Oakland University Practices, Policies and Management Structures for a Sustainable Future: A Qualitative Assessment and Framework for a Sustainability Strategic Plan

Abstract

On behalf of her client, Oakland University (OU), the author of the study, a Duke University Master of Environmental Management student and OU graduate, addressed OU sustainability strategic planning for her Masters Project. Part I: A Qualitative Assessment depicts the current status of OU environmental sustainability initiatives through a web-based Catalog of Environmental Initiatives, partial STARS Report, and Sustainability Needs Assessment. Part II: A Sustainability Strategic Plan Framework describes how the University might work toward building a culture-specific sustainability strategic plan at OU. The framework devised offers ten core action steps, which are grouped into four phases: Administrative Action, Strategic Planning, Implementation, and Percolation. Highly participatory, the framework is a marriage of bottom-up and top-down planning, coordination and implementation. The plan that emerges from it will draw its strength and working knowledge from the involvement of all campus sustainability leaders. This framework should help OU expand its ongoing energy, grassroots, and operations and infrastructural sustainability projects to include administrative policies, additional curriculum and research, and student and community outreach.