Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.59
Liaison Chris Bond
Submission Date Oct. 30, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Unity Environmental University
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Steve Kahl
Director of Sustainability
Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have at least one sustainability committee, office, and/or officer that focuses on sustainability broadly and covers the entire institution?:
Yes

A brief description of the activities and substantive accomplishments of the committee(s), office(s), and/or officer(s) during the previous three years:

The college has a Sustainability Office with two full time positions. The Director is responsible for all sustainability programs with an emphasis in 2014 on energy systems, energy use, and carbon emissions. The Programs Coordinator focuses on recycling and local foods and assists with energy tracking as time is available.


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:

Senior Staff is the decision making body for the campus and is officially charged with making decisions on sustainability issues on the recommendation of the Sustainability Director who serves on the committee.


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

The committee has members of faculty, staff and the administration representing the supervisors of each department or unit on campus. Separately, the Sustainability Office collaborates with Student Government to engage students. Sustainabilty Office staff are regular attendees at Community meetings each semester where faculty, staff, and students interact and discuss issues that pertain to campus life.


The website URL where information about the sustainability committee(s) is available:
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:

The sustainability office is the hub of all the sustainability efforts taking place on campus. There are two full-time employees, and a dozen student Sustainability Assistants. Members of the Sustainability Office sit on college-wide planning committees including our governing Senior Staff, and are also involved with Academic Centers. The Sustainability Director reports to the Executive Vice President. the Sustainability Office has the opportunity to influence planning at every level of the institution.


Full-time equivalent (FTE) of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
2

The website URL where information about the sustainability office(s) is available:
Does the institution have at least one sustainability officer?:
Yes

Name and title of each sustainability officer:
Dr. Steve Kahl, Sustainabilty Director

A brief description of each sustainability officer position:

Responsible for college-wide sustainability planning and assessment. Facilitates or oversees local food acquisition, campus recycling and compost programs, and a wide range of education and outreach activities regarding energy and efficiency, transportation, purchasing, and resource use. Developed energy plan in 2014 to evolve the campus off fossil fuels by 2020 with benchmarks for CO2 reductions and energy savings. Director oversees the campus ROI Green Challenge Fund.


The website URL where information about the sustainability officer(s) is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The sustainability office advocates for the sustainability efforts taking place on campus. The office manages recycling in partnership with the Facilities Department but has no managerial authority over any other aspect of sustainability. There are two full-time employees, and a dozen student Sustainability Assistants. The Sustainability Director sits on college-wide planning committees including Senior Staff and the budget committee, and is regularly involved with Academic Centers and student groups. The Sustainability Director reports to the Executive Vice President. The Sustainability Office has the opportunity to influence planning at every level of the institution but is only advisory.


The sustainability office advocates for the sustainability efforts taking place on campus. The office manages recycling in partnership with the Facilities Department but has no managerial authority over any other aspect of sustainability. There are two full-time employees, and a dozen student Sustainability Assistants. The Sustainability Director sits on college-wide planning committees including Senior Staff and the budget committee, and is regularly involved with Academic Centers and student groups. The Sustainability Director reports to the Executive Vice President. The Sustainability Office has the opportunity to influence planning at every level of the institution but is only advisory.

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.