Meeting Date: 
December 1, 2021
Date: 
12/01/2021 10:00 am to 11:30 am
Location: 
Zoom Meeting
Agenda: 
  1. 10:00-10:02 – Welcome, Brief Self-introductions  

  1. 10:02-10:04 – Approve October 6, 2021 Meeting Minutes

  1. 10:04-10:10 – Work Group Reports
    • Communications workgroup  
    • Conservation, Efficiency and Transportation  
    • Education and Curriculum

  1. 10:10-10:20 – C3 Membership Update and Participation in Work Groups
    • Several open positions
    • “Teach-in for climate and Justice” concept introduced at HEI – potential application to Education and Curriculum work group?

  1. 10:20-10:35 – October 26 “Path to Carbon Neutrality” Forum Debrief and President Johnson Comments to Faculty Senate on November 18

  1. 10:35-11:05 – Final Revision\Edits to “Path to Carbon Neutrality” Document

  1. 11:05-11:10 – Earth Week Activities?

  1. 11:10-11:15 – WOHESC Conference

  1. 11:15-11:20 – Meetings for 2022.
    • First two meetings planned for February and April. Late May early June as well?

  1. 11:20 – Any Other Business

  1. 11:30 – Adjourn
Minutes: 

Members present: Lindsay Andrews, Lety Cavazos, Ed Dever, Laurie Houston, Keith Jayawickrama, Leela Magdaleno, Cinamon Moffett, Jacob Putney, Shelly Signs, Brandon Trelstad, Beth Filar Williams   
Voting members absent: Tess Collins, Laurel Kincl, Jason Weiss
Guests present: Lane Walter

Welcome, Brief Self-introductions

Approve October 6, 2021 Meeting Minutes

Action: October 6, 2021 minutes approved.

Work group Reports

    • Communications workgroup  
    • Conservation, Efficiency and Transportation  
    • Education and Curriculum
  • Education and Curriculum has lost members over time. Down to Ed and Lety.
  • Replacement for Jillian Gregg: Check email from Jillian with a suggestion. Brandon suggested someone from the Sustainability Double degree. Jennifer Alix-Garcia is stepping down as department head, so she may have the bandwidth now to be on the education group.
  • Lindsay Andrews was interested in joining Education.
  • Teach-in for climate justice (March 2022): Brandon invited us to check it out. Could be a good activity for Education and Curriculum and a way to energize students around carbon reduction. Last information was today (December 1). https://gps.bard.edu/world-wide-teach-in

Reactions to October 26 “Path to Carbon Neutrality” Forum

  • Ed – Signaled a higher level of attention to carbon reduction. Was impressed by President Johnson’s interest on carbon neutrality. Webcast of November 18 comments https://senate.oregonstate.edu/november-18-2021-faculty-senate-webcast
  • Faculty senate does not keep written minutes, so the webcasts now serve as minutes.
  • Brandon thinks there is a clear signal that senior leadership is not supportive of buying carbon offsets.
  • For those who could not attend the forum, there is a link on the Sustainability Office webpage. https://fa.oregonstate.edu/sustainability/faculty-senate-carbon-commitment-committee
  • Compared to the January 12 forum, we sensed deeper engagement and positive feedback by the community, stronger commitment by leadership, more energy and momentum
  • Leaf blowers were on people’s minds and ears given the time of year, and got their share of airtime in the chat..  
  • Forums seem to be a good contribution that C3 can make! Any more ideas?

Updates to “Path to Carbon Neutrality” Document

  • Brandon and senior leadership looked at comments from Forum and feedback to the Qualtrics survey.
  • Offsets downgraded even further in priority
  • Action 6: Encourage alternatives to air travel. There were comments that sometimes the university asks people to justify not flying, which is the opposite of what is needed for emissions reduction! The advent of Concur is another wrinkle (or opportunity), we should get carbon emissions on their radar before the system solidifies too much.
  • Clarified the differences between Actions 1 and 2.
  • It is the intent to double the $ for Action 2, and close to double for Action 3. Already spent about $500,000 in FY 21 and $500,000 next year for solar.
  • Brandon hopes to have the document signed off by leadership by the end of December.
  • Brandon hopes to have a web presence to track progress on actions, with quantitative measures.
  • Updates to the written document – maybe every 2 to 5 years.
  • Hybrid work – does C3 have a role in advocating for flexibility?  “Future of Work” committee – anyone want to be involved? Seems to be some inequity across divisions – some allow flexibility, others require all employees to be on site (and then some comply while others don’t). Library is pushing for hybrid work options.
  • C3 supports Brandon moving forward!! Brandon is meeting with senior leadership in his unit today to discuss the “Path”. Getting it over the finish line would be huge.

Earth Week Activities

  • Planning will start in January. Contact person would be Community Engage and Leadership – Amy Munger is the lead.
  • Has anything been done by C3 in the past – no. The event was canceled in 2020 (?) and 2021. Would be the week of April 18-22
  • Suggested a tabling theme surrounding an introduction to a carbon footprint and helping people determine their carbon footprint.
  • Some people are more willing to sign up for activities (tree planting etc.) than to attend meetings. Games.
  • Yes, we should not miss the opportunity to be visible at this event. We can put carbon reduction things in OSU Today and on websites and still miss a lot of people who never look in such places.  If the weather is good, could have up to 1,000 people come by.

WOHESC Conference

  • WOHESC conference is coming up. Sustainability Office will provide transportation.

Next Meetings:

  • February 1, 1 PM
  • April 5, 1 PM. Hybrid – Can book a meeting room in the Library.
  • June 7, 1 PM Hybrid – Can book a meeting room in the Library.

Any Other Business

  • Work groups – Please have meetings before the next Carbon Commitment Committee meeting in February.

Minutes prepared by Keith Jayawickrama