Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 59.69
Liaison Susan Dorward
Submission Date July 31, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Raritan Valley Community College
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Susan Dorward
Sustainability and Energy Coordinator
Facilities and Grounds
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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:

Comprised of faculty, staff, administrators, and students, the Environmental Sustainability Committee serves RVCC in an advisory capacity. As stated in the College Forum's bylaws, the Environmental Sustainability Committee promotes a culture of sustainability by recommending and developing policies and programs to improve sustainability on campus, supporting sustainability across the curriculum, and organizing community outreach and educational events.

Committee goals are:

to consider the environmental impact of campus activities and projects,
to raise awareness of local and global environmental issues,
to protect and develop the natural resources of the college,
and to coordinate and disseminate information on diverse green initiatives college wide.

In fall 2014, the Arboretum Committee is being revived as a subcommittee. It is responsible for identifying native trees to plant on campus and has a small budget to achieve this.


Members of each committee, including affiliations and role (e.g. staff, student, or faculty):

For academic year 2019-20, the members of the committee were:
Susan Dorward (Facilities & Grounds), Chair (staff)
Jay Kelly (Biology and Environmental Studies) (facultyRoberta Harmon (English, Humanities, Social Sciences, & Education) (staff)
Emilie Stander (Biology and Environmental Studies) (faculty)
Viveka Sulich (Environmental Studies adjunct) (faculty)
Holly Smythe (Instructional Design) (staff)
Brenda Fisher (High School programs) (administrator)
Donna Gero (Science) (staff)
Nicole Santacrus (SGA) (student)
Palak Shah (SGA) (student)
Allyson Schmeider (Environmental Club) (student)
Ahmed Atia (Science) (faculty)
John Harford (Arts) (faculty)

Arboretum subcommittee:
Sue Dorward (Facilities) (staff)
Jay Kelly (Biology and Environmental Studies) (faculty)
Emilie Stander (Biology and Environmental Studies) (faculty)
Philip Weaver (Facilities Manager) (staff)


Does the institution have at least one sustainability office that includes more than 1 full-time equivalent (FTE) employee?:
No

A brief description of each sustainability office:
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Full-time equivalent (FTE) of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
0.40

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

Name and title of each sustainability officer:
Susan Dorward, Sustainability & Energy Coordinator

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:

2017: Bee Campus USA and Colossal Monarch Waystation certifications. Achieved carbon neutrality.

2018: Instituted a deer management program. Rolled out an enhanced recycling program.

2019: Developed green events guidelines that are being adopted by the college. Organized and hosted a forest ecology conference. Obtained grant funding for an on-site composter.

For all three years, organized campus plantings of native pollinator plants and trees, organized and hosted events during April (Earth Week) and November (Campus Sustainability Month). Events included an electric car show, green jobs panels, and LED lighting sales, and many other events. Participated in RecycleMania in 2017 and 2018. Presented Student Sustainability Service monetary awards in 2018 and 2019.


Job title of the sustainability officer position:
Sustainability & Energy Coordinator

Job description for the sustainability officer position:
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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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