Northern Michigan University
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

The sustainability committee currently includes 20 representatives from across the campus community. The committee is a diverse group of faculty, administrators, and students appointed by the President. The council’s first “charge” is to conduct an inventory of the current sustainability efforts on campus in four main areas: Academics, Engagement, Operations, and Planning & Administration The committee is currently conducting a Sustainability Audit, which includes specific benchmarks and targets to help guide future, sustainable decision-making on campus. The committee uses nationally recognized categories, which are used by hundreds of other institutions of higher education in the country, specifically we will use the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s STARS system.

Brandon Sager, Co-Chair, Ast. Director-Facilities

Dr. Jes Thompson, Co-Chair,

Tricia Bush, Assoc. Athletic Director - Campus Recreation

Alden MacDonald, Executive Chef-Dining Services

Dr. Derek Hall, Asst. VP Marketing/Communications

Catherine Hardenbergh, Director of Housing

Dr. Diana Lafferty, Biology

Aaron Karlstrom, Assoc. Director-Plant Operations

Dr. Ryan Stock, Earth, Environment & Geographical Sciences

Kathy Richards, Associate VP Engineering/Planning/Facilities

Cece Hogan, Student, EcoReps

Jason Schneider, Art & Design

Randy Klitzke, Tech & Occupational Sciences

Kari Farkas-Lasich, Indoor Agriculture Program Coordinator

Elle Highly, Student / EcoReps 

Grace Listopad, Student/EcoReps

Taimur Cleary, Art & Design

Heejung Park, College of Business

SHINE - Sustainability Hub for the Environment & Innovation (https://nmu.edu/shine/) is located at 1400 Presque Isle Avenue. The office is home to the Assistant Vice President for Sustainability and four paid student interns. The SHINE office manages the sustainability audit, EcoReps, sustainability-related social media, community partnerships, research and outreach related activities.

 Earth Week: This year is the 10^th anniversary of John Anderton’s Earth Week and the amazing GTU students in the EEGS department have been coordinating an incredible week of programming that kicks off with Earth Day on Monday, April 22 and ends with Arbor Day on Friday, April 26. You’ll definitely see Okanagan themes of holistic and intersectional sustainability - wellbeing and D&I are featured in many of the week’s events.

Marquette 2049 Learning Circle Series: The MQT 2049 learning circle community engagement process brings stakeholders together around a specific topic and a set of pre-meeting readings/resources/materials. Hosted the “Food Systems” conversation on May 8, and it was a FULL room (40 people from different sectors, organizations, elected and city/county officials) with a lot of great feedback. The next circle is focused on trash & recycling on Wednesday, June 12. https://marquettecountycatf.org/marquette-2049/

Higher Education for Climate Action Michigan (HECAM): 90 participants from 76 colleges and universities in the state of Michigan, and a growing network of sustainability staff, faculty and administrators that are organizing and sharing resources and connections. I’m co-chairing the campus sustainability & initiatives interest group with Rose Spickler from the Michigan Sustainable Business Forum (MiSBF). 

Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability (UMACS): New regional organization, offers monthly community of practice calls, retreats and an annual conference. Five NMU students (compost crew, divest, ecoreps) had papers/presentations accepted for the conference in September in St. Paul. I’ll attend a leadership retreat at UW-EauClaire focused on strategies to integrate sustainability into the curriculum, and strategies for increasing sustainability in campus operations. There will be another retreat at MTU in June focused on collaborating with the Michigan Sustainable Business Forum (MiSBF) which is building out a lot of support and capacity for student organizations and making connections between campus sustainability and the business network across the state. 

EGLE Mi Healthy Climate Conference: This week in Lansing, I’ll be attending to learn more about climate investments from federal and state sources, recently passed legislation, and executive actions to help meet the goals in the MI Healthy Climate Plan (Plan). There will be more than 500 attendees from local, state, federal, and tribal governments, universities, nonprofits, community groups, and businesses.

Sustainable Citizen Badge: No credit EduCat course with six mini-modules, about an 1.5 hour to complete, focused on sustainability concepts and resources - related to the region and campus. Content and script is drafted/developed, but will need to do some video and dynamic delivery. Once all the pieces are built, we can link to Continuing Ed’s platform and anyone can take it for free. 

 Wildcat Branded Water: Paul Schoonveld worked with Barrel+Beam to put water in aluminum cans (infinitely recyclable without losing integrity because it’s metal!) at a very comparable cost for the Fourth of July (and maybe a second run for Homecoming, unless we discover other alternatives). Last year we purchased 6,912 plastic water bottles for $4,000. Barrel + Beam can provide the same quantity of custom labeled (designed by NMU Marketing) 12 oz canned water for approximately $4,200, and could meet the deadline of July 1st.

• Native Plant Nursery: Collaborating with Jim Thams & Andy Smith to rehabilitate the Native Plant Nursery behind Central Receiving. More than half of the green fund project proposals are typically related to landscaping - mostly increasing no mow zones or adding more native plantings to campus. The nursery will need a caretaker, we’re planning on hiring a student intern to tend to the plants (once planted). Ideally, we’ll host a Native Planting Party in the fall for the 125th celebration - we’ll plan to plant 125 native plants to jumpstart the nursery.
  

STARS Reporting: Shooting to submit annually (only need to update 1/3 of the entire audit every year), will have point gains in the updated leadership positions, carbon neutrality plan, divestment commitment, textbook affordability, green building guidelines/document, community partnerships, biodiversity (tree survey of campus complete, new landscape master plan), emissions disclosure (SIMAP reporting), GHG emissions for 2022-2023, wellness program, community garden on Lincoln St, additional food bank location at Jacobetti, Green Athletics strategy, online sustainability course/badge, support for sustainability research with Sustainability Fellow/Scholar program.  

Newsletter Update: SHINE intern, Paige Whaley has been working on our weekly sustainability newsletter and this week we have a new platform, only a handful of people (20ish) have subscribed, maybe it can be included in a campus-wide blast?

Sustainability Council: This will merge members of the strategic planning focus area four – builders of a culture of sustainability with the SHINE Advisory Board and create a single, wider, and more representative council that will operate with the eight guiding principles of the Okanagan Charter. The council will launch in the fall. 

We are piloting a Sustainability Fellows program. The fellowship will provide an opportunity for a faculty member to advance an initiative or research project related to sustainability on our campus or in our curriculum, with 12 credits of reassigned time and the potential for summer and professional development funding. 

Carbon Neutrality Plan was adopted in December and we’re doing a lot of research on the different state and federal funding opportunities for renewable energy. There is a lot of opportunity as a non-profit, public institution. Working on calculating and updating NMU’s GHG emissions and we are creating a platform for annual reporting of our Scope 1 & Scope 2 emissions. Mapping a timeline/to-do list for calculating a baseline for our Scope 3 emissions.  

Green Fund project proposals: ranging from zero dollars to a quarter-of-a-million dollars! There were several landscaping-related proposals – from natural pesticides to more no-mow zones, and we’ve shared all of these proposals with Jim Thams and the Smith Group, the consultants working on the new Landscaping Master Plan and Wildcat Way projects. They’ve agreed to consider these proposals as we explore opportunities to make our campus as pollinator-friendly and biodiverse as possible. 

1.     Alec Lindsey’s Class – conducting research to support pursuing Bird-Friendly Campus designation 

2.     Jacob’s Tree Inventory – 860+ trees on campus, 20+ species 80% are healthy and well-aged

3.     Aside from those projects, you’ll see a handful of other initiatives come together over the summer, including improved messaging and collection of recycling, a series of “textbook” little libraries – or shelves across campus, and some innovations in take-out container recycling and solar-powered e-bike stations. EC will see “two batches” of projects for approval – the operating budget for ecoreps & smaller projects will come first, and we’re finalizing the research and costs for the take-out container recycling and solar-e-bike charging station in the coming weeks. 

Green Athletics Working Group. This dynamic team has put together a strategy to improve education and outreach as well as reduce the impact and emissions in NMU Athletics. I know that Makaylee Kuhn will present their updated strategy to the Athletics Dept. next week. This is part of her Masters Thesis project.

Composting: We’re making some big moves when it comes to post-consumer composting about 200 lbs of waste is diverted from the landfill everytime we have the compost crew working in the NLD. We have a great partnership with Partridge Creek Compost, but we need to give a big shout-out to Paul Schoonveld for his leadership and investment in taking composting to the next level at NMU. Right now compost crews are working at Northern Lights Dining to divert lunch and dinner waste from the landfill and we’re exploring all the ways to scale and extend this effort.

This position has three areas of expertise: project administration, sustainability, and management of custodial services. Duties include providing all phases of project administration for university renovation and new construction to include design (schematic to final), estimates, bidding, and construction administration/coordination. Position coordinates and manages the Facilities Department sustainability and recycling operations. Direct, administer, plan, and coordinate all aspects of the custodial operation in stateside buildings.

The Assistant Vice President of Sustainability is responsible for fostering a culture of sustainability, which includes the following responsibilities:

Update and build upon the University’s Sustainability Plan to develop a long-term sustainability strategy for the University and in coordination with the University’s strategic planning process.

Assist with the implementation of the Okanagan Charter’s principles on campus, specifically in embedding health in all aspects of campus culture, across the administration, operations and academic mandates; and leading health promotion action and collaboration locally and globally.

Lead the University in integrating sustainability across a variety of academic programs; facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration and instructional opportunities related to sustainability.

Continue to establish and oversee the Sustainability Hub for Innovation & Environment (SHINE) including student internships, Green Fund proposal process and project implementation, and the SHINE Advisory Board. 

Identify key grants and funding sources to support SHINE and campus sustainability initiatives; lead proposal development and applications for funding as appropriate.

Conduct collaborative research related to sustainability.

Monitor, measure, and report on the university's sustainability and GHG emissions performance, including:

1.    Responsible for the submission of the University's AASHE-STARS audit.

2.    Responsible for the facilitation and monitoring of the University's progress toward Carbon Neutrality.

Work closely with NMU's Foundation to support fundraising strategies related to sustainability.

Attend workshops, seminars, and conferences related to sustainability in operations, higher education, and community engagement. 

Participate in regional and state efforts (e.g., policy discussions, strategic planning, collaborative management) related to sustainability practices.

Develop, collaborate, and lead sustainability education and awareness campaigns on campus, and in the community (as appropriate).

Facilitate and collaborate with key stakeholders to develop action items for the sustainability focus area of the University's strategic plan. 

Develop a set of annual sustainability planning priorities for the campus; identify annual expected outcomes, and coordinate appropriate evaluation of these efforts