Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 58.75
Liaison Mark Klapatch-Mathias
Submission Date May 1, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

University of Wisconsin-River Falls
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Kelly Cain
Director
SCISCD
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have at least one sustainability committee, office, and/or officer that focuses on sustainability broadly and covers the entire institution?:
Yes

A brief description of the activities and substantive accomplishments of the committee(s), office(s), and/or officer(s) during the previous three years:

Sustainability Coordinator:
-Provides leadership support, expertise, and guidance in forming universities definitions, programs, policies relating to campus sustainability.
-Assists with encouraging and facilitating cross-discipline and cross- university awareness and collaboration on issues related to sustainable campus and community development.
-Researches data points and fields in support of university sustainability projects including renewable energy proposals, greenhouse gas reduction strategies, student sustainability projects, etc.
-Assists in management of all undergraduate research fellows and Office of Sustainability interns.


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 Sustainability Working Group (SWG) is the primary shared-governance group for promoting and coordinating sustainability values, principles, and practices at UW-River Falls. The SWG addresses the planning, design, implementation, and assessment of sustainable campus community programs and policies as well as documentation, such as the Sustainability Tracking and Rating System (STARS®), the Climate Action Plan (CAPlan), and the Sustainable Campus Community Plan (SCCPlan).


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

2013/14 SWG Members:

Director of SCISCD: Kelly Cain*

Faculty:
Charles Rader, Geography, CAS
Veronica Justen, CAFES
Claire Kilian, Economics, CBE
Mary Wright, Teacher Ed., CEPS

Instructional Academic Staff: Pam Weller
Student Reps: Jabez Meulemans, Molly Breitmun
Student Affairs Representative: Matt Fitzgerald
Diversity / Human Resources Representative: Kathy Young
Facilities Management Representative: Tim Thum
River Falls Community Representative: Mike Noreen

* Acting Chair


The website URL where information about the sustainability committee(s) is available:
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:

The Sustainability Office at UW-River Falls serves multiple functions. The office is synonymous with and located at the St. Croix Institute for Sustainable Community Development (SCISCD) and housed at the Regional Development Institute building. The Director of the SCISCD serves as Sustainability Coordinator for all campus
sustainability initiatives and as Director for all "think and do tank" initiatives for outreach and consulting from local to global. This approach provides significant opportunity for faculty and students to be integrated into both campus and outreach projects for sake of independent studies, research, internships, service learning, and other scholarly pursuits that provide innovative services and solutions to both sets of clients. The office is staffed with 2.0 FTE, student Research Fellows, and work study assistance when appropriate.


Full-time equivalent (FTE) of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
2

The website URL where information about the sustainability office(s) is available:
Does the institution have at least one sustainability officer?:
Yes

Name and title of each sustainability officer:
Dr. Kelly Cain

A brief description of each sustainability officer position:

Director of Sustainability (Dr. Kelly Cain): responsible for oversight of campus sustainability planning, initiatives, and outreach to local community.
Director, St. Croix Institute for Sustainable Community Development (SCISCD, Dr. Kelly Cain): responsible for day-today operations and management of embedded 'think and do tank' for campus, community, regional, national, and international initiatives.
Campus Sustainability Coordinator (50% FTE, Bethany Gapinski): responsible for campus
Senior Research Fellow (50%, Bethany Gapinski): support of SCISCD initiatives.
The Sustainability Coordinator position is currently a 0.5 LTE position, with a pending budget request to make the position a 12 month FTE appointment.
The coordinator is the go-to person for all major sustainability planning and implementation initiatives such as the Climate Action Plan, the Sustainable Campus Community Plan, AASHE STARS data tracking, the ACUPCC and associated greenhouse gas inventories, and sustainable community outreach, planning, and coordination. The coordinator reports directly to the Director of the St. Croix Institute for Sustainable Community Development (SCISCD) and has significant support, autonomy, and budget to pursue campus and SCISCD objectives.


The website URL where information about the sustainability officer(s) is available:
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.