Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 61.45
Liaison Natalie Sobrinski
Submission Date Dec. 23, 2022

STARS v2.2

Muhlenberg College
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Natalie Sobrinski
Sustainability Specialist
Office of Sustainability
"---" 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:

Yes Muhlenberg College has a sustainability committee.
The Sustainability Committee is composed of faculty, staff, and student representatives and was initiated by President Helm in 2003 to examine, propose, and monitor recycling efforts, reductions in the campus waste stream and other sustainable practices.
Muhlenberg College does have a sustainability office.
The Office of Campus Sustainability is located in the New Science Building on Muhlenberg’s Campus. The office is utilized to help spread awareness on campus, and focuses on implementing greening initiatives on campus to reduce the impacts the college has on the environment.


Members of each committee, including affiliations and role:

Natalie Sobrinski, Sustainability Coordinator (Staff)
Kent Dyer, Co-Chair Greening Committee, Chief Business Officer and Treasurer (Staff)
Richard Niesenbaum, Co-Chair Greening Committee, Biology Faculty, Sustainability Studies Director (Faculty)
Kammie Takahashi, Professor of Asian Studies and Religion Studies (Faculty)
Rita Chesterton, Director Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Ranajoy-Ray Chaudhuri, Professor of Accounting, Business and Economics (Faculty)
Richard Waligora Capital Projects Manager (Staff)
Jim Bolton, Assistant Director Plant Operations (Staff)
Mike Becker, Facilities, Trades, and System Manager, Plant Operations (Staff)
Kate Shelley, Associate Director Housing Services (Staff)
Peter Stark, Operations Manager, Muhlenberg Dining Services (Staff)
Student Representatives from EnAcT (Student)
Student Representatives from Tree House (Student)


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 office is utilized to help spread awareness on campus, and focuses on implementing greening initiatives on campus to reduce the impacts the college has on the environment. The Office of Campus Sustainability brings together students, faculty and staff with a diversity of perspectives and areas of expertise to seek creative solutions for campus sustainability. Staffed by the Director of Sustainability Studies and The Campus Sustainability Coordinator, its mission is to facilitate the linkage between academic and facilities-based sustainability efforts, to create student internship opportunities in the area of campus sustainability, to support the President's Sustainability Committee and student environmental groups, and to seek out external funding and maintain resources to further the integration of sustainability into the curriculum and across campus.


Full-time equivalent of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
0.50

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

Name and title of each sustainability officer:
Natalie Sobrinski

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 and the President's Committee on Sustainability promote and support sustainability initiatives on campus. The Sustainability office provides sustainability-related internships and partners with classes to conduct a waste audit and assess recycling practices.
Post Covid the committee increased student participation and supported the re-establishment of student sustainability groups such as enACT. Campus wide events supported by the committee included an Earth Day Celebration, Clothing Swaps, Farmers Market and participated in campus wide voter issues day.
Oversaw Green Team Move-In waste reduction events.
Oversaw the “Just Tap It” campaign, which significantly reduced bottled water consumption.
Distributes reusable bottles to the incoming freshman class each year.


Job title of the sustainability officer position:
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Job description for the sustainability officer position:
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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 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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Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainability coordination is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Information about the Sustainability Committee:
https://muhlenberg.edu/offices/sustainability/aboutcampussustainability/sustainabilitycommittee/

Information about the Office of Campus Sustainability:
https://muhlenberg.edu/offices/sustainability/
Information about Sustainability Coordinator:
https://muhlenberg.edu/offices/sustainability/aboutcampussustainability/


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