University of Tennessee at Knoxville
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

Committee on the Campus Environment: The CCE was organized in 1999 as a standing committee in the Office of Chancellor and now reports directly to the Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration. The mission of the CCE is to advise the Vice Chancellor on policies and actions that promote environmental stewardship at UTK in an advisory capacity.
The CCE provides advice on ways to:
-improve the physical environment of UTK;
-incorporate environmental stewardship principles into design, construction, operation, and maintenance decisions and practices at UTK;
-increase the day-to-day environmental awareness and knowledge of students, faculty, and staff at UTK.

Committee on the Campus Environment: The committee members change from year to year, but traditionally the committee members consist of Melissa Hinten and Jay Price as co-Chairs, 6 - 10 faculty members that have a relative connection to sustainability either through their background or current course offerings, and various student sustainability organizations.
More information can be found at https://cce.utk.edu/.

The Office of Sustainability works to Make Orange Green by promoting a sustainable and equitable campus community for all. We take pride in our role as part of the state’s flagship land-grant university and our responsibility to mitigate the social impacts of climate change. Through student engagement and collaborative programming, we tackle issues related to waste diversion, resource conservation, food justice, and more.

This position develops and coordinates a campus-wide program of environmental stewardship, energy conservation, applied environmental science and policy research, and environmental literacy and community outreach. This position also coordinates with the academic community to integrate sustainability into the curriculum; serves as a point-person for all sustainability activities on campus, oversees the campus recycling and composting programs, fulfills annual reporting requirements and other University policies related to sustainability; ensures proper handling of universal waste on campus; coordinates and consults with other campuses; facilitates communications as the campus spokesperson on sustainability issues; and represents the University at national professional conferences. This position also has development responsibility for grant funding, corporate partnerships, and programs that promote campus sustainability efforts; and oversees the Environmental Initiatives Facilities Fee as chair of the committee and is accountable for the annual budget expenditures and projections.

The Recycling Supervisor manages the University of Tennessee waste hauling and recycling initiatives. This role is key in steering the mission of the Office of Sustainability to become a zero waste institution and to meet the goal to divert 50% of university waste by 2030. Recycling initiatives include My Tiny Trash, the Green Office Program, Zero-Waste Game Days and events, and the Free Store. This position provides supervision to staff, student workers and AmeriCorps members, and collaborates with the campus community to reduce environmental impacts and to provide educational resources and tools needed to meet the UT Zero-Waste Commitment.

Supervises the UT Compost Facility and staff; oversees the hiring, scheduling, work and training of full-time employees, AmeriCorps members, student compost assistants, student compost drivers, compost research personnel, and interns. Performs a variety of duties related to the processing and use of compostable material in accordance with Federal, State, and local laws. Manages the operations, research, and educational outreach programs associated with the UT Compost Facility.

The UTK Office of Sustainability also consists of FTE AmeriCorps members, who are not employed by UTK but are contracted exclusively to UTK. Currently the Office of Sustainability has seven contracted AmeriCorps members.