Introducing California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB)

California State University Monterey Bay is one of many California State University campuses. Founded in 1994 and serving over 75,000 students just one mile away from the beautiful shores of Monterey Bay. The university is proud to be represented by such a diverse student body that can receive personal attention in small classes while pursuing degrees in 25 undergraduate and 9 graduate majors.

At CSUMB social sustainability in the form of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a major identity for the campus. The university prides themselves on making higher education accessible to traditionally underserved and low-income populations. 72% of CSUMB students receive some form of financial aid, 53% of students are among the first generation of their family to go to college, and 52% of students live on campus making CSUMB one of the most residential universities in the CSU.  Sustainability doesn’t stop there however, the campus is proud to have implemented their Inclusive Sustainability Plan (ISP) that tackles all facets of sustainability, which is where their journey with Sustaira begins. 

The Challenge

At CSUMB they had taken proactive steps toward sustainability having already implemented an Inclusive Sustainability Plan (ISP) consisting of 12 comprehensive topic areas, each accompanied by a set of goals and strategies aligned with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While this plan is comprehensive and clear, the campus faced challenges when it came to execution. Initially, the only way the campus had to track this information was through error prone, manual,  Excel-based processes which were highly inefficient and lacked the insights needed. Compounding this issue was the inherent complexity of the data that is tracked across these twelve topic areas. This information is highly complex and was tracked using different methods, making aggregation and visualization extremely challenging.

With a deep commitment to sustainability, CSUMB decided to take things one step at a time, focusing on one of their most important topics first; Waste. The campus first needed a more efficient way to track their complex waste streams and management.  They sought a solution that could automatically gather waste data from multiple sources, streamline internal workflows, create clear and easy to understand visuals, and show the progress being made towards their ISP as well as the SDGs.

Overview of Challenges:

• Disparate Data Sources

• Data Management

• Manual, error prone, inefficient, and Excel based processes.

• Inability to connect with existing systems internally and externally

• Limited Reporting & Visualization 

• Inability to track against plans and frameworks
  

The Solution 

To address challenges around their complex Waste tracking, Sustaira leveraged its Waste Tracking Application template and customized this, so CSUMB moves away from the Excel spreadsheet(s) that was previously used in the background. 

By first building integrations to internal systems as well as connecting with CSUMB’s external waste management company, Sustaira was able to automate a majority of their waste data aggregation. In an easy to use, and user friendly application, the waste data is then automatically calculated to understand CSUMB’s environmental impacts from all of their waste streams. With the ability to see visuals across all waste streams as well as track progress made toward their inclusive sustainability plan, CSUMB now has a clear understanding of their waste and can efficiently and effectively track this information in real time. Allowing them to adjust to any changing requirements or future goals. Further, this application also provides a way for CSUMB to easily distinguish data they need for ASHEE STARS versus data that's not relevant for that reporting.  

Overview of Features & Functionalities

• Centralized data hub 

• Goal & KPI tracking

• Fast and easy online

• Integration with internal and external data sources via web services and APIs

• Easy to understand visualizations

• Public reporting page

“Working with Sustaira has been a great experience. The platform integrates seamlessly with data from our waste management partners. It helped us reduce the "clunkiness" of spreadsheets . We have also used this tool to monitor and track our goals and strategies (KPI) in our Inclusive Sustainability Plan, completely shifting how we monitor track and assign responsibility of over 150 strategies.”

Ultimately, Sustaira has added a plethora of additional functionality beyond just what the Excel spreadsheets were capable of doing. CSUMB can now make decisions based on accurate data and see how they’re tracking waste across all their goals and frameworks. The elimination of most manual processes allows the team to focus on the rest of the topic areas within their ISP and make true progress on their Sustainability journey.  This application is the first of many to address the twelve topics in their ISP. Moving forward, the university is now poised and ready to add on applications such as Carbon Accounting, Disclosures, or other custom ESG applications to streamline their processes.

Delivered Value: 

• 24/7 Tracking, Transparency, and Scenario Analysis

• Direct integration with internal systems and Waste Management company

• Elimination of Excel Spreadsheets and most manual processes

• Foundation and set up for next phase, e.g. Goals and KPI Tracking and Reporting

• Data validation & Filtering for data Maintenance and Improvement

• Delivery Time total: 8 Days with one resource