| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 65.05 |
| Liaison | Konrad Schlarbaum |
| Submission Date | Feb. 15, 2021 |
University of Colorado Colorado Springs
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Does the institution have at least one sustainability committee?:
The charter or mission statement of the committee(s) or a brief description of each committee's purview and activities:
The Sustainability Committee strives to create a welcoming, inclusive environment for all interested faculty members, staff, and students, and to involve as many disciplines and perspectives as possible from across campus to improve teaching, research, operations, and practical works related to sustainability. The Sustainability Committee is a Regular Standing Advisory Committee of the UCCS Faculty Assembly.
Members of each committee, including affiliations and role:
Joel Tonyan (jtonyan@uccs.edu), faculty, Library, Chair
Christine Biermann (cbierman@uccs.edu), faculty, Geography & Environmental Studies, Co-Chair
Brittany Almeida (balmeida@uccs.edu), staff, Office of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
George Cheney (gcheney@uccs.edu), faculty, Communication
Suzanne Cook (scook2@uccs.edu), faculty, Languages & Cultures
Maggie Gaddis (mgaddis@uccs.edu), faculty, Biology
Tracy Gonzalez-Padron (tgonzale@uccs.edu), faculty, College of Business
David Havlick (dhavlick@uccs.edu), faculty, Geography & Environmental Studies
Marie Hoerner (mhoerner@uccs.edu), faculty, Geography & Environmental Studies
Joshua Hudson (jhudson2@uccs.edu), staff, Facilities – Outdoor Services
Niki Juhl (njuhl@uccs.edu), faculty, Chemistry
Bethan Keith (bkeith@ucc.edu), student, College of Business
Gerard Ligotti (rligotti@uccs.edu), student, Geography & Environmental Studies
William Linton (wlinton@uccs.edu), Staff, Transportation Services
Krista Loos (kloos@uccs.edu), student, Sustainability, Wellness & Learning GA
Vaughn Love (vlove@uccs.edu), staff, Residence Life & Housing
Robin Margolin (rmargoli@uccs.edu), staff, Dining Services
Kayla Mulkin (kmulkin@uccs.esdu), student, SGA Sustainability Senator
Nanna Meyer (nmeyer2@uccs.edu), faculty, Health Sciences
Robert Mitchell (rmitchel@uccs.edu), faculty, Education
Cynthia Norton (cnorton@uccs.edu), staff, Public Safety
Nancy Moore (nmoore2@uccs.edu), staff, Admissions
Erik Newhouse (enewhous@uccs.edu), staff, Residence Life & Housing
Marcus Ornelas (mornelas@uccs.edu), staff, Student Financial Services
Katherine Placzek (kplaczek@uccs.edu), staff, Office of Information Technology
Kimberly Reeves (kreeves2@uccs.edu), staff, Office of Sustainability
Heather Roth (hroth@uccs.edu), faculty, Education
Pam Sawyer (psawyer@uccs.edu), staff, School of Public Affairs
Skyler Rorabaugh (srorabau@uccs.edu), staff, Recreation Center
Sudhansu Semwal (ssemwal@uccs.edu), faculty, Computer Science
Jim Spice (jspice@uccs.edu), staff, Parking & Transportation Services
Jeff Spicher (jspiche2@uccs.edu), faculty, Nursing
Elissa Stobaugh (estobaug@uccs.edu), staff, DHS Supply Chain Manager
Sean Svette (svette@uccs.edu), faculty, Health Sciences
bylaws document
https://www2.uccs.edu/Documents/facassembly/Bylaws/Sustainability%20Committee%20Bylaws_042016.pdf
Does the institution have at least one sustainability office that includes more than 1 full-time equivalent employee?:
A brief description of each sustainability office:
The UCCS Office of Sustainability unites the efforts of faculty, staff and students to support development and lifestyles on campus and in the community that sustain natural resources, protect the environment and elevate the voices that are disproportionately affected by climate change, ultimately ensuring the ability of future generations to meet their needs, too.
Full-time equivalent of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
Does the institution have at least one sustainability officer?:
Name and title of each sustainability officer:
Does the institution have a mechanism for broad sustainability coordination for the entire institution?:
A brief description of the activities and substantive accomplishments of the institution-wide coordinating body or officer during the previous three years:
The office is responsible for most aspects of sustainability on campus including strategic planning, energy and water conservation, waste and recycling, food, transportation, and education.
- Completed 2012-2020 Sustainability Strategic Plan and are currently in the process of updating 2020-2030 plan with stakeholders throughout campus guided by the Sustainability Committee and SGA.
- Provided LEED support for multiple building projects - total of 15 Gold now.
- Increased diversion rate to over 50 percent.
- Held numerous educational events including Bike Month, Adopt a Waterway, Sustainability Summit, Mr. Trashmore, Move-Out Diversion, sustainability speakers, Earth Day, etc.
- Procured renewable energy installations including one that allowed students to earn course credit
- Worked to complete Green Action Fund sustainability projects on campus; since 2012, 135+ projects have invested over $850,000 in sustainable initiatives.
Job title of the sustainability officer position:
Job description for the sustainability officer position:
Job description for the sustainability officer position:
Interim Director of Sustainability
Leadership and Strategic Planning:
- Strategic Planning: Coordinate strategic sustainability planning efforts and consult in efforts to incorporate sustainability goals into the overall strategic plan for UCCS.
- Collaborate with sustainability committees to develop sustainability reporting mechanisms both for within UCCS and to the greater community.
- Stay current on national and global sustainability strategies.
- Implement a system to measure success and impact of programs and projects. Contribute significantly to the UCCS STARS submission and assessing goal achievement for the UCCS Sustainability Strategic Plan.
- Collaborate with University leaders on social equity issues in the greater sustainability context for the campus.
Education and Outreach:
- Education: Work with the campus community to institutionalize a culture of sustainability and increase the ecological literacy of UCCS graduates. Work with faculty to support, grow, and publicize the Sustainability Minor. Director must be available to make presentations in classes and public forums, and partner with faculty to help direct Independent Study, service learning, and graduate projects.
- Maintain strong collaborative relationship with Provost to further ecological literacy strategies on the campus.
- May engage in sustainability course curricula development and teaching.
- Supervise and mentor student employees and GAF members to achieve a cohesive and effective organization, including recruitment, growth in fund applications, student leadership, as well as the positive impact and sustainability of projects.
- Marketing, outreach, and communication: Director will document and publicize sustainability progress through outlets that include but are not limited to: websites, interviews with media, presentations at local and national conferences, and a sustainability e-mail newsletter. Serve as a liaison to the City of Colorado Springs and the greater community in consultation with the Associate Vice Chancellor Campus Planning & Facilities Management.
Operations:
- Responsible and accountable for the analysis of fiscal and human resources required to achieve department objectives including hiring, compensation, termination, and performance management of subordinate employees
- Zero Waste Program (recycling, composting, small electronic waste, etc.) to include collaboration with custodial staff, grounds department, and student employees: tracking of program results; managing recycling budget; provide current information and trends on industry.
- Energy Management: coordinate with Operations Engineer, Physical Plant Director, electricians, HVAC technicians, and others as may be hired/contracted to identify and prioritize energy efficiency and retrofit projects, write, manage and apply funds, track and report on performance. Work with Directors of Planning, Design & Construction (PD&C) and Physical Plant to pursue strategies to reduce energy consumption and to reduce significant peak demand charges.
- Second Nature’s Presidents’ Climate Leadership Commitments: Director will serve as liaison to track and report emissions performance and planned strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Water Conservation: Work with Operations Engineer, Physical Plant Director and staff to identify technical retrofits and strategies and apply funding to reduce both domestic and irrigation water. Develop behavioral education to encourage water conservation practices among faculty, staff, and students. Work with Physical Plant Director and PD&C Director on stormwater mitigation strategies.
- New construction: Collaborate with the PD&C Executive Director and UCCS construction project members as well as outside consultants to achieve the highest performance buildings possible.
Other duties as assigned by the Associate Vice Chancellor Campus Planning & Facilities Management
Job title of the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
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):
Job description for the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
Job description for the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainability coordination 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.