News

Sustainability Knowledge Community meets at NNC

Members and sustainability experts convene in Corvallis, Oregon

By Pam Su, Sustainability Knowledge Community Chair

NIRSA’s Sustainability Knowledge Community met at the NIRSA National Center in Corvallis, Oregon on June 21 for its first face-to-face meeting. A Knowledge Community (KC) is similar to a think tank and its charge is to provide ideas, innovations, and leadership to the NIRSA Board of Directors in the form of recommendations for the future. Other NIRSA KCs have been formed in the areas of Student Learning and Health & Wellness.

Attending the Sustainability KC were:

• Pam Su, Sonoma State University (chair)
• Debra Rowe, President of the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development, Oakland Community College
• Trudis Heinecke, Director of Long Range Resource Planning, University of California
• Rodney Bloom, University of Oregon
• Brian Mullis, President of Sustainable Travel International
• Kent Blumenthal, NIRSA Executive Director
• Karen Bach, NIRSA Chief Operating Officer, staff liaison
• Michael Henthorne, Oregon State University, Facilitator
• NIRSA President Tom Kirch, Oregon State University, observer
• John Meyer, University of Colorado, was unable to attend

After a very productive meeting, an initial report and recommendations for what NIRSA should be doing in the area of sustainability were forwarded to the Board of Directors in time for their Summer Meeting June 25-28. A full report is being finalized and will be submitted to the Board after review by KC members.