Next item x, is the
institutional effectiveness
reports for discussion and
possible action.
These reports are driven by
the college's fundamental
commitment to diversity,
equity and inclusion
throughout the college
operations and strategic
planning and within the
regionalization structure.
We're going to go to item
2022-20, sustainable practices
report.
Neil Vickers and Andy Kim.
I'm going to turn it over to
you.
Hello, Andy.
>> By the way, thank you very
much for setting up today's
presentation.
It was sad to see Ms. Tuckers
and trustee Eversmann is going
away from us, but through
their voices we heard about
the leadership that we have
and the support that we have,
that's why we are here today.
So we have sustainable
practices update for you
today.
Next.
So we have a board policy
facilities planning and
facilities standard.
The college district shall be
committed to stewardship of
the environment and to
reducing its dependence on
non-renewable energy sources
with its commitment in mind,
the college district
operations shall: and we have
six areas.
Next, please.
So I highlighted the key words
of those six areas.
1, energy efficiency and
sustainability.
Two, renewable energy.
And 3, alternative
transportation.
And, 4, reporting and
minimizing greenhouse gas
emissions.
And five, minimizing waste.
Number 6, purchasing power to
meet our sustainability.
Next.
So I will present a few
examples and then the updates
for those six areas.
Next, please.
So the green building standard
with the energy efficiency, we
have a green building standard
at ACC and we try to meet and
to beat our minimum green
building rating system.
We use the leed rating system,
it's the leadership guideline
for the green building rating.
Since we updated the policy
back in 2009, wee have
accomplished a two leed gold
rating, one is highland campus
phase 1, and one is San gab
riel campus.
And we have several projects
waiting for certification and
one is the highland campus
phase 2, and Rio Grande campus
remodel.
I would like to introduce one
of the latest new additions to
our portfolio is the new
rating system called the
parksmart.
The parksmart is to design and
to build our parking garage
sustainable, using less energy
and make it more sustainable
and healthy for our occupants.
So we are expecting our
highland south parking garage
to be certified with the
parksmart in the new future.
We have been phasing out old
technology, the inefficient
lighting bulbs over 10 years.
Incandescent Bulbs, and now a
led is just a doll ash or two
and 10 years ago they were
$30.
So you can see how far we have
come along.
So we have been phasing out
inefficient bulbs, and having
parking lot lighting with
leds.
And improving our hvac
efficiency and we have the led
desktop lighting project.
That is very interesting
program that already over 300
Acc employees participate in
this program.
What it is, when our employees
pledge to turn off their
overhead lighting, we give out
the small very efficient
desktop led lighting.
The return investment of the
project is less than a year.
The employees using the task
light while turning off the
inefficient overhead light so
it's been a very successful
project.
And also you have seen the
large check, $300,000 from
Austin energy, one of the new
addition says our chiller
plant at the highland campus.
You can see the cylinder
shape, the energy storage
tank.
So you can consider it as a
large battery.
We will be recharging the
battery overnight with the
very unique expensive
electricity, and also when you
think about inexpensive light,
the electricity at night,
usually that is a more
greener.
Because usually the
electricity at night comes
from the wind farm.
Next, please.
And when we are talking about
the energy conservation, you
can also not forget the water
conservation.
There's a saying if you want
to save energy, you should
save water, vice versa,
because it is very tightly
related -- water consumption
as well as electricity.
And we have all design
construction at acc and we do
water harvest, and ac
condensation and rainwater at
the hays and Elgin and San
Gabriel and myland.
And we added over 670,000
gallon large cistern under the
parking garage.
So if you enter from the north
end you are going over this
large reservoir.
And also another thing that we
with the many new sustainable
development that we do at acc,
this another project that we
are expecting to get a large
check from the city of Austin.
We earmarked $250,000 for the
city of Austin for these large
water reclamation projects.
Next, please.
Renewable energy.
The solar panels and the
renewable energy purchases and
then the solar benches.
Next, please.
So many people at acc, they do
not know, but we already have
eight campuses that we have
solar panels.
Last year fy 2021, we saved
896,000 kilowatt hours and
that equates to about $100,000
that we didn't spend.
Next, please.
And we started purchasing
renewable energy for round
rock campus and Elgin campus,
100%, two years ago.
We work with the general land
office.
We purchased renewable energy
through general land office
contract.
Unfortunately, that contract
will sunset next year.
And the state legislators
decided to not renew that
program, so we'll look into a
different option next year,
but we are purchasing 100% of
renewable energy for those two
campuses.
We have purchased 2.7 megaWatt
hours last year alone without
using any fossil-burned fuel.
Next, please.
Also we have several small
solar benches at several
campuses.
Because many of us, you know,
when we are going to the
college campuses, we don't
even realize that we have a
solar panel on the roof,
because it's usually not
accessible and you don't look
up over the top.
And so we decide to on several
solar benches, so the students
or employees can sit down
while waiting for the class.
They can actually charge your
phone or tablet with a usb.
And we also have a small
plaque explaining acc's
commitment on renewable
energies.
Next, please.
From our office, we generate
this report twice a year.
The reason why we're doing
that is that we'd like to
share the data with our campus
operation and campus
management so that they can
make the informed decisions on
what we are doing in terms of
the utility.
It happens to be fy 2021, San
gab diagnose riel was one of
the top performing campuses.
And in all areas they saved
energy and water.
Next, please.
Next item is alternative
transportation.
Next, please.
So we've been using this green
pass, the transit pass
program, since 2010.
It's been more than 10 years.
If you look at the graph, it's
a very small number, but you
can see that whether it was
the highest ridership in 2012,
in one month we had over
120,000 rides.
That was really busy years.
And we also had the highest
enrollment at that time.
As you can see with the
pandemic, recently we had a
very, very low ridership.
It was expected.
And also we worked with our
partner capital metro and we
were able to amend our
contracts.
So in the past we paid a lump
sum cost to capital metro.
But since the pandemic we are
only paying per ride.
So we were able to save a good
chunk of money without paying
the lump sum to capital metro.
And then we have a EV charging
stations.
Some remember that acc was
really pioneering that.
We worked with the federal
grant money more than 10 years
ago and we started installing
recharging stations at all
campuses because of acc being
well spread out and we have
strategic locations to
demonstrate this type of
leadership.
Soy we installed charging
stations at all campuses.
Now, as you can see on the
left, that is the current
Austin energy operation
charging stations.
So there's quite a number of
ev charging stations out
there.
And also acc operates some of
the ev charging stations
outside of Austin energy
district.
And we're expecting actually
more ev charging stations will
be installed in the near
future with the infrastructure
bill that just passed.
Next, please.
So how does that work?
So there are two different way
actually that the subscription
works.
In Austin area, Austin energy
offered a pretty good deal,
six months for $25, if you can
rely on the public charging
spaces, then your fuel cost is
only $25 for six months.
We also same kind of rate for
our students and employees at
those campuses that we operate
on our own.
Including round rock, Elgin,
and San Gabriel and Hayes and
cypress.
Next, please.
And we encourage bicycle
riding, it's good for your
health.
And it's good for the
environment.
However, when it is safe.
And some campuses we realized
that not all roads are safe
for our students to ride
bicycles.
As you can see we have some
interesting design also.
We developed it with a
designer.
This is a bat-wing shaped bike
parking structure.
And it's also left-hand side
is the large bike facilities
that we designed and built at
the highland garage.
Next, please.
Well, when it comes to the
transportation, there's really
no silver bullet.
We have to really offer all
variety of options to our
students and employees.
So car pooling is one good way
we can minimize a single
occupant vehicle coming to our
campus.
So we offer carpool parking
spaces at our campuses, so if
you ride with students and
employees, you can find this
very conveniently located
parking space.
And we also work with the
large vendors out there.
So the ways that carpool is a
very good way that you can
ride with your students and
employees.
We sometimes partner with the
carpool to offer incentives to
students and employees.
Many may remember a program
that had a small vehicle that
had a one-way rental.
They unfortunately closed
their business and left, but,
guess what, there's a new
players in town.
Austin happens to be the place
that a lot of new technology
starts, right.
So this free to move company
is actually owned, a subsidy
of the g company and they're
doing a similar program in
Austin so we'd like to work
with them as well.
Because this is a program that
is good for somebody that can
ride the bus most of the time,
but when you need a service
and you need a vehicle, you
can be accessed easily for a
very short time in one way.
Next, please.
And so next categories are
reporting are greenhouse gas
emissions.
Next, please.
So --
>> Before we move on, I just
ask you a couple of questions.
One, I was wondering where
those cars went, you know?
I mean, I hadn't seen them
around for a long time.
So I'm glad that we have a new
group who is come in.
And I may have missed this,
Andy, and I'm sorry if I did.
Do we do a survey of our
employees as to, gosh, what
was your experience -- not
just how many people ride the
bus, but what was your
experience in riding the bus?
You know, what is your
experience in using the
charging station or whatever?
I want to not just know
numbers, but was it easy, was
it hard?
Did you have to go to 10
different stops to get around?
>> Absolutely.
>> Chair McRaven: did we
have that?
And I'm sorry if I missed it.
>> Thank you for the question.
So we have been doing a
transportation survey every
two years.
>> Chair McRaven: okay.
>> That data was used to
actually gauge our community
related or carbon footprint.
Because we need to know how
many employees, how many
students are driving every
day.
How many days a week to get to
which campus.
So we utilized our
transportation survey to gauge
our carbon footprint related
to that.
In that transportation survey
we also asked very experienced
on commuting with the transit
services and other carpooling
and other alternative
transportation, what is their
experience was, or their
expectation was.
Now, with the pandemic, we
didn't do it last year or the
year before.
So we are hoping to get back
to the cycle of getting that
survey again.
>> Chair McRaven: yeah,
I think that is important.
Okay.
Thank you so much.
>> So, acc is a member of the
climate leadership network,
called the ac or pcc in the
past and we joined in 2009.
And now they're called the
carbon commitment.
Next, please.
And so we calculate our carbon
emissions based on a whole
bunch of our operation and
businesses.
So we do collect this data
from all of our partners at
acc.
And as you can see, our carbon
footprint actually a little
bit plateaued and then came
down quite a lot.
It's all because of the
pandemic.
Because of -- you can see the
yellow portion is the carbon
emissions.
So the scope one, usually what
it means is that you burn fuel
on your site, like a gas
boiler, or if you are really
riding your truck in your
campus that, would be
considered as a scope one.
Scope two means purchased
electricity.
And we don't generate
electricity, other than
renewable energy on top of our
roof, so most of the
electricity that we consume is
purchased.
So that would be the scope
two.
Scope three is the community
related and some of the
entities and the institutions
out there, they actually tried
to -- not to deal with scope
three, because sometimes it's
very difficult to control.
But we believe that as a
community college it's a big
part of our dna, so we tried
to minimize our carbon, the
carbon footprint to be lower.
So the 2020 data shows the
really small portion of the
carbon footprint.
>> If I could point something
out, Andy, with scope two that
is highly correlated to your
facilities and, therefore,
your square footage.
So though it doesn't show that
it's declined -- it's been
very level -- over those 10
years we have more than
doubled the square footage of
the district, you know, with
highland and obviously the
2014 bond program.
So the fact that scope two has
actually not increased, I
think that it is a testament
to the work that we put into
those sustainable buildings
along the way.
>> Absolutely.
>> May I ask a question about
that, Chair Mcraven?
Is that okay, Chair Mcraven?
>> Chair McRaven: yes,
please, yes.
>> Okay.
I was just curious if you felt
like the pandemic, especially
when our campuses were largely
closed to the public, if that
impacted our energy usage in
any way?
Like, should we expect a spike
up when there is more of a
robust return to campus?
Or was our energy use still
pretty consistent, regardless
of how many individuals were
in our buildings in the last
two years?
>> Thanks for the question.
You know, mostly 2020-2021,
you know, mostly worked from
home and I would go to the
office one day or two a week.
I always wondered how other
campuses operating.
That's why we are doing the
utility report to see what we
are doing, how we are doing.
Knowing the population, how
many people, how many students
were at the campus, I would
like to think that we could
have done a better job.
We definitely saved energy
during those pandemic era.
However, I was hoping that we
could have saved more.
But we definitely saved
energies during those years.
>> Chair McRaven: did
that answer your question,
Stephanie?
>> Walker: I think so, yeah.
Thank you.
>> The other report that we
generate every year is an
energy conservation audit and
disclosure, the ecad.
In the city of Austin we have
ecad ordinance, so if you are
selling a house, more than 10
years old, you have to get
this report done so that the
new buyers can buy the house
knowing how much energy they
will be using.
Like, you are going out and
buying the prius and not
knowing that it will use the
energy like a hummer does.
So that's not going to be
fair.
So this ecad ordinance allows
the fair way of how they can
represent their buildings.
So we do report our utility
report with the city of Austin
as well.
Next, please.
And another one is the clean
Air Force.
Now the ground level ozone,
you might have heard the
ozone -- that the ground level
ozone is different than the
ozone layer up in the air in
the arctic area.
That saves us from, you know,
blocking UV ratings, but it is
harmful, like smoke.
And it comes usually from
fossil fuels burning.
You know, vehicles when they
are burning gasoline, the
ozone can be created from
that -- from the emissions.
So we try to minimize that as
well, working with the clean
Air Force.
Next, please.
So next item is minimizing the
landfill waste.
Next, please.
So we do have a 3-stream wm at
acc and we're trying to
minimize the landfill.
Next, please.
And we also have a specialty
recycling, like you can see
the markers and pen recycling,
it turned out to be a huge
success.
And we also have styrofoam
recycling.
And we had several clothing
swaps or the recycling events
at acc.
And book donations as well as
e-waste recycling programs.
Next, please.
And also we worked very
closely with our warehouse,
business office, to minimize
sending out the unnecessary
items to landfill.
When we received this for
furniture items.
Sometimes it doesn't fit well
in other campus settings so we
try to reuse them in other
campuses if we can.
If not, we try to auction it
off so that it has a second
life.
When we cannot even sell it
because there are items that
sometimes nobody wants to buy,
so then we can try to find the
donation options.
Some local isds, sometimes
it works well for them, so
we'll donate them.
Or if it fails we try to meet
recycling to avoid sending it
to the landfill.
Next, please.
And we do dumpster observation
with the help of our facility
support team.
We do twice a year.
And we found out that --
because of a visual inspection
and sometimes it's very run
are unreliable.
And with technology we found
out that there were new
dumpster sensors out there, so
we're availing a few items to
measure better.
If you cannot measure, you
cannot improve.
So that's what we're doing.
And one of the photos they
wanted to share -- can you go
back one slide, please -- so
on the right you can see
myself and one of our interns
at the time.
It was before the pandemic.
But what we found out doing
the dumpster diving at the
time, in the landfill, we
found out more than 90%
actually can be recycled or
composted.
It's just a practice issue.
It's an education issue that
we are trying to work with our
community.
Next, please.
>> Chair McRaven: Andy,
we really want to thank you
for the dumpster diving.
I mean, that's sort of over
and beyond, you know, what I'm
saying here?
[laughter]
For your job.
>> Thank you.
We do offer geo-waste events.
So some might have seen our
great volunteers and without
them we cannot offer these
services.
This is the photograph from a
retirement parent.
We do this zero waste event
and we have 80%, 90% waste not
being sent to landfills.
And the last category is
purchasing -- sustainable
purchasing.
Next, please.
So we are now doing the
styrofoam-free operations.
What that means is that we
encourage our vendors not to
bring the unnecessary
styrofoam packaging or
encouraging sustainable
packaging options and
educating our users.
And our cafeteria vendors were
voluntary removing these
styrofoam.
So we are working with our
suppliers as well as our
users.
And when, you know, sometimes
we receive the unnecessary,
unexpected styrofoam at our
campus, then we recycle them.
Next, please.
We work with large vendors out
there, Amazon and office depot
and staples.
Like Amazon, when our
employees search for the
products we can say that these
are organization preferred or
prevented or not allowed.
And like office depot we
created a list, so if you're
looking for something for your
break room, there's a list
that we already pre-made so
that they can find the
sustainable products easily.
Next, please.
And we also created this --
the purchasing guidelines.
It's a general guideline.
We just actually finished the
draft.
So we'd like to work with our
business offices in the near
future to incorporate this --
the principals to our
purchasing guideline.
We are looking at energy
carbon, water, toxins, forest
conservation and sustainable
transportation even, and then
waste and product end of life.
Next, please.
Those were our six items.
And I would like to share
briefly three new
initiative -- exciting
initiatives.
One is sustainable development
goals.
So we have worked with ACC
academic department and some
of our faculty members.
We are incorporating this U.N.
sustainable goals, one through
17.
If you look, as you can tell,
those are the items that we
are already teaching.
There are a lot of classes
that these items are already
very well embedded.
So we are trying to make it
visible for our faculty and
also when our students are
looking for those classes,
while they are gathering the
degree, they can start
gathering this information.
And then hopefully when they
graduate we'd like to
acknowledge how they gathered
these sustainable development
goals.
Such as, you know, maybe there
would be a green court,
something that we could honor
their achievement.
Next, please.
I'd like to make a big shout
out for our own acc lab.
They had a 3d printing of this
rechargeable battery
dispenser.
So if you put it at the top,
it cascades down.
So we'd like to work with our
department to use our
rechargeable batteries.
Disposable batteries are not
just a one-time purchase,
because we are also disposing
of it properly and we also
have to spend money to get rid
of them.
So we'd like to use the
rechargeable battery to
minimize our waste and save
money too.
Next, please.
And so my last screen, the
green office badge.
So with the pandemic, not
everybody is at our campus,
but we are getting there.
So we'd like to work with our
department by measuring their
practices.
And giving them an option to
contribute for our acc
sustainability initiative by
doing the energy conservation,
water conservation, waste
reduction, education and
awareness.
We created a checklist, so
it's very easy to do.
You can check on what item
they can do.
We cannot impose everything
for everybody, because there
are some items that may not be
even possible for our
employees.
So it's a menu item that they
can check on, so that they can
improve the sustainability at
acc life.
That's my end of the screen.
>> Chair McRaven: great.
So, Andy, how long have you
been with acc?
>> I was hired in 2009.
>> Chair McRaven: in
2000?
That's what I thought.
>> April.
>> Chair McRaven:
April 2009.
I want to say that you have
really taken our program --
just beyond my expectations,
and I just want to thank you
for your leadership in this
area.
It's been really fantastic in
terms what we've been able to
do as a college and an
institution.
So, thank you.
And, so, let me open it up to
any questions.
Dr. Mink, I can see your hand?
>> Mink: it's not a
question, it's just kind of
building on what you were
saying, Nan.
I remember when Andy joined
Austin community college and
we actually had a board edict
about kind of sustainability.
And he really jumped into this
position and has expanded it
enormously.
And one of the things that I
am particularly proud of at
acc is that I think we really
look at social and ecological
justice.
So we're advancing social
equity and ecological justice
as well, and the blending of
those two is so powerful and
I'm so proud of acc for
standing up in both of those
areas.
So thank you, Andy, for all of
your work.
It really is an enormous
undertaking and you have done
so well.
And I'm so proud of you and
acc and our initiatives in
this area.
>> Chair McRaven: you're
right, Dr. Mink.
I think we were one of the
first -- actually governmental
entities in central Texas to
pass a sustainability
environmental policy.
>> Mink: the policy -- the
policy on this, yes.
>> Chair McRaven: it was
Veronica Rivera who brought
that to us.
>> Mink: that's correct.
>> Chair McRaven: and we
thank her leadership on that.
Trustee Gharakhanian?
Did you have a question?
>> Gharakhanian: thank you,
Chair.
I did.
They sort of connect together,
but I am wondering if you
could remind us if we have a
specific goal date as when we
as a district hope to be 100%
renewable?
And I'm also very curious to
get your thoughts on this, can
this happen now or at a later
date about if there are things
that could be incorporated in
a future bond, or if there's
other opportunities through
federal funding that we think
that is coming down the pike
for us to really accelerate
our infrastructure at the
district to be able to meet
the renewable energy goals
that we have set out for
ourselves.
>> A few thoughts.
So, thank you for that, and,
you know, in the 2014 bond, we
specifically had a line item.
It was safety, you know,
security and sustainability.
So, you know, we highlighted
there, we have done a lot of
great things with it.
One of the things, you know --
me and Andy talk about it a
lot -- is getting to where
these are actually just part
of our standards.
They're not something
different that we need to put
in there.
So hopefully more and more,
it's just an expectation that
these are -- when we go and
build a building, this is all
part of it, right.
I think that we're starting to
get there.
We're trying to formalize some
of that, but I think we're
almost there.
And there's something that you
said at the beginning that I
had a great thought about.
>> Gharakhanian: I wondered
if you had a specific --
>> And Andy can speak to it,
but it's interesting that both
we're having this conversation
and that you asked that
question.
We're actually going through a
process right now of
revisiting our administrative
rules around sustainability.
And part of that is updating
specifically any of the
targets that are in there.
And so, Andy, I'll let you --
you say it, but we're actually
updating those goals and
specifically around the dates
of being 100% energy --
>> Chair McRaven: so
will that be a policy change?
And will that come back to us?
>> It's an administrative
rule.
So it's being driven by your
policy, to go and to do these
things.
So it's more detailed, right,
it actually gets into the
operational nuances of it.
But one of those updates is
the goal to be, you know, 100%
renewable.
So why don't you tell us what
those dates are.
>> So, when we signed up the
acupcc at the time, our goal
was to be carbon neutrality by
2050.
Sounds far away, but we
already passed 10 years,
right.
It didn't go through yet and
it almost plateaued knowing
that the pandemic actually
gave us a bit of a saving
there.
But, nonetheless, acc is
growing.
So it's not an easy task and
so 2050 sounds far away but
it's still a long way to go
for us to be able to get
there.
So that was our commitment at
the time but if we look at
what the city of Austin does
they have a 2030 goal to be
over 75%.
so by just being in part of
the Austin energy district,
actually our electricity
consumption largely benefitted
from Austin energy's very
aggressive goals.
that being said, we are using
100% renewable energy at round
rock.
we spend less money compared
to the Austin energy.
so it depends on where the
competition is happening.
sometimes you can get a good
benefit, especially because we
utilize the state contract
with the office.
we got a pretty good deal in
rate for 100% renewable energy
for those two campuses.
but because we are working
with progressive leaders at
the City of Austin, we expect
the renewable energy portion
of what they are providing
will be getting much higher in
the near future.
so we will be working closely
with utility providers, but
nonetheless, we are adding
renewable emergency on our
portfolio every year.
one of the good example is
also we shared that we saved
quite a bit of money because
there was not a high transit
ridership.
we are going to spend -- using
that money to add our
renewable energy solar panels
at our newly renovated campus.
we are always looking into an
option to add more renewable
energy sources in our
campuses.
>> for our purposes, we are
putting a goal in the rule.
one goal for 2030 and another
for 2035.
>> Austin has a 2030 plan.
actually, they are aiming for
over 90% in 2035.
it's a little bit confusing,
their goal.
but we are trying to meet or
match their goal at ACC.
>> so think it's north of --
our stated goal will be north
of 90% by 20 --
>> 35.
>> we'll do as much as we can.
but the point is for Austin
energy, our hands are tied
because we have to use Austin
energy for our -- we will
maximize to the extent that we
can 100% renewable options
outside of Austin energy, but
we're going to keep hoping for
Austin energy to keep up their
game, which -- upping their
game, which they will.
>> Gharakhanian: thank you
for those answers.
I love that you're thinking
about a lot of these practices
as how we build and do
business as a district,
similar to what you've done on
the workers rights sight.
if we are thinking about the
future, and if there is an
opportunity to make sure that
we're also articulating to
voters how we have moved in
this direction and what we
still hope to do with future
bond dollars, that would be
very important to a lot of the
people that we serve in our
district as well.
keep us posted as those
conversations continue.
thank you for this
presentation and for all of
your work.
>> Chair McRaven: all right.
thank you.
any other questions?
seeing none -- oh, yes.
go ahead, and then we'll
let . . .
>> Comstock: are there any
areas that are in the future
that you haven't included yet
but are kind of thinking about
that might need to be added?
I know you have new
initiatives in here already,
but are there some areas you
this is a very important area
for us to be able to teach our
next leaders in that regard.
so that will be our area that
we will be putting a lot of
efforts in the near future.
when it comes to the
challenge, the waste
management is not as easy.
when we looked at our
dumpster, 90% can be diverted
but it's not happening today.
it's a very difficult area
that we can work with our
employee and students.
everybody has as a second in
front of the bin or landfill.
they have to throw things away
in a split second.
we try to make it as easy as
possible.
it's a difficult area.
City of Austin has theirs as
well, but they are behind.
one time I saw San Francisco,
they had their zero waste goal
way back several decades ago.
actually, their goal actually
went down.
they couldn't meet their goal
that they set out.
it's a very difficult area.
nonetheless, we are doing our
best.
and on top of that, our
community comes from all
directions.
so not everybody even had
their recycle program at home.
so it's a very difficult area
to engage our students and
employees.
so that area would be my most
challenging area, but we are
working with our community.
and also we are expecting to
hire another position to be
able to improve that area.
>> so the biggest challenges
are human behavior, right.
[ laughing ]
>> which is no surprise.
any of these initiatives that
really depend on all of us to
be those better stewards,
those are the ones that are
the most challenging.
so we have to keep working on
them, all of us.
>> Chair McRaven: Dr.
Rhodes, did you want to make
some --
>> a couple of comments.
one, congratulations and thank
you, Andy.
I've never seen anybody more
passionate or doing a better
job at sustainability than you
do.
so I want to thank you for all
your hard work here.
and I also want to say that we
used to take Andy to do
sustainability sessions at ACC
and the league for innovation
and other things until I
realized that after the
session was over, he was
getting people coming up and
offering him jobs.
[ laughing ]
>> so we discontinued allowing
him out of the City of Austin.
[ laughing ]
>> Chair McRaven: yeah.
[ laughing ]
>> Chair McRaven: all right.
thank you so much, Andy.
and keep up the good work.
thank you.
>> thanks for your leadership.
>> Chair McRaven: okay.
next item is item 11, and we
will adjourn into executive
session.
we will -- yes.
so, the board will recess into
executive session at 5:06 p.m.
on Tuesday, February 1st, 2022
pursuant to the following
provisions of the Texas
government code, 551.072
relating to the purchase,
exchange, lease, or value of
real property.
so, yes.
all right.
[ chuckling ]