The Office of Campus Sustainability
What We Do
The Office of Campus Sustainability (OCS) serves as a focal point for sustainable campus operations.
Our role is to:
- Lead, facilitate, and support operational sustainability programs and initiatives on the Ann Arbor campus, and facilitate the institutionalization of best practices in sustainability across academic and research units, auxiliary units, and student groups.
- Provide technical and consultative guidance for operational sustainability on campus, including strategic planning, operational programming, and related campus-wide education and engagement.
- Track and report progress toward U-M’s sustainability goals, especially the 2025 sustainability goals.
- Communicate with the campus and local community to increase awareness and engagement among staff, students, and faculty—with a focus on high-quality operational sustainability programs and building a culture of sustainability on campus.
OCS is part of Planet Blue, a university-wide initiative to promote sustainability in all aspects of U-M’s operations, academics, research, student life, healthcare, and more.
We welcome everyone’s involvement in helping to make the campus where we live, work and play more sustainable.
The Office of Campus Sustainability reports to the Associate Vice President for Campus Sustainability, Shana Weber, and collaborates with units across U-M.
From our founding in 2009 until 2023, OCS was part of Facilities and Operations. We continue to work closely with partners across F&O.
OCS is a key player in an organizational framework designed to:
- Inspire students, faculty, and staff to become involved in helping to solve the environmental sustainability issues facing the world we live in
- Coordinate, facilitate and advance sustainability efforts in all areas of the university campus, including operations, academics, research, clinical, and athletics
- Connect academic and operations activities to foster collaborative sustainability learning
The OCS mission has four key components:
- Work with U-M leadership and campus partners to set goals, strategies, and standards. Design and implement programs and initiatives to promote sustainable operations and work with units across campus to ensure those goals and standards are met. Track and report progress on university-wide goals and initiatives to leadership.
- Identify opportunities and manage programs to reduce energy consumption, reduce waste generation, and increase sustainable operations and culture on campus.
- Work collaboratively with campus partners on cross-functional sustainability efforts that span academic, research and operational functions of the university.
- Exchange information with internal and external audiences about sustainability initiatives, best practices, and opportunities and challenges associated with sustainability work on campus.
