Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 46.35
Liaison Alan Burr
Submission Date March 2, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Wisconsin-Platteville
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Amy Seeboth-Wilson
Sustainability Coordinator
Facilities Management
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Air & Climate 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Air & Climate?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Air & Climate:
Students in the Sustainable and Renewable Energy program frequently evaluate ways we can reduce our carbon footprint through improved efficiency or renewable energy. Typically students in Energy 4990 help campus document our electrical consumption per building and identify areas of inefficiency in campus buildings, ultimately recommending ways we can reduce our energy during peak hours and in so doing, reduce our carbon emissions.

Buildings  

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Buildings?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Buildings:
Students in the Sustainable and Renewable Energy program do many projects that help improve the sustainability of our campus buildings each year. Students in ENERGY 34330 typically review an area of campus for improvements and make recommendations that can be implemented by Facilities Management to improve energy savings.

Energy 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Energy?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Energy:
Each year, the Fundamentals of Energy (Energy 2340) course looks at both the renewable energy generated on campus and analyzes conventional energy used within all campus buildings by both touring campus facilities and by utilizing the Energy Dashboard on the University Website.

Food & Dining 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Food & Dining?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Food & Dining:
Many classes look at ways food can be grown locally for consumption on campus and in the classrooms. Dairy Science has produced ice cream for special campus events, the Greenhouse classes produce food for service in Dining Halls, and, recently, students have been growing baby ginger in the campus greenhouse for consumption in the local community.

Grounds 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Grounds?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Grounds:
Students in the Environmental Horticulture programs traditionally assist with campus land management through their coursework. Most recently, they have been helping conduct a multi-year tree inventory for campus.

Purchasing 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Purchasing?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Purchasing:
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Transportation 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Transportation?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Transportation:
Civil Engineering students typically engage in a transportation project during Senior Design. This past year they helped evaluate the City (and campus) public transportation system for improvements.

Waste 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Waste?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Waste:
We have had many different courses involved in waste on campus, including the Planet Earth class in Geography, Quality Management in business, and Environmental Engineering. In fall of 2015, Planet Earth helped run a waste audit in two campus buildings (Doudna and Ottensman) to evaluate a waste handling pilot program campus was implementing in one of them. The Audit was able to provide data allowing for the continuation and expansion of this pilot program.

Water 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Water?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Water:
Environmental Engineering students typically do at least one stormwater management design project for campus each year during senior design.Typically, they review our stormwater management systems for areas of improvement such as replacing the ponds with other management methods. Soil and Crop science classes also often engage in campus stormwater management, last year they did a comprehensive test of campus soil recharge rates to help track and monitor infiltration.

Coordination & Planning 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Coordination & Planning?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Coordination & Planning:
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Diversity & Affordability 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Diversity & Affordability?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Diversity & Affordability:
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Investment & Finance 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Investment & Finance?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Investment & Finance:
We have a student run business on campus; students produce and market organice sunflower oil for cooking (started in 2013) as part of the ENTRP 4070 class. The students are able to use university resources to engage in a highly hands-on learning opportunity related to investment and finance as they completely oversee the project finances.

Public Engagement 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Public Engagement?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Public Engagement:
Students often do work that directly serves public engagement in our surrounding communities. Notably, this past fall a geography class helped the Driftless Area Land Conservancy develop a series of maps about Monarch Habitat to help inform their decisions for land restoration.

Wellbeing & Work 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to Wellbeing & Work?:
Yes

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to Wellbeing & Work:
The Health and Human Performance program has regularly orchestrated public events to raise awareness about the community trail system connected to campus and how these trails can help build health. In Spring of 2015, another student hosted a 10k race on the trail which attracted over 70 runners.

Other Impact Areas 

Is the institution utilizing its campus as a living laboratory for multidisciplinary student learning and applied research in relation to other areas (e.g. arts & culture or technology)?:
No

A brief description of the student/faculty projects and how they contribute to understanding campus sustainability challenges or advancing sustainability on campus in relation to other areas:
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Optional Fields 

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