Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 58.11
Liaison Elizabeth Drake
Submission Date April 19, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Swarthmore College
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Aurora Winslade
Director of Sustainability
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:

The purpose of the Sustainability Committee (SusCom) of Swarthmore College is to make recommendations to the President and to the College community regarding policies to promote environmental sustainability on campus. The Committee focuses on identifying policies and practices that promote the most efficient and responsible use of College resources; monitoring funds and grants pertaining to environmental sustainability; and coordinating and support campus sustainability initiatives and efforts.


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

Committee Members of the Sustainability Committee of Swarthmore College of 2016-2017 are:

Andrew Barclay -Assistant Director of Student Life, Leadership, and Engagement
Anne O'Donnell -Associate Director of Individual Giving
Aurora Winslade -Director of Sustainability
Ben Berger -Executive Director of the Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility; Associate Professor of Political Science
Carr Everbach -Professor & Chair of Engineering
Eric Wagner -Head Men's Soccer Coach; Co-Chair
Gigi Simeone -Pre-Law Advisor
Giovanna Di Chiro -Professor of Environmental Studies
H.G. Chissell '96 -Alumni Representative
Linda McDougall -Director of Dining Services
Mark Davis -Technical Support Specialist
​Melissa Tier '14 -Sustainability Program Manager
Nathaniel Graf '16 -Climate Action Senior Fellow
Nicholas Patel '18 -Current Student
Ralph Thayer -Director of Maintenance; Co-Chair
Sheila Magee '81 -Gardener
Sibelan Forrester -Professor & Section Head of Russian; Coordinator of Comparative Literature
Sierra Spencer '18 -Current Student
Tao Wang -Assistant Professor of Economics
Tyrone Dunston -Director of Environmental Services


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

A brief description of each sustainability office:

Office of Sustainability coordinates sustainability programs like the President's Sustainability Research Fellowship and the Green Advisors Program, coordinates work on carbon charge implementation plans, sustainability trainings for staff, students, and faculty, organizes sustainability presentations and panels, and leads and organizes an wide array of other green initiatives on campus on the student level and the administrative level, year around.


Full-time equivalent (FTE) of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
3

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

Name and title of each sustainability officer:
Aurora Winslade -Director of Sustainability; Melissa Tier -Sustainability Program Manager; Nathaniel Graf -Climate Action Senior Fellow

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:

The Office of Sustainability is our most comprehensive sustainability coordinating body. The Office works closely with the Sustainability & Climate Executive Committee and the Sustainability Committee on campus-wide initiatives. In the past 3 years, the Office of Sustainability has
a) planned and implemented a Carbon Charge at the College; 
b) expanded the Green Advisors program (in this eco-reps program 20 students are employed by the College to brainstorm, plan, and carry out sustainability projects on campus incl. compost collection, an effort to audit energy use in one of computer labs, an effort to bring SOLO cup recycling to campus, and much more);
c) it has created and started the President's Sustainability Research Program (PSRF) which is a sustainability course/internship that engages approximately 10 students in planning and implementing large scale sustainability projects aimed towards helping the College accomplish its sustainability goals;
d) it has organized and conducted its first annual campus wide/day long Sustainability Summit;
e) hired a director of sustainability and created two additional FTE in the office (for a total of 3);
f) launched an "Energy Strategy for Sustainability" process to develop an integrated Campus Master Utility Plan with the Climate Action Plan


Job title of the sustainability officer position:
Director of the Office of Sustainability

Job description for the sustainability officer position:
Job description for the sustainability officer position:
---

Job title of the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
Sustainability Program Manager

Job description for the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
Job description for the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
---

Job title of the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
Climate Action Senior Fellow

Job description for the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
---

Job description for the sustainability officer position (3rd position):

The Climate Action Senior Fellow is a temporary position for which the officer is responsible for implementing the Carbon Charge at the College. Additionally, this officer assist with other task for the Office of Sustainability such as organizing events, conferences, assisting Green Advisors and President's Sustainability Research Fellows with their various projects.


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives 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.