- What’s the purpose of the Sustainability Department within Student Government?
The Sustainability Department within Student Government (SG) brings a long-needed coalition resource for the environmental student groups on campus. Our job is to support student organizations that have sustainability concerns, whether the groups are environmentally-focused in nature or they simply want to learn how to host a sustainable-certified event. We also facilitate the exchange of ideas between the administration, SG and student organizations in order to improve communications and therefore expedite the progress of sustainability on campus. We intend to use that capacity to help the Sustainability Office implement the new [NC State] Sustainability Strategic Plan, which was published last winter. In addition, we hope to lead by example in SG as a whole by making our own operations, events and initiatives more sustainable.
- What is the Sustainability Department responsible for?
The responsibilities are set in the bill [that created] the Sustainability Department. We are responsible for improving the sustainability of SG operations, working to improve the sustainability of SG events and initiatives, bringing student organizations’ and administration’s sustainability concerns to Student Government, and helping implement the [campus] Sustainability Strategic Plan.
- What are your goals for this year?
We have high expectations for the first year of this department. We would like to be an integral part in the implementation of the Sustainability Strategic Plan. Another goal we have is to increase the number of sustainable-certified events on campus. We also plan to eliminate waste within SG operations, as well as be an advocate for sustainability-focused groups in Student Government. Overall, we want to set a great precedence of collaboration [between] the Sustainability Department committee [and] other SG departments as well as all student groups at NC State.
- How were Sustainability Department personnel selected and what is the role of these students?
The committee was selected by collecting representatives from a diverse cross-section of sustainability and environmentally-focused student groups. These representatives are student leaders advocating for sustainability throughout NC State. Additionally, the committee members serve to bring sustainability-focused groups together [in order to] collaborate on issues, projects and initiatives.
- Are there any ways for students not in the Sustainability Department to get involved?
Of course! We want student to bring concerns to us as well as suggestions [on how] to improve any aspect of NC State. We [want to] be a tool to help accomplish positive change on campus.