PME Annual Unit Plan - Recycling Department

Mission:  The Recycling Department administers the university's sustainability programs in line with the U.N. Mandate on Green Development and the U.S. Council on Green Growth Initiative.  To do so it provides the university community with education about its recycling efforts, green resource usage development, and the importance of adopting a 21st century understanding of sustainability in a global context.  The Department centers its mission on the values of environmental and social justice.

Goals and Objectives:

  1. Goal One: teach the university community about sustainability as a concept for institutions of higher education
  2. Objective for Goal One: develop a curriculum for teaching the university community about sustainability as a concept, using academic and co-curricular means and diverse modalities.
  3. Goal Two:  provide access to recycling vehicles.
  4. Objective for Goal Two: create a system and operationalize for major categories of recyclables.
  5. Goal Three:  train university employees and students how to adopt green resource usage practices (e.g. transition to paperless environment)
  6. Objective for Goal Three:  provide a professional development process through specific training meetings for acculturating green resource usage practices.

Student Learning outcome (SLOs):

  • students, faculty, staff, and administrators will know the meaning of sustainability and green resource usage in relation to their work and study at the university

Program Outcomes (POs): 

  • the Recycling department will maximize its recycling of materials at the university and related cost savings.
  • the mean response time for pick-up of recyclables from deposit stations on campus will be optimized
  • campus-wide recycling program will be implemented within six years
  • green-sensitive custodial/grounds care procedures will be phased in over ten years

Assessments/Evaluation Instruments

  • Assessment pre- and post-test via online module “Sustainability and Green Resource Usage”
  • Quantity of recyclables and cost savings per fiscal quarter
  • Service logs for pick-up from deposit stations
  • Campus recycling plan timeline
  • Grounds care procedures plan and assessment of grounds inspections

Criteria (relative to each of the five assessments/evaluation instruments)

  1. 75% or better comprehension on post-test
  2. Use initial quantity/savings as benchmark; trend to peer/best practice percentages within five years
  3. 100% on time completion of pick-ups
  4. 100% completion of timeline plan elements
  5. 100% completion of plan

Establishing Priorities

  1. Purchase Phase 1 Infrastructure: needed to house recyclables before pickup, $100,000
  2. Contractual: hire ten student-workers for recycling personnel, $50,000
  3. Conduct education campaign, $5000

Recycling Dept. Budget Implications

  1. Priorities 2 and 3 use existing funds.
  2. Priority 1 uses first phase of capital-related funds obtained and secured by the university.
  3. Priority 3 requires an internal reallocation
  4. All priority budgeting within current fiscal year.

Proposed Budget Allocation FY 2014

  1. $100,000 capital expenditure/equipment
  2. $55,000 contractual