Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 49.39
Liaison Ciara Tennis
Submission Date Dec. 31, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Eastern Connecticut State University
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Torin Radicioni
Environmental Intern
Institute for Sustainable Energy
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Sustainability Committee(s) 

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:
The mission statement of the Green Campus Committee is to promote and implement sustainable initiatives, integrate sustainability into the physical infrastructures, academic offerings, and culture of the University. Click on "Green Campus Committee" menu item at http://www1.easternct.edu/sustainability/

None
Members of each committee, including affiliations and role (e.g. staff, student, or faculty):
Lynn Stoddard, Director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy, has been appointed by the President of the University to serve as the Chair of the Green Campus Committee. Other members of the Green Campus Committee include: Lourdes Ardel (Human Resources) John Beck (Institutional Advancement) Josephine Brickner (Student) Allison Brown (Student) Amanda Cefaratti (Housing and Residential Life) Lamar Coleman (Housing and Residential Life) Bradley Davis (History) Michael Desjarlais (Facilities Management and Planning) Lucinda Diaz (Facilities Management and Planning) Eric Germain (Public Safety - Police) Cindy Hodis (Fiscal Affairs) Renee Keech (Facilities Management and Planning) Leigh Lafleur (Facilities Management and Planning) Jenna Lafleur (Institute for Sustainable Energy) Kathleen Martel (Fiscal Affairs) Stephen Nathan (Environmental Earth Science) Shellena Pitterson (Facilities Management and Planning) Lauren Polansky (Student Activities) Torin Radicioni (Student) Joseph Salvaggio (Food Services) Daniel Simpson (Student) Zachary Stygar (Institute for Sustainable Energy) Joshua Sumrell (Housing and Residential Life) Paul Torcellini (Environmental Earth Science) Angela Walker (Library) Jermain Whyte (Housing and Residential Life)

Sustainability Office(s) 

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

None
A brief description of each sustainability office:
The Institute for Sustainable Energy (ISE) at Eastern Connecticut State University works on energy, climate change, and sustainability projects and public policy statewide. In addition to initiatives throughout Connecticut, the Institute's director chairs Eastern's Green Campus Committee and works in close partnership with Eastern’s Center for Sustainable Energy Studies and the Facilities Management, Dining Services, and Planning Department to incorporate sustainability into the academic offerings, physical infrastructure, and culture of Eastern Connecticut State University. ISE dedicates approximately 1 FTE of staff and student intern time to Eastern's green campus initiatives. For statewide sustainability work performed by ISE, ISE employs 4.7 FTE plus 4 part-time student interns. Please note that the answer to the FTE question below refers to people employed at ISE - the majority of work done by this staff is on statewide projects (not on Eastern's campus).

None
Full-time equivalent (FTE) of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
4.70

Sustainability Officer(s) 

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

Name and title of each sustainability officer:
Lynn Stoddard, Director of Institute for Sustainable Energy

Institution-Wide Coordination 

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:
Eastern has a Green Campus Committee, made up of representatives from many departments -- faculty, facilities, the Institute for Sustainable Energy, human resources, purchasing, dining services, housing and residential life, bursar's office, students, etc. The Green Campus Committee meets monthly and implements a broad range of sustainable initiatives on campus. Recent accomplishments of the Green Campus Committee (in the past 3 years) include: recommitment of the university president to carbon neutrality and resilience by signing the new Second Nature Climate Leadership Commitment (Oct 2015); Eastern joined the Town of Windham in a Community Resilience Building workshop to identify climate hazards and potential actions to mitigate them (March 2017); an updated Greenhouse Gas Inventory for the institution (May 2017); waste audits, improved recycling collection and recycling marketing via educational stickers on recycling bins and in dorm rooms, and email outreach (2015-18); going tray-less in the dining hall to reduce food waste, and sending remaining food waste to Quantum Biopower to be processed into biofuel and compost (2017); annual participation in CT Campus Sustainability Week since 2015; reduced waste in yearly Move-Out collection of unwanted student furniture, clothing, and food items for donation to local soup kitchen and interfaith ministry; and "Green Campus" recognition by the Princeton Review every year since 2010. Eastern also hosts the Institute for Sustainable Energy (ISE). The Institute advances the adoption of practical, cost-effective solutions and strategies that increase energy efficiency, sustainability, and resilience throughout Connecticut. From Fall 2017 to Spring 2018, ISE worked with the Willimantic Whitewater Partnership and the CT Department of Economic and Community Development and the Office of the Arts to recruit and select a designer to create a public art piece for Willimantic that generates renewable energy. Throughout 2017-18, ISE developed and launched Sustainable CT, a voluntary certification program for Connecticut municipalities that offers guidance, recognition and support in undertaking sustainability actions. Sustainable CT provides support to municipalities in partnership with state agencies, non-profits, and others through education, research, and technical assistance. For more about Sustainable CT, visit sustainablect.org. ISE other achievements from the past three years can be found by looking at the press release archive found here: http://www1.easternct.edu/sustainenergy/institute-for-sustainable-energy-press-release-archive/

Optional Fields 

Job Description (1st position)

Job title of the sustainability officer position:
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Job description for the sustainability officer position:
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Job description for the sustainability officer position:
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Job Description (2nd position) 

Job title of the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
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Job description for the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
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Job description for the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
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Job Description (3rd position) 

Job title of the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
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Job description for the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
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Job description for the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
This information was input based on information supplied by ISE intern Torin Radicioni with help from Lynn Stoddard and Jenna Lafleur.

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.