Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 72.19
Liaison John Pumilio
Submission Date Aug. 11, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Colgate University
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have at least one sustainability committee?:
Yes

The charter or mission statement of the committee(s) or a brief description of each committee's purview and activities:

Charge to the Colgate Sustainability Council

As an educational institution, Colgate recognizes its responsibility to promote understanding of environmental stewardship and sustainable practices among its faculty, staff, and students. Colgate's setting near the foothills of the Adirondacks in central New York makes this responsibility an especially important one. With increased regional, national and global awareness of the importance of environmental and sustainability issues, and a keen sense of the leadership role educational institutions must assume in promoting best practices in sustainability, it is incumbent on the Colgate community to exploit the opportunities and meet the challenges inherent in this role. We believe that the university’s educational mission provides us with unusual opportunities to foster sustainable practices as we determine how to most efficiently and responsibly use, preserve, and renew our institutional resources. Through our collaborative efforts administrators, faculty, staff, students and members of the surrounding Hamilton community can join together to promote greater emphasis upon sustainability and to steward Colgate’s campus and land holdings.

The Sustainability Council is charged with (1) encouraging the development of a coordinated vision for short-term and long-term planning for the University to ensure a safe, healthy and sustainable campus environment and infrastructure, including the protection of the integrity and beauty of the campus and other Colgate lands; (2) making recommendations concerning conservation issues including resource use and development, energy efficiency, waste reduction and recycling, pollution abatement, environmentally-responsible building methods and other measures consistent with environmentally sustainable practices; (3) assisting the institution with environmental audits on a regular basis (ca. 10 year periods); and (4) promoting and publicizing the activities and successes of the institution involving sustainability as part of our overall strategic goal of deepening Colgate’s status as a leading liberal arts institution.


Members of each committee, including affiliations and role (e.g. staff, student, or faculty):

The Sustainability Council is composed of a representative group of faculty, administrators, and students and will include the Director of Sustainability, the Associate Vice President for Facilities, the Associate Provost, the Directors of Environmental Studies and Outdoor Education, three additional faculty appointed by the President from the Natural and Social Sciences and the Humanities, a representative from Communications, the DOC staff, and the Upstate Institute, the Manager of Environmental Health and Safety, and two students appointed by the President. This composition will ensure strong ties between the educational and operational components of the institution and maintain close communication among these entities. The President may also make temporary appointments to this Council when a particular expertise is needed for a specific project. The Chair will be one of the faculty members, elected for a two-year term by the members of the committee.


Does the institution have at least one sustainability office that includes more than 1 full-time equivalent (FTE) employee?:
Yes

A brief description of each sustainability office:

The sustainability office is led by the Director of Sustainability and supported by a program coordinator (part-time), administrative assistant (part-time), and student interns. The Office is responsible for advancing sustainability principles and practices in our operations, day-to-day decision-making, and across our curriculum and co-curricular experiences.


Full-time equivalent (FTE) of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
8

Does the institution have at least one sustainability officer?:
Yes

Name and title of each sustainability officer:
John Pumilio, Director of Sustainability

Does the institution have a mechanism for broad sustainability coordination for the entire institution (e.g. a campus-wide committee or an officer/office responsible for the entire campus)?:
Yes

A brief description of the activities and substantive accomplishments of the institution-wide coordinating body or officer during the previous three years:

Please view our webpage (www.colgate.edu/green) and browse our blog (http://blogs.colgate.edu/sustainability/) for recent accomplishments and activities.


Job title of the sustainability officer position:
---

Job description for the sustainability officer position:
---

Job description for the sustainability officer position:
---

Job title of the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
---

Job description for the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
---

Job description for the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
---

Job title of the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
---

Job description for the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
---

Job description for the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
---

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
---

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.