University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

The Chief Sustainability Officer oversees the Office of Sustainability at UW-Milwaukee. In the past three years, the 25% energy reduction goal was met on campus through the Energy Matters program, through intensive bike planning UWM was awarded a Bronze as a Bicycle Friendly Campus and brought the City Bublr Bikeshare to campus, an on-site hoop house composting operation got underway, the campus converted to entirely natural lawn care, and in the spring of 2014, engaged in many interdisciplinary campus living laboratory projects, and the Office of Sustainability hosted a campus-wide week-long Sustainability Symposium to engage faculty, staff, and students in the current and future potential of the sustainability program. In academic contributions to sustainability, the new MS degree in Sustainable Peacebuilding brought on and graduated its first cohort, the School of Freshwater Sciences opened on Lake Michigan (the only of its kind in North America), and the School of Public Health opened in an urban renewal project of Milwaukee's old Brewery site.

The purpose of the Environmental Sustainability Committee (ESC) is to create a collaborative group between the Student Association Senate, students, student organizations, faculty, and administration to discuss, initiate, and implement sustainable environmental policies, practices, and procedures.

Kate Nelson-Chief Sustainability Officer Glen Fredlund-Professor & Director, Conservation and Environmental Science Program Linda Corbin-Pardee-Union Program Manager John Gardner-Program and Policy Analyst, UWM Ryan Sorenson-undergrad, UWM Mark Jensen-undergrad, UWM Angelica Sanchez-undergrad, UWM Devin Last-undergrad, UWM Hannah Noll-undergrad, UWM Allysa Hallett-grad student, UWM Emily Kohlwey-undergrad, UWM

The Office of Sustainability at UW-Milwaukee, founded in 2008, assesses, supports, and drives sustainability initiatives across campus operations, student life, and throughout academic affairs. By building cross campus and community collaborations, integrating sustainability into campus planning initiatives, assessing impacts over the long term, and working from our own sense of place and purpose, UW-Milwaukee manages its resources wisely and makes sustainability relevant to its teaching and research mission. Past initiatives include Energy Matters, a campus wide energy efficiency program with Facility Services, supporting stormwater green infrastructure with the School of Architecture, initiating and growing campus gardens with many across the UWM community, bike planning with the assistance of Campus Planning and Community Design Solutions, and multiple outreach programs with the Share the Earth series.

This position provides leadership in support of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s long-range planning activities. This position directs implementation of the University’s comprehensive strategic planning, implementation, and progress tracking of all sustainability goals. The Chief Sustainability Officer manages a coherent, campus-wide sustainability program by coordinating operations, planning, academic, research, and student sustainability activities. Fosters a culture of sustainability among students, faculty and staff; collaborates with University leaders to identify and prioritize areas for institutional sustainability efforts; plans and develops long and short range programs; engages with institutional leaders to foster sustainability broadly across campus units. Serves as a point person for all sustainability activities on campus, annual reporting requirements and other University policies related to sustainability. This position manages all inputs to AASHE STARS (Sustainability Tracking Assessment & Reporting System), the transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. Measurements and inputs relate to all units on campus, including energy and materials flows of Facility Services’ managed state buildings and grounds, Auxiliary Services program revenue space, as well as coordination with UWM Foundation complexes. Sustainability planning and programming is fostered through this position for multiple campus divisions. This regards but is not limited to: energy management, waste and recycling strategies, sustainable food operations, potable and storm water management, alternative transportation planning, LEED or comparable green building standards, procurement standards, conservation awareness and behaviors modification, and other related sustainability measures. Coordinates and supports the academic community to integrate sustainability into curriculum, living learning lab opportunities, internships, as well as campus sustainability service learning. Works with appropriate University entities to leverage sustainability efforts to increase student recruitment, retention, and graduation rates. The position is the liaison connecting the university with the State, UW System, UW institutions, regional and national sustainability programs and organizations. It serves as member of campus advisory committees and facilitates implementation of the University’s sustainability goals and objectives in line with the University’s strategic goal of sustainability. A major role of this position is to interpret and in turn provide recommendations to implement sustainability plans and policies. This will be accomplished through the development of feasibility studies, energy use and material flows of the UW-Milwaukee campus, and an ability to work across campus to embed sustainability measures into the culture and objectives of each division and unit. Performance indicators such as those embodied in the STARS report will be used to track progress toward goals and also institutional sustainability performance. The position reports to the Associate Vice Chancellor of Facilities, Planning, and Management within the Division of Finance and Administrative Affairs. The Chief Sustainability Officer will regularly be called upon and report out to multiple units of campus leadership at their request.