Michigan State University
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

MSU has a Sustainability department under the Infrastructure, Planning and Facilities unit, with a full-time sustainability director and five additional full-time staff. In the last three years the major accomplishments of the office include leading the successful creation and adoption of MSU's Energy Transition Plan, collecting and publishing MSU's annual sustainability report, and piloting innovative energy conservation programs such as Green League, the Spartan Treasure Hunt, and the Energy Incentive Program. COMMITTEES: In the last four years, the office convened a Systems Team for Sustainability - comprised of students, faculty, and staff - with the goal of improving sustainability for energy, water, supply chain (purchasing, waste, recycling, reuse), and food. Numerous research grants for faculty and students were awarded through this committee. An ad hoc Energy Transition Steering Committee was also convened to create a long-range energy plan for the university. The committee completed its activities in April 2012, however responsibility for implementation of the plan continues with an Energy Operations Committee.

Systems Team for Sustainability: The Systems Team for Sustainability was re-energized in 2012 by the Sustainability Visioning Group Paper, “A Vision for Sustainability” to continue using the campus as a living/learning laboratory for students, faculty and staff. The Systems Team for Sustainability is charged with developing recommendations to improve sustainability for energy, water, supply chain (purchasing, waste, recycling, reuse), and food. Energy Transition Steering Committee: Develop a long-range energy plan to help MSU reliably meet its future energy needs while keeping a close eye on cost, environmental, and health impacts. Energy Operations Committee: Using the goals and strategies in the Energy Transition Plan, the Energy Operations Team develops specific recommendations for achieving Energy Transition Plan goals, and presents them to the university’s senior leaders and Board of Trustees to approve for implementation.

Systems Team for Sustainability: Ben Darling, Land Management Bob Ellerhorst, IPF Director of Utilities Carla Iansiti, RHS Sustainability Dale Rozeboom, Animal Science Davide Skole, Forestry Diana Twede, Packaging Diane Barker, RHS Sustainability Jan Beecher, Institute for Public Utilities Jeff Kacos, Campus Planning Jennifer Battle, Campus Sustainability John Biernbaum, Horticulture John Wagner, Business College Kim Kokenakes, University Services Kris Jolley, Surplus & Recycling Laurie Thorp, RISE/Community Sustainability Lisa Desprez, Campus Sustainability Lynda Boomer, IPF Energy & Environment Marta Mittermaier, RHS Support Services Mary Lindsay-Frary, Environmental Health & Safety Paul Mooney, Student Roger Sommerville, University Services Ron Rosenberg, Engineering Ruth Daoust, Surplus and Recycling Ruth Kline -Robach, Institute for Water Research Satish Joshi, Agriculture, Food and Resource Economics Sean Barton, RHS Stephen Toth, Student Steve Safferman, Biosystems Engineering Steve Troost, Campus Planning Steven Melnyk, Supply Chain Subir Biswas, Electrical and Computer Engineering Tucker Wilkinson, Graduate Student Energy Transition Steering Committee: Diane Barker, Sustainability Officer, Residential and Hospitality Services Jennifer Battle, Assistant Director, Office of Campus Sustainability Wolfgang Bauer, Prof. and Chair of Physics & Astronomy; Director, Institute for Cyber-Enabled Research Janice Beecher, Director, Institute for Public Utilities Nicholas Bell, Undergraduate Student Lynda Boomer, Energy and Environmental Engineer, Physical Plant Jennifer Carter-Johnson, Assistant Professor, College of Law Thomas Dietz, Professor Sociology and Environmental Science and Policy Program Robert Ellerhorst, Director of Utility Services, Physical Plant Ron Flinn, Assistant VP, Physical Plant Mark Haas, Assistant VP for Business, CFO Joe Hagerty, Undergraduate Student Sarah Herbst, Graduate Student Brian Jacobs, Assistant Professor, Supply Chain Management Satish Joshi, Associate Professor, Agriculture, Food and Resource Economics Leo Kempel, Associate Dean, Professor, Engineering Barbara Kranz, Director, Facilities Planning and Space Management Elizabeth Lawrence, Assistant Dean, Human Medicine Adam Liter, Undergraduate Student Tim Mrozowski, Professor, School of Planning and Design Kenneth Roseman, Professor, Medicine, Division Chief, Occupational and Environmental Medicine David Skole, Professor, Forestry Rene Stewart O'Neal, Planning Director, Office of Planning and Budgets Talya Tavor, Undergraduate Student Kwame Yeboah, Doctoral Student Energy Transition Operations Committee: Diane Barker, Sustainability Officer, Residential and Hospitality Services Lynda Boomer, Design Administrator, Infrastructure Planning and Facilities Jennifer Battle, Campus Sustainability Director, Infrastructure Planning and Facilities Dave Byelich, Assistant Vice President, Office of Planning and Budgets Robert Ellerhorst, Director of Utilities, Infrastructure Planning and Facilities Ann Erhardt, Campus Sustainability Assistant Director, Infrastructure Planning and Facilities Ron Flinn, Vice President for Strategic Infrastructure Planning and Facilities, Infrastructure Planning and Facilities Mark Haas, Vice President for Finance and Treasurer, Administrative Services Carla Iansiti, Culinary Services Sustainability Officer, Residential and Hospitality Services Barb Kranz, Assistant Director for Facilities Planning and Space Management, Office of Planning and Budgets Bill Lakos, Energy Analyst, Infrastructure Planning and Facilities Bill Latta, Assistant Vice President for Operations, Administrative Services Bob Nestle, University Engineer, Infrastructure Planning and Facilities Vince Schimizzi, University Management Analyst, Office of Planning and Budgets Nate Verhanovitz, Performance Engineer, Infrastructure Planning and Facilities Karen Zelt, Communications Manager, Infrastructure Planning and Facilities

MSU’s Sustainability department is responsible for strategic planning, program implementation, data collection, programming and outreach, and communications for campus-wide sustainability.

The Director for the MSU Sustainability department reports to the Vice President for Strategic Infrastructure Planning and Facilities. The Director will carry out the following responsibilities: • Long-term planning and strategic visioning Facilitates long-term planning and visioning for sustainability goals for the university based on input from strategic internal and external partners, keeping abreast of intrinsic and extrinsic influences that affect sustainability on campus. • Develop and enhance strategic partnerships Develops and enhances strategic partnerships on and off campus among researchers, operations staff, students, organizations, businesses, and peer institutions. • Sustainability Research Facilitates the Campus Sustainability Systems Team and Student Project Fund research and pilot projects. Works with core operations and academic personnel to prioritize environmental issues, identify research areas, select research proposals, and implement research-based recommendations. The director will also be responsible for tracking the data infrastructure for this process. • Unit management and planning Responsible for Provides unit level planning for the office including budget, employment needs, and prioritization of projects and initiatives. • Measuring, reporting, and benchmarking campus sustainability efforts Collects and analyzes data to measure and report the long term impact of campus sustainability programs and initiatives. • Secures alternative funding Works with university partners such as University Advancement, Physical Plant, and academic units; and external partners to identify development and grant opportunities for sustainability

MSU Sustainability has six positions: Director, Project Coordinator, Communications Manager, two Energy Educators, and Administrative Assistant. We are a department under the unit Infrastructure Planning and Facilities. Residential and Hospitality Services has its own sustainability office to address specific goals for housing, residence education, and auxiliary facilities. They work closely with MSU Sustainability to ensure that goals are coordinated. Additional websites for information: http://sustainability.msu.edu http://energytransition.msu.edu http://rhs.msu.edu/sustainability