USC School of Architecture
Gale Sinatra – Professor of Psychology and the Stephen H. Crocker Professor of Education, USC Rossier School of Education
Barbara Sladeck – Assistant Vice President, USC Auxiliary Services
Jill Sohm – Associate Professor (Teaching) of Environmental Studies and Director of Environmental Studies Program, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Sara Stienecker – Undergraduate student; Chair of Sustainability and Campus Infrastructure, Undergraduate Student Government
Andy Stott – Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Dean of the Graduate School, USC Office of the Provost; Professor of English, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Effie Turnbull Sanders – Vice President of Civic Engagement and Economic Partnerships, USC University Relations
Alicia Vogelaar – Doctoral student; Director of Sustainability, Graduate Student Government
Zelinda Welch – Associate Director of Sustainability, Facilities Planning and Management
Detlof von Winterfeldt – J.A. Tiberti Chair of Ethics and Decision Making and Professor of Systems Engineering, USC Viterbi School of Engineering; Professor of Public Policy, USC Price School of Public Policy; Executive Director, USC Center for Sustainability Solutions

2) USC Student Sustainability Committee:

JJ Flores- Undergraduate Co-Chair
Olivia Heffernan- Graduate Co-Chair
Hannah Findling- Sustainability Programs Administrator in the Office of Sustainability and President’s Office
Professor Bhavna Sharma- PWG member, Faculty advisor

More information:
Student Sustainability Committee (SSC): https://linktr.ee/ssc_
Presidential Working Group (PWG): https://presidentialsustainability.usc.edu/

3) Sustainability Leadership Team

The SLT will be co-led by David Wright, Senior Vice President for Administration and the university’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Mick Dalrymple, and comprised of members from USC’s senior leadership team, including but not limited to:
Joel Curran-Chief Communication Officer and Senior Vice President of Communications
Steven D Shapiro- Senior Vice President for Health Affairs
Andrew Guzman- USC Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Ishwar K. Puri-Senior Vice President of Research and Innovation
Erik Brink- Chief Financial Officer
Chris Toomey- Vice President, Facilities Planning and Management
Leslee Sherrill- Special Advisor to the President

The USC Office of Sustainability (OoS) is under the Department of Environmental Health and Safety. This office is responsible for the integration of sustainability initiatives into areas such as energy conservation and greenhouse gas mitigation, transportation, procurement, waste diversion, and engagement, as well as tracking and reporting sustainability metrics. OoS works with colleagues from across the university to identify challenges and opportunities to help advance sustainability and change behaviours to meet USC's sustainability goals
More information: https://green.usc.edu/about/

In addition to the Office of Sustainability, sustainability work is contributed to by many colleagues across the university: Facilities Planning Management, Auxiliary Services (Residential Housing and Dining, USC Hotel, Transportation), Athletics, Academic Senate Sustainability Committee, The Wrigley Institute, Dornsife Public Exchange, Cultural Relations and University Events, the Environmental Student Assembly, and Undergraduate and Graduate Student Government support USC's sustainability goals.

Since USC’s last STARS submission in 2021, the University has significantly increased its focus on sustainability through the launch and implementation of Assignment: Earth, USC’s 2028 sustainability framework for creating a healthy, just and thriving campus and world. Assignment: Earth was authored by USC’s Presidential Working Group on Sustainability with input from teams across the University, and it clearly establishes the University’s sustainability vision, aspirations and goals across five domains: Education, Research, Equity & Inclusion, Operations and Engagement.

Notable progress on USC’s Assignment: Earth Goals include:
● 31% absolute reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 & 2) since 2014
● 7% reduction in single-occupancy vehicles commuting to campus in 2022
● 246 electric vehicle charging ports have been installed across both the University Park and Health Sciences campuses.
● 50% of USC Hospitality’s food is purchased from sustainable sources.
● 47% campus-wide waste diversion rate
● Enacted a policy (as of July 2022) to eliminate single-use plastic beverage bottles
● 15% potable water use reduction per sq ft. of bldg. space since 2014.
● 79% progress made towards our sustainability literacy goal (63% sustainability literacy score out of a goal of 80%)
● 56% progress made towards University-wide practice of adopting sustainable behaviors.
● > 320 sustainability-focused research articles were published in 2022.
● Activated a long-term plan for sustainable grounds and landscaping
● Launched Sustainable Design and Construction Guidelines
● Initiated biennial sustainability literacy, culture, and behavior survey
● Created a Sustainability Course Finder tool
● Launched the Presidential Sustainability Solutions Fellowship postdoctoral program.
● Implemented a Student Sustainability Training
● Initiated the President’s Sustainability Initiative Awards to seed research initiatives.
● The grand opening of USC’s Sustainability Hub which serves as a dynamic home for all Trojans to come together, share ideas and collaborate on sustainability solutions.

More information: https://bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.usc.edu/dist/5/720/files/2023/02/FY22-Annual-Sustainability-Report_FINAL.pdf

Connects stakeholders and experts in developing integrated solutions to complex environmental, social and economic challenges and opportunities.

The Associate Director of Sustainability-Engagement manages a sustainability engagement team and focuses on outreach, engagement, and communications for faculty, students, and staff around campus sustainability solutions, including oversight for the new USC Sustainability Hub.

Facilitates sustainability change management primarily across university operations while also supporting inclusion and enhancing the academic, research, and community engagement missions. This entails leveraging STARS data and industry best practices to identify sustainability opportunities and challenges, building interdisciplinary teams of stakeholders, analysing organisational behaviour, developing and implementing solutions, and transitioning successful solutions to the appropriate stakeholder owner(s) for ongoing management.

Data is up to date as of 10/27/23

See below for a more complete list of USC's Sustainability Officers:

Office of Sustainability Staff:
Mick Dalrymple: Chief Sustainability Officer; Ellen Dux: Office of Sustainability Associate Director; Brad Haydel: Office of Sustainability Associate Director; Chelsea Graham: Experiential Learning Manager; Julie Hopper: Sustainability Business Data Analyst; Hannah Findling: Sustainability Program Administrator; Erin Jebavy: Sustainability Marketing Specialist; Lilian Ledesma: Sustainability Program Specialist; Sam Schongalla: Sustainability Coordinator; Evan Morris: Digital Media and Visual Design Specialist; Kay Hinds: Sustainability Hub Coordinator

Key Sustainability Officers in other Departments:
Zelinda Welch: Associate Director of Sustainability, Facilities Planning and Management; Nichelle Mitchell-Huizar: Sustainability Administrator, Auxiliary Services; Gina Whisenant: Waste and Recycling Manager, Facilities Management Services. Devin Gibson: Procurement Program Manager - Sustainability FBS Business Services Administration, John Reuter: Keck Medical Center - Chief of Operations & Health Affairs Sustainability Steering Committee, Miguel Gonzalez: Keck Medical Center-Associate Administrator & Health Affairs Sustainability Steering Committee, Joe Árvai: Director- Wrigley Institute for the Environment and Sustainability & Professor of Psychology and Biological Sciences, John Heildelberg: Director- Wrigley Institute & Professor in Biological Sciences, Jessica Dutton: Executive Director-Wrigley Institute, Jill Sohm: Director of the Environmental Studies Program, Dr. Mahta Moghaddam: Professor- USC Viterbi School of Engineering & Co-Chair of the Presidential Working Group for Sustainability.