Our Guiding Values and Timeline
Our Mission and Vision
Our vision: All students at Portland State University advocate for a sustainable future that is livable and just.
Our mission: The Student Sustainability Center engages students in becoming intersectional sustainability leaders by providing experiential learning opportunities.
Our Values
Values are guiding principles and themes that describe why we join together as a team toward the departmental vision and mission.
Accessibility: We value accessibility as an expectation for inclusivity in our programs. Our work is influenced by our commitment to make our programs more accessible and available to all at PSU.
Reciprocal Relationships + Partnerships: We orient our work around supporting the greater campus community’s sustainability needs from an intersectional lens. We recognize our role in strengthening mutually beneficial partnerships with centers outside of our own and work to grow our network of exchange and impact over time.
Intersectionality and Inclusivity: We work to center equity, cultural sustainability, intersectionality, and anti-racist practices in our work. We commit to reflexively examining our own programming and the work of the greater sustainability movement in dismantling harmful systems of oppression.
Responsibility: We hold ourselves accountable to the values that guide our purpose, actively seeking to assess and address issues within our program, and take measurable steps to improve them.
Student Advocacy: We take direction from students' passions, interests, and the changes they desire to make on campus. Our avenues for student engagement in campus sustainability include connecting students to platforms for change through encouraging student advocacy.
Sustainability is an important part of PSU’s mission, and SSC makes sustainability accessible to students by their physical location, student focus and programs. Social justice and sustainability go hand-in-hand toward creating a valuable experience for our students and addressing global challenges. Cynthia Gomez, Executive Director of Cultural Resources Centers
SSC Timeline
All SSC programs and activities have been developed with support and feedback by student participants and the PSU community.
- Milestones:
2005: PSU students initiate the Smith Garden during a community placemaking capstone class.
2008: Students from across campus advocate for a dedicated sustainability engagement program following PSU’s receipt of the Miller Foundation Challenge Grant.
2009: SSC officially launches as the Sustainability Leadership Network with funding from the Institute for Sustainable Solutions under founding Coordinator Heather Spalding, laying the groundwork for the EcoReps and Sustainability Volunteer Program.
2015: Shifting university priorities lead SSC to become a fee-funded unit through the Student Fee Committee, placing its financial oversight under PSU student government.
2016: SSC transitions from the Institute for Sustainable Solutions to Student Activities and Leadership Programs, integrating student volunteers into the Leadership Fellows framework and moving its office to the Smith Student Union.
2018: SSC expands its garden space by assuming management of "The Green" lot on 12th Avenue and the adjacent Community Orchard.
2019: SSC absorbs core student programming from the Institute for Sustainable Solutions, taking over management of the Sustainability Mentorship Program and the Student Fellows program (renamed the Emerging Sustainability Leaders program).
2019: Partnering with the Student Community Engagement Center, SSC co-launches the Hub for Service in Sustainability in Smith M103.
2026: SSC assumes management of campus reuse programming—including the Reuse Room and Regalia Loan Program—and prepares to launch a new community garden adjacent to the South Park Blocks.