Amherst College
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

The Office of Sustainability helps coordinate and facilitate a number of different campus sustainability committees focused on a variety of sustainability focus areas including:

Food Systems Committee

The Food Systems Committee brings together a group of key campus stakeholders within the food system with the goal of moving towards a more sustainable and resilient campus food system. The Food Systems Committee focuses on understanding the campus food system from procurement to waste, creating broader campus-understanding of the campus food system, and collaborating on reimagining our food system. The purview of the Committee includes, but is not limited to efforts to reduce campus food’s carbon footprint and food waste (food sourcing, purchasing standards, plant-based foods, food miles, etc.), to increase access to nutritious and intentionally-made food, to support those whose labor contributes to the campus food system, to raise awareness of food systems issues and solutions through messaging and events, to respond to the diverse needs of the community, and to strengthen the community by working on these issues.

Committee Members:

Anna Hogarth - Green Dean for Sustainability

Dylan Byrne ‘24 - Food Systems Fellow

Rhine Hazra ‘26 - Dining Data Fellow

Nicholas De Pinho ‘25 - Food Justice Alliance Rep

Maida Ives - Farm Manager

William Fett - Executive Sous Chef

Part-time members:

Megan Scutti - Nutritionist and Dietician

Anna Piergentili - Manager of Dining Hall Operations

Ivy Haight ‘25 - Eco Rep Leader

Colin Hoyt - Executive Chef

Eric Moulton - Dining Services Financial Analyst

Zero Waste Committee

The Zero Waste Committee meets monthly to identify, discuss, and address campus waste issues from a holistic systems perspective. The committee is working to draft a Zero Waste Plan for the college that includes best practices and a series of recommendations for consideration and implementation:

Committee Members:

• Wes Dripps, Director of Sustainability

• Henry Bontempo ‘26, Office of Sustainability Zero Waste Fellow

• Kenny Lauzier, Director of Auxiliary Services/Facilities

• Mark Uchneat, Supervisor of Landscape and Grounds

• Amanda Vann, Director of Residential Engagement and Wellbeing

• Rachel Kremer, Director of Student Engagement and Leadership

• Bill Connor, Executive Director of Dining Services and Hospitality Services

• Sarah Pettengill, Procurement Manager

Sanctuary Stewardship and Sustainable Landscape Committee

The campus wildlife sanctuary and landscape provides endless opportunities for curricular, co-curricular, and community engagement. This committee assists the College in long-range planning for the use, maintenance, and vision for the college’s wildlife sanctuary and the campus landscape, with a focus on sustainability. The Office of Sustainability is working with this committee to develop a strategic vision and plan for the wildlife sanctuary and support the development of educational sanctuary materials (i.e. a field guide, trail maps). The committee also supports the college’s ongoing Tree Campus and Arboretum efforts.

Standing Members

• Kenny Lauzier - Grounds Manager / Supervisor

• Weston Dripps  - Director of Sustainability

• Maida Ives - Director of Campus Farm (Book and Plow)

• Ralph Johnson  - Executive Director of Campus Operations

• Rebecca Kennedy  - Associate Director of Institutional Events

• Mark S. Uchneat - Assistant Supervisor Grounds

Appointed Members

• Katharine Sims - Professor of Economics and of Environmental Studies

• Dwight Carey - Professor of Art and the History of Art

• Ethan Temeles - Professor of Biology And Environmental Studies

• Samuel Morse - Professor of the History of Art and Asian Languages and Civilizations

• Dean Gendron - Senior Associate Dean of Students

• Noah Harris ‘26 - Student

• Zachary Watson ‘24 - Student

• Milo Leahy-Miller ‘24 - Student

Climate Action Committee

The college has committed to decarbonizing its campus energy system by 2030. The committee meets monthly to discuss opportunities and efforts to support our campus decarbonization efforts. Recent committee meetings have focused on our VPPA in Farmington, Maine, electrification of the campus fleet, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

Committee Members

Mike Thomas - Chief Financial and Administrative Officer

Ralph Johnson - Executive Director of Campus Operations

Guy Cote - Director of Facilities Operations

Scott Cole - Director of Campus Operations Finance

Alex Houn - Budget Analyst

John Carter - Executive Director of Safety and Chief of Police

Tom Dwyer - Associate Chief Financial Officer

Laurie Bouchard - Assistant Controller

Tom Davies - Executive Director of Planning, Design, and Construction

Wes Dripps - Director of Sustainability

The Office of Sustainability has two full time staff members - a Director of Sustainability and a Green Dean for Sustainability. The Director of Sustainability leads the Office of Sustainability and works to infuse sustainability across the curriculum, co-curriculum, and operations of the college, create high impact student experiences in sustainability, and engage campus and community stakeholders in developing more sustainable communities. The Green Dean for Sustainability supports the Director of Sustainability by supporting and leading student-facing programs and promoting awareness of the office’s mission and initiatives. The Green Dean supports the Director to create opportunities, initiatives and programs for students to engage in high impact sustainability experiences, build collaborative relationships that enhance teaching and experiential learning, communicate and engage the community in sustainability initiatives, and push the college forward in its efforts to decarbonize.

The Office of Sustainability is located in Charles Pratt 101 on the main quad and has two full time staff members. The Office of Sustainability serves as a focal point and catalyst for awareness-building, collaboration and action on sustainability issues across campus, facilitating and coordinating sustainability efforts across the curriculum, co-curriculum, and campus operations. The office offers a series of novel sustainability education programs designed to provide faculty, staff, and students with new ways of thinking, collaborating, and problem solving and the skills and knowledge necessary to deal with the sustainability challenges of the 21st century. The office serves as an animating academic hub where professors, students, staff, and community leaders wrestle with the most complex issues associated with forging a more sustainable future. 

https://www.amherst.edu/about/sustainability/office-of-sustainability 

Office of Sustainability 2023 - 2024 Year in Review

This past year was the second full year of the new Office of Sustainability’s existence. I am really pleased and proud with all that we have been able to accomplish in a relatively short amount of time – from piloting and scaling program offerings for students, faculty, and staff to managing 25+ students and their sustainability projects to a large number of campus community wide sustainability events to the continued nurturing of a sustainability culture across the campus. Moving into a new office space in Charles Pratt significantly increased our presence on campus and our engagement across the campus community. Being an office of essentially two (myself and a Green Dean) tasked with overseeing all things sustainability for the college remains somewhat of a daunting task that requires a lot of energy and endurance, flexibility and resilience, juggling, a forward looking and solutions-oriented approach, and work with a lot of campus stakeholders. We have continued to build our relationships across campus and increase our collaboration with other offices, and have worked to be a catalyst and centralized hub to help move the college along on its sustainability pathway.

Three Main Accomplishments

1. Settling into Our New Office Space and Increasing Our Reach

The office moved into a new space in Charles Pratt this year which has been a total game changer. I have worked very hard to increase our presence and establish this space as a campus hub for all things campus sustainability. The new space provides us not only a home for our 25+ student fellows and EcoReps to work and gather, but also has provided us with a much needed physical home, identity, and destination to host our student, staff, and faculty programs. We continue to settle in and spruce up the space, but it is coming along nicely. With our increased presence and established home, I concurrently have continued to work to increase campus awareness of and engagement with our sustainability efforts / office, build out communications, and better establish our brand and identity. We have significantly improved campus awareness of the office and the college’s sustainability work this year. Some highlights and accomplishments include:

Expanded Correspondence and Communication:

-        A Monthly External Sustainability Newsletter for alumni, campus stakeholders, and donors (408 subscribers)

-        A Bi-Weekly Student Sustainability Newsletter (446 student subscribers)

-        Active and strong social media presence: instagram (1,373 followers) and LinkedIn (403 followers)

-        Monthly email summary to internal campus stakeholders

-        Brand identity kit for all of our communications

Increased Information, Education, and Storytelling:

-        Complete overhaul and redevelopment of the college’s sustainability website

-       A sustainability campus virtual tour

-        A Sustainability Moodle Module for New Students – required as part of their orientation.

-        Regular presentations to internal and external audiences - Admissions, Alumni, Reunions, Parents

-        Sustainability Welcome packet for all new employees (faculty and staff)

-       Sustainability Across the Curriculum photo expose

-       Participated in the year-long leadership development pilot program (HR’s Leadership Academy).

Enhanced National and Regional Profile:

-        Lead coordinator for the Northeast Campus Sustainability Consortium (NECSC) Annual Conference. The three-day conference brings together sustainability directors, coordinators, practitioners from across the Northeast.

-        Serve on the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) advisory council.

-        Organize The Berkoneers (the five college sustainability staff + Williams staff) who meet monthly to discuss ongoing sustainability efforts and challenges on our respective campuses.

-        Member of the National Zero Waste Council that meets monthly to look at waste issues across higher education.

-        “Scaling Up Curricular Integration” cohort meets monthly to discuss ways to infuse across campus curriculums.

-        Presented a national webinar on our EcoReps program for the Sustainability Communications Network.

-        Our zero waste efforts being included in Essential Environment: The Science behind the Stories textbook.

-        Amherst finished #7 nationally in the annual Campus Race to Zero Waste Competition diversion category.

-        Recognized as a Tree Campus USA designee–one of only 7 colleges or universities in the state of Massachusetts.

2. Increasing the Number of and Support for High Impact Student Sustainability Experiences

I have been working to develop and build out a vast array of high impact, formative student learning experiences designed to tackle sustainability challenges and seek solutions that serve the campus sustainability ecosystem. Some highlights this year include:

-        The Student Fellows Program - the office’s flagship student program, which engages students in real world, campus sustainability fellowships during the summer and the academic year. This past year I employed 17 students working on a wide range of campus sustainability projects.

-        The Summer Fellows Program – a generous gift from Ronald N. Hoge ’67 helped launch a new Summer Sustainability Fellows Program which pairs an Amherst student with a local community partner for eight weeks during the summer to work on a sustainability project/initiative for the organization.

-        The Sustainability Trek - a four-day student sustainability career exploration trek to NYC in January. This trek included 14 students engaging with 25 alumni and other sustainability professionals for four days of discussions, site visits, meetings, and group reflection covering career opportunities across a variety of sustainability careers.

-        EcoReps - a student peer to peer education program designed to promote sustainable behaviors through education, awareness, and connections within residence life. I employed and managed 10 student EcoReps in this program.

-        Stats Sustainability Fellows - 4 students who are Rosenblum Statistics and Data Science Fellows worked with the office to explore and analyze a series of campus sustainability data sets.

-        The college’s first Sustainability Hackathon. For 24 hrs, 7 teams of students worked together in a team to build and pitch a Sustainability - AI inspired solution to help make Amherst more sustainable.

-        Member of the Better Amherst Initiative Advisory Team - a student-led initiative for building better pathways for Amherst students pursuing impact careers. I maintain a sustainability resource database for students.

3. Campus and Community Engagement

The office aims to engage faculty, students, and staff broadly across the college through a series of educational programs aimed at educating and engaging the campus on sustainability. Programmatically we have done a lot and successfully piloted and now scaled many student, faculty, and staff programs including:

Faculty and Staff Engagement

-        The Faculty – Staff Affiliate program - a monthly faculty – staff field trip series focused on infusing experiential learning across the curriculum and co-curriculum. In the past two years, 154 different faculty and staff have participated in the program.

-        Worked one on one with about a dozen faculty on integrating sustainability into their curriculum

-        The Green Office program engages office staff around workplace sustainability (39 offices certified)

-        The Green Labs program aimed at improving the overall sustainability of the college’s labs.

Student Engagement

-        Sustainable Solutions Lab - a student RSO that provides space and place for students to identify, ideate, and implement solutions to campus sustainability issues

-        Green Athletics program focused on sustainability within our athletic programs. Each team has a designated Sustainability Liaison that meets with my office.

-        A very successful bike share program and campus bike shop (Tread Shed)

-        A new closed loop approach to campus waste – Giant Free Yard Sale and Free Clothing Events down in the Ice Rink. Successfully repurposed and diverted roughly 20 tons of materials and 10,000 pieces of clothes.

-        ARHA 246 class (Public Art Collaborative) painted a mural in the Office of Sustainability.

-        Annual Earth Week coordination and celebration. Full week of campus events in April.

Campus Wide Engagement

-        A Food Systems Committee intended to improve the sustainability of the campus food system

-        A Zero Waste Committee intended to improve the sustainability of the campus waste system

-        A Climate Action Committee intended to support efforts towards our decarbonizations goals

-        Serve on the Sanctuary Stewardship, Book & Plow Farm, and Campus Wellbeing Committees.

-        Coordinating and completing the college’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) report, a comprehensive assessment on the college’s sustainability efforts and progress. 

Educational Guides

-        The Amherst Student Sustainability Living Guide

-        The Green Living Certification - students assess how sustainable their campus lifestyle is.

-        A Sustainability Study Away Guide developed with the Office of Global Education.

-       A student guide to the PVTA bus system

-       A Vegetarian’s guide to the Valentine Dining hall

Title:    Director of Sustainability

Department:   Office of Sustainability Reports to title:   Dean of Faculty (Provost)

Full Time:       X  

1.  Summary of Position:

The Office of Sustainability’s (OS) mission is to facilitate academic and applied experiences for students in service of developing knowledge across disciplines to inform environmentally sustainable decisions and action. The OS supports faculty in their efforts to integrate sustainability into the curriculum and research.  By leveraging the college’s sustainable operational practices, the OS creates experiential learning opportunities for students.  The OS promotes institutional innovation and action in support of the college’s sustainability commitment.  The OS recognizes the intersections of sustainability with social justice, environmental justice and strives to foster a more equitable world through its initiatives and programming.

The Director will lead the Amherst College Center of Office of Sustainability by creating and supporting opportunities for students to engage in scholarship focused on a just and sustainable future, building collaborative relationships that enhance teaching and experiential learning, communicating and engaging the community in sustainability initiatives and pushing the college forward in its efforts to transform to carbon neutrality.   The Director works with campus constituents to develop the innovative programs and projects that ensure the College is a mindful environmental steward.  The Director promotes and enables integration of sustainable values and practices into the curriculum and research, co-curricular experiential learning, the college’s strategic planning, management of resources and operations, facilities planning and design and students’ residential experience.  

The OS and its Director of Sustainability uses sustainability program initiatives to create knowledge, awareness and commitment to life-long responsible environmental citizenry.

The Director of the OS will report to the Dean of Faculty (Provost) and will maintain strong collaborative working relationships with the Chief of Campus Operations and the Chief of Student Affairs.  They will work directly with a faculty advisor from the Environmental Studies department, the Academic Resources Team and the Center for Community Engagement to ensure that sustainability studies and experiential learning are integrated into the curriculum.  The Director will also oversee a full-time Green Dean position that assists in supporting student facing programs and promotes awareness of the OS’s mission and initiatives.  The Director will also partner with various groups at the College (e.g. Office of Global Education, the Book and Plow Farm, Loeb Career Center, Advancement/Alumni network) to expand student learning opportunities outside the classroom, facilitate career exploration and promote the accomplishments of the OS.

Takes appropriate actions to support a diverse workforce and participates in the college’s efforts to create a respectful, inclusive, and welcoming work environment.

2.   Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

Faculty Support – 25%

• Coordinate with faculty and the Academic Resources Team to integrate sustainability initiatives into the curriculum and makes use of campus resources (College Sanctuary, Book and Plow Farm) as a living laboratory for research and teaching, including curation of data sets to monitor, study and promote campus sustainability initiatives like the Climate Action Plan.

• Coordinates research opportunities for students to engage in sustainability scholarship and develops programs for student interns to engage with work on projects connected to the college’s initiatives in campus sustainability.  

• Partners with the Center for Community Engagement and the College’s Resource Centers to support student engagement in organizations working towards just, equitable and sustainable solutions to the connected challenges of racial and social inequality and environmental injustice.

• Connect students to careers in sustainability by collaborating with and supporting the Loeb Center for Career Exploration and Planning  

Student Life – 25%

• Design programs to foster greater awareness of sustainable principles and practices and work with Student Affairs to, implement and engage students in these activities (e.g., Eco-Reps program in dormitories, bike share program, recycling and waste reduction programs, etc.)  

• Promotes campus environmental stewardship that connects with students through various methods including:  presentations and demonstrations, recycling and energy competitions, dining hall table tents, articles in the Student newspaper, web page, participation in and presence at events, and use of social media.

Operations Support – 25%

• Promote integration of sustainability principles into the operational functions of the College.  Create institutional level sustainability standards and policies, (e.g., transportation, waste management, energy utilization, building design, carbon emission). Support college leaders in other divisions in their efforts to develop strategies to advance Amherst’s sustainability efforts; evaluate these opportunities for technical feasibility, cost effectiveness; develop indicators to assess and document the effectiveness of those sustainability programs; create implementation plans and recommend programs and initiatives to the senior administration.   Work with departments to support their implementation plans and analyze the effectiveness of initiatives including areas such as energy and materials usage, waste generation, food procurement.  

• Support Facilities in the development and implementation of energy and resource conservation projects, including high performance building design.  Support the Facilities department in implementing a self-sustaining Green Revolving Fund that provides financing to implement sustainability projects that generate cost savings.

• Perform and periodically update a STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System) survey to gauge progress towards a more sustainable campus. 

Institutional – 20%

• Streamline, promote and communicate Amherst’s sustainability efforts within and outside of the Amherst community.  Document progress towards sustainability and promote broader awareness of Amherst’s environmental efforts and accomplishments.  Actively promote sustainability, with emphasis on the reduction of Amherst’s environmental impacts and with a focus on the intersections between environmental sustainability and social and racial justice.    

• Identify opportunities for outside funding and pursue grants, rebate programs and other funding sources.

• Actively engage in sustainability professional organizations and speak at local, regional and national conferences.

• Manage staff, student employees, student research assistants and/or environmental interns. 

• Submit annual report to the President’s Senior Staff on the state of sustainability at the college and recommend key initiatives that could advance sustainability.  

• Collaborate with the Book & Plow Farm and ensure that it is a resource effectively used to enhance Dining Services, create awareness regarding closed loop systems, and is integrated into curricular and co-curricular initiatives.

• All employees are expected to participate in the College’s efforts to create a respectful, inclusive, and welcoming work environment.

Other—5%  Other duties as assigned and necessary to support he college

Sustainability Green Dean Position

Achieving sustainability is the defining idea of our era; the consequences of not achieving sustainability are certainly catastrophic. Education is perhaps the most viable pathway to sustainability as it shapes perceptions and values needed to pursue this path. Amherst aims to prepare students to “lead principled lives of consequence” and “link learning with leadership—in service to the College, to their communities, and to the world beyond.” Preparing students to tackle sustainability challenges and find viable solutions is becoming an increasingly important aspect of Amherst’s mission. Amherst students face a global health crisis, a climate crisis, a democratic crisis, and a global military crisis, to name just a few, and the need for changemakers, systems leaders and sustainable solutions has never been so great. The Office of Sustainability aims to develop programs that provide sustainability knowledge, skills, and competencies, personally engage faculty, staff, and students, and instill a sense of agency, efficacy, and hope for a more sustainable pathway forward.

Job Description:

Amherst College invites applications from current seniors or recent Amherst graduates for the Green Dean-Office of Sustainability position. The Green Dean-Office of Sustainability is a full-time, 13 ½ month term position (July 1, 2024 – August 15, 2025). Given Amherst’s distinction as one of the most diverse liberal arts colleges in the country, the successful candidate will demonstrate the ways in which they bring value to and will work towards supporting a broadly diverse community.

The Office of Sustainability provides a vast array of high impact, formative academic and applied student learning experiences focused on sustainability through our various student programs and partnerships within the local sustainability ecosystem. The office also supports faculty in their efforts to integrate sustainability into their curriculum and research. The office recognizes the intersections of sustainability with social justice and environmental justice, and strives to foster a more equitable world through its initiatives and programming.

The Green Dean will support the Director of the Amherst College Office of Sustainability by supporting and leading student-facing programs and promoting awareness of the office’s mission and initiatives. The Green Dean will also support the Director to create opportunities, initiatives and programs for students to engage in scholarship focused on a just and sustainable future, building collaborative relationships that enhance teaching and experiential learning, communicating and engaging the community in sustainability initiatives and pushing the college forward in its efforts to decarbonize. The Green Dean works with a diverse group of campus constituents as they develop innovative programs and projects that help the college pursue a sustainable path forward.

Summary of Duties and Qualifications:

Coordination and Collaboration

●      Collaborates with the Director to develop and implement a mission, vision, and strategic plan for the Office of Sustainability that aligns institutional priorities with the needs and interests of campus and community stakeholders.

●      Maintains campus and community relationships proactively to support student projects and programs and events engaging a wide range of sustainability topics.

● Partners with other campus centers like the Center for Community Engagement and the College’s Resource Centers to support student engagement in organizations working towards just, equitable, and sustainable solutions to the connected challenges of racial, social, and environmental inequality and injustice.

●      Collaborates with Food and Dining and Facilities Services to support efforts for improved sustainability with food, waste, energy, and transportation systems on campus. 

Student Engagement

●      Helps coordinate and direct the Office’s student fellows’ program which engages students in real world, campus and community sustainability fellowships, with offerings during the summer and the academic year.

●       Leads and organizes students engaged in the office’s programs to foster greater awareness of sustainable principles (e.g., Sustainability Student Fellows, Eco-Reps program in residence halls, the campus bike share and Tread Shed bike shop, recycling and waste reduction programs, food systems efforts with Dining and the Book & Plow Farm, etc.)

●      Assists the Director in promoting campus sustainability stewardship and education among students through various methods including: panels and events, recycling and energy competitions, dining hall table tents, articles in the Student newspaper, and use of social media.

Operations Support

●      Assists Director in updating the College’s STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System) report to gauge progress towards a more sustainable campus.

●      Assists Director with the drafting and creation of a campus sustainability strategic plan.

●      Helps compile long-term datasets for campus sustainability efforts, including but not limited to campus operations, sustainability metrics, and sustainability impact indicators.

●    Helps maintain, populate, and update the office’s website as well as the office’s social media accounts (e.g., Instagram, LinkedIn).

●       Communicates regularly with cross-campus stakeholders, such as facilities       to promote and coordinate campus sustainability efforts.