Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 45.51
Liaison Mat Thijssen
Submission Date Nov. 6, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Waterloo
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Mat Thijssen
Sustainability Manager
Sustainability Office
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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:

The President’s Advisory Committee on Environmental Sustainability (the “Committee”) is established to provide advice to the president (and to others on the direction of the president) on campus sustainability programs and policies.
The core objectives of the Committee are:
(i) Develop a sustainability policy for the university.
(ii) Develop a sustainability plan for the university, including goals, targets, priorities and metrics to assess progress.
(iii) Coordinate the preparation and distribution of the university’s biennial sustainability report for presentation to the president.
(iv) Monitor the implementation of the Council of Ontario Universities sustainability pledge and any other future commitments.
(v) Form working groups to develop specific plans, including communication and education plans for the university community, and monitor the progress of such working groups.
(vi) Provide advice to the president, or to such other persons or bodies as the president may direct, related to sustainability opportunities and initiatives at the university.
(vii) Take part in external collaborations, initiatives, surveys and other projects as the president may approve.


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

Membership in the Committee shall be comprised of:
(i) The Vice-President, Administration & Finance, who shall act as co-chair.
(ii) The Dean of the Faculty of Environment, who shall act as co-chair.
(iii) One additional dean, to be chosen by the co-chairs.
(iv) One undergraduate student representative, selected by the Federation of Students.
(v) Two additional undergraduate students from alternating co-operative education terms, to be selected by the co-chairs.
(vi) One graduate student, selected by the Graduate Student Association.
(vii) Two faculty members from varying faculties or disciplines, to be chosen by the co-chairs.
(viii) Two staff members from varying academic support units, to be chosen by the co-chairs.
(ix) The Sustainability Coordinator for the University of Waterloo.
(x) One non-voting member from the Affiliated and Federated Institutions of Waterloo, to be chosen by the co-chairs.


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:

Waterloo’s Sustainability Office supports six functional roles for the University:
1. Expertise: Act as a resource to increase departmental and institutional capacity for effective long term decision-making, planning, and formalization to imbed sustainability within the University’s academic mission and operational performance;
2. Awareness: Raise the profile of sustainability within the institution to increase understanding, share relevant information, and inspire action and participation from employees and students;
3. Behaviour change: Support or lead the launch or improvement of targeted services and programs that help shift behaviours to reduce environmental footprint on campus;
4. Collaboration: Through a “Living Lab” framework, link academic expertise and student coursework with operational challenges and opportunities, including project identification and design, partnership development, and funding;
5. Financial administration: Assist the President’s Advisory Committee on Environmental Sustainability in the management of the Sustainability Action Fund for projects that advance the Strategy;
6. Progress: Introduce and maintain best practices for ongoing monitoring mechanisms and annual reports that track achievement of the Strategy’s goals and objectives, celebrate successes, and identify areas for improvement.


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:
Mat Thijssen - Sustainability Manager; Andrea Bale - Sustainability Engagement 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:

As per its mandate, the President’s Advisory Committee on Environmental Sustainability has accomplished the following over the last three years:
 Development of Policy 53: Environmental Sustainability for the institution
 Development of Waterloo’s first Environmental Sustainability Strategy
 Release of 3 annual Environmental Sustainability Reports
 Launch of the $100,000+ annual Sustainability Action Fund, which is open for any student, staff, or faculty member on campus to apply to advance the directions of the strategy.


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