The JCCCSR is a standing committee of the Academic Senate, which is composed of three subcommittees focused on research, teaching, and operations. Each subcommittee is Co-Chaired by a member of the Academic Senate and a representative from campus administrative leadership. Together, these subcommittees advance sustainability, climate, and resilience goals as articulated in Leading the Change, UCSC’s strategic plan. These goals include the following:
- building communities of care, resilience, preparedness as the campus plans to adapt to a changing climate,
- mitigating campus emissions and decarbonizing UCSC to build an equitable, accessible, and fossil-free future,
- stewarding the land and water to support healthy ecosystems while balancing infrastructure needs to minimize impacts,
- advancing a circular economy in the consumption cycle,
- teaching students about climate change to ensure that all students graduate with an understanding of climate change,
- advancing interdisciplinary climate change research, and
- forging relationships with Indigenous communities to enable the co-production of knowledge and action plans towards climate justice.
Co-Chairs meet 2-3 times per quarter during the academic year to effectively coordinate the efforts of the teaching, research and operations subcommittees. The subcommittees meet at least once each quarter. The Co-Chairs report progress annually to the Leading the Change Implementation Committee and Academic Senate.
UCSC Proposal for an Interdisciplinary Climate Science Justice, and Solutions GE
A proposal for an Interdisciplinary Climate Science Justice, and Solutions GE has been introduced to the UCSC Academic Senate. The proposal is shown below.