Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 74.96
Liaison Megan Butler
Submission Date Jan. 19, 2021

STARS v2.2

Macalester College
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Christie Manning
Director of Sustainability
Sustainability Office
"---" 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:
Sustainability and Environmental Justice Advisory Committee:
The Sustainability and Environmental Justice Advisory Committee advises and supports the Sustainability office in its mission to be a catalyst, convener, and champion of urban sustainability and environmental justice across and beyond campus. Priorities for this committee in 2020-2022 include helping update the vision and mission statements of the office to incorporate stronger environmental justice and anti-racism themes, and building new partnerships on campus.



Zero Waste Committee:
The mission of the Zero Waste committee is to work towards achieving this goal. Historically, the Zero Waste committee was an advisory group to provide leadership for the Macalester College Recycling Organization (MacRO) program. Moving forwards, the Zero Waste Committee will advise the Facilities Services department on strategies for successful campus sorting efforts and waste reduction strategies.

Wellness and Health at Macalester (WHAM)
The mission of the WHAM Committee is to foster a working and learning environment that promotes healthy lifestyle choices by increasing awareness, providing educational opportunities, and supporting lifestyle changes. Healthier lifestyles among faculty and staff will in turn create happier, more productive individuals who benefit themselves, Macalester, and the greater community.

Members of each committee, including affiliations and role:
The Sustainability and Environmental Justice Advisory Committee includes three staff members, three faculty members (including the Chair of Environmental Studies), and two students. The Associate Dean of the Faculty serves as an ex officio member.

Faculty and staff representatives serve two year terms of office with terms arranged so that there is a continuing member on the committee. Students have a one year term. All can be reappointed.


The Zero Waste committee has seven full time staff, one faculty member, and four students.
The Wellness and Health at Macalester (WHAM) committee is composed of 2 faculty and 5 staff who are interested in promoting health and wellness at Macalester.

Sustainability office(s) 

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

A brief description of each sustainability office:
The mission of the Sustainability Office is to act as a resource for encouraging and enabling the advancement of sustainability across campus. It does this by:

• helping to form connections between students, staff, faculty and the senior administration
• creating and supporting campus communication structures
• acting as a central hub of information on sustainability
• supporting sustainability projects and policies

The Sustainability Office works in conjunction with and under the oversight of the Sustainability and Environmental Justice Advisory Committee. It works in partnership with Facilities Services, the Kofi Annan Institute for Global Citizenship, the Serie Center for Scholarship and Teaching, the Department of Multicultural Life, Health and Wellness, Residential Life, the Environmental Studies Department, and many other offices on campus.

Full-time equivalent of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
1.50

Sustainability officer(s) 

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

Name and title of each sustainability officer:
Christie Manning, Director of Sustainability; Alyssa Erding, Sustainability Coordinator

Institution-wide coordination 

Does the institution have a mechanism for broad sustainability coordination for the entire institution?:
Yes

A brief description of the activities and substantive accomplishments of the institution-wide coordinating body or officer during the previous three years:
The Sustainability Office has supported and coordinated a number of important sustainability initiatives in the last three years, including promoting bike usage on campus and recertifying campus as a Bicycle Friendly University, implementing a free menstrual cup program, participating in and spearheading college-wide anti-racism and environmental justice efforts, awarding funding for sustainability-related course development, supporting the installation of more than 250 additional kW PV solar generation capacity on campus, and collaborating with Facilities Services on a winning proposal for pro-bono carbon neutrality planning from non-profit Ever-Green Energy.

Optional Fields 

Job description (1st position)

Job title of the sustainability officer position:
---

Job description for the sustainability officer position:
---

Job description for the sustainability officer position:
---

Job description (2nd 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 description (3rd 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):
---

Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainability coordination 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.