Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 59.88
Liaison Alex Frank
Submission Date April 14, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of Wisconsin-Madison
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Alex Frank
Sustainability Analyst
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:

There are three sustainability committees at UW-Madison, the Associated Students of Madison (ASM) Sustainability Committee, the Sustainability Advisory Council (SAC), and the Housing Sustainability Committee.

The ASM Sustainability Committee (https://kb.wisc.edu/85556) advocates for administrative and operational changes related to environmental stewardship and ultimately create a more sustainable campus. The committee often connects with the Madison community to expand their efforts and advance a shared vision of sustainability. Committee members work on semester-long campaigns related to environmental education, compost, water, energy, plastics, and more.

The SAC (https://sustainability.wisc.edu/sustainability-advisory-council/) formed during the 2020-21 school year to provide recommendations to the Provost and the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration on how to align the university’s mission, current campus strategic plans, the 2010 Sustainability Initiative Task Force Report, the Second Nature Resilience Commitment, and our legacy of resource stewardship to advance sustainability at UW–Madison. The Council's recommendations were based in part on the results of the previous STARS report and sought to fulfill aspects of resolutions passed by shared governance bodies. Members included representatives from campus administration, the student body, and faculty.

The Housing Sustainability Committee meets bi-weekly and helps coordinate sustainable operations and initiatives throughout University Housing. The committee has 6 main focus areas: Sustainable Move In/Move Out, Student Events, Landfill Reduction, Energy & Water Conservation, Dining, and Staff Sustainability Education.


Members of each committee, including affiliations and role:

The ASM Sustainability Committee is open to all students. The committee chair rotates but always sits on the student council. The committee meets biweekly.

The Sustainability Advisory Council includes shared governance representatives, senior leadership, and students, including an all student subcommittee. Current membership can be found here: https://sustainability.wisc.edu/sustainability-advisory-council/resources-membership/

This Housing Sustainability Committee includes representation from Housing Facilities, Maintenance, Dining, Marketing, Residence Life, the Office of Sustainability, Waste & Recycling, Campus Services, and student representation.


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

A brief description of each sustainability office:

The Office of Sustainability aligns research and education on sustainability (our purpose) with campus operations (our practices) in the service of environmental, economic, and social responsibility to people and the planet.


Full-time equivalent of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
9

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

Name and title of each sustainability officer:
(1) Missy Nergard, Director of Sustainability (2) Andrea Hicks, Director of Sustainability Education and Research

Does the institution have a mechanism for broad sustainability coordination for the entire institution?:
Yes

A brief description of the activities and substantive accomplishments of the institution-wide coordinating body or officer during the previous three years:

This STARS report is the best summary of the university's specific sustainability accomplishments. More specifics can be found in the Office of Sustainability's (OS) FY21 report. Some highlights include the creation of a campus sustainability map based off of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, launching of the SustainUW Podcast, and joining the Post-Landfill Action Network. The report is available here: https://dbmfwipzwwbdx.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2021/09/Sustainability-Report-WEB.pdf


Job title of the sustainability officer position:
Director of Sustainability

Job description for the sustainability officer position:
---

Job description for the sustainability officer position:

Under the general supervision of the Associate Vice Chancellor (AVC) for Facilities Planning & Management (FP&M), the Director of Sustainability will serve as the key facilitator and organizational strategist to lead University of Wisconsin-Madison's efforts to achieve its vision of instilling a culture of sustainability. The Director will build upon existing successes to position UW-Madison as a leader in the field of Sustainability at the city, state, regional, national and international level by promoting broader awareness of the University's environmental, social and financial sustainability successes and accomplishments. The Director will develop a comprehensive long-term strategy for an environmentally sustainable future by working with faculty, students, and staff across schools, colleges, divisions, departments and auxiliaries to incorporate sustainable principles and practices in daily operations and academic activities. The Director will work closely with a faculty associate director appointed by the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies who will have responsibility for the academic components of the program, including development of research partnerships, stewardship of sustainability curricula, and management of the UW-Madison Sustainability Program Certificate.

The University's commitment to sustainability can be traced from the legacies of former students and faculty members John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Gaylord Nelson. Founded in 1848, UW-Madison is the flagship university of the University of Wisconsin System. It has a national and international reputation for educational excellence and cutting-edge research and is consistently among the most prolific research universities in the world. UW-Madison enrolls 43,000 students and has more than 20,000 employees, including about 2,200 faculty and 12,500 staff plus 12,000 student assistants/employees.


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.