USF-based climate and environmental organizations drafted a petition to reinstate the university’s Office of Sustainability. ORACLE PHOTO/DYLAN SABOL

Nine USF-based climate and environmental organizations are urging the university to reinstate its Office of Sustainability.

USF spokesperson Althea Johnson said the Office of Sustainability, established in 2009, used to be located on the St. Pete campus and consisted of one position — a sustainability coordinator.

Johnson said the office collaborated with departments, academic programs and student groups to implement sustainable practices on campus.

Still, Johnson said the sustainability coordinator left for another job opportunity in 2022, and the position has not been filled.

USF’s GenCLEO drafted a petition on Jan. 26 demanding that USF reinstate the Office of Sustainability, which is still active and collecting signatures to bring to the USF administration.

The petition is spearheaded by the USF Sustainable and Ethical Practices Coalition, which is composed of nine environmental groups and student organizations — including GenCLEO, the Student Environmental Association and the USF Climate Teach-In organization.

USF students and faculty said reinstating the Office of Sustainability will help position the university as a role model to other institutions and support student initiatives.

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Andrew Hargrove, an associate professor of instruction in USF’s Judy Genshaft Honors College at the Tampa campus, teaches the “How to Save a Planet” class.

“How to Save a Planet” is an honors course that discusses climate change and how to help combat it, according to the honors college course catalog.

Hargrove said the final project for the class is for students to propose initiatives for the Student Green Energy Fund.

The Student Green Energy Fund is generated by a $1-per-credit-hour student fee to fund campus sustainability projects, according to USF’s student affairs website. 

The fund has been used for projects such as replacing Magnolia Field’s lights with LEDs and implementing a water-saving floor scrubber in the Marshall Student Center

Hargrove said students in the class initiated a petition to reinstate the Office of Sustainability in 2024 — as they were required to justify projects they were proposing for the Student Green Energy Fund. 

Carolina Gutfreund is a senior interdisciplinary social sciences major and GenCLEO’s president.

She said the 2024 petition was launched through change.org — an attempt that failed to gain traction at USF as it required that only active students sign the petition.

“[With] previous petitions, there was no way to verify that these individuals [signing the petition] were students,” she said.

Hargrove said USF’s denial of the 2024 petition drove students in the class to draft a new one this year — which meets all the criteria of an “official petition.”

“We rewrote it in a way that we believe will clearly communicate what we’re asking,” Hargrove said. “That will also show students that the thing that they’re signing is really only asking for one thing, and that’s for the university to reinstate the Office of Sustainability.”

For this year’s petition, Gutfreund said petitioners are required to use their USF email addresses and ID numbers to verify and ensure only active students sign the form.

“[This] way, every single person is easily verified as a USF student,” Gutfreund said.

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Johnson said the Office of Sustainability worked closely with the Student Green Energy Fund to fund alternative energy products, improve energy efficiency and reduce waste.

Still, Hargrove said the Student Green Energy Fund cannot be used for general university sustainability upgrades, as it was made to fund innovative student projects. 

“If we had an Office of Sustainability, we could be putting issues in front of leadership and saying, ‘Here are the most effective ways that we could decrease our emissions right now.’” Hargrove said. “Then leadership can make decisions.”

Gutfreund, who joined the Student Green Energy Fund voting board in spring 2023, said the fund is “extremely limited” because its council cannot approve projects that require ongoing maintenance or labor.

“This money is just being held for sustainability reasons, but not necessarily being allocated to anything that is benefiting the students,” Gutfreund said. 

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Hargrove said that hiring a new sustainability coordinator for the Office of Sustainability is necessary for USF to achieve its broader goals.

“There’s so much excellent work being done around sustainability and environmental stewardship on campus, but it’s all being done in pockets,” they said. “We need somebody whose full-time job it is to assess how we’re doing as a university.”

For students on the USF Sustainable and Ethical Practices Coalition, the petition is a way to ensure the university’s legacy is defined by the same green principles it once championed.

“We just want to stress the fact that we want USF to be a better university,” Gutfreund said. “As students, future alumni and people who love this university, we want to continue to see it grow and flourish.”