| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 59.65 |
| Liaison | Mark Klapatch-Mathias |
| Submission Date | Feb. 26, 2016 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of Wisconsin-River Falls
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Mark
Klapatch Sustainability and Custodial Supervisor Facilities Management |
Does the institution have at least one sustainability committee, office, and/or officer that focuses on sustainability broadly and covers the entire institution?:
A brief description of the activities and substantive accomplishments of the committee(s), office(s), and/or officer(s) during the previous three years:
2015 Sustainability Faculty Fellows Activities:
- Developed Sustainability Learning Outcomes for the University through the monthly meetings with Sustainability Faculty Fellows
- Assessed the current Sustainability Curriculum: developed a Qualtrix survey, reviewed the data, wrote a research article with invited collaborators from Plant & Earth Sciences and Teacher Education, presented the findings at AASHE 2015, revised and submitted the article to the International Journal for Sustainability in Higher Education, where it is presently under review.
- Proposed a First-Year Experience campus-wide reading, and infused that reading & discussion in Weeks of Welcome, First-Year and Sustainability courses (we chose Naomi Oreskes and Eric Conway’s The Collapse of Western Civilization)
- Conducted our 5th Sustainability Faculty Fellows workshop (May 2015) – planning, reviewing proposals, leading it, and following up on curriculum in August 2015
- Offered a Sustainability Workshop during Opening Week of Fall 2015 – for new and returning faculty unfamiliar with sustainability and its applications across the curriculum
- Worked to Link Sustainability & Social Justice by coordinating with ongoing Diversity & Inclusivity work to launch a Sustainability Film Festival on our campus for Earth Month, seeding connections between Sustainability faculty and others involved in social justice education
- Explored Renewal Strategies for Faculty Fellows
- Updated and reshaped the Sustainability Studies Minor into a coherent program, transitioning and restructuring its requirements to reflect the new/current Sustainability Studies curriculum across all four colleges—to be completed Spring 2016.
Sustainability Working Group (SWG):
SWG reviewed UWRF's Sustainable Campus Community Plan (SCCP) and the UWRF Climate Action Plan (CAP) in 2015 and decided upon 14 Action items for the 2015-2016 academic year. During the fall 2015 semester, progress was made on all 14 items with the completion of several items planned for spring 2016. The list of 14 items include:
1. Reinstate the annual Residence Hall Energy Conservation Contest. The contest was last held in 2011.
2. Integrate sustainability into new student orientation activities and programming activities.
3. Re-integrate sustainability as an outcome of one or more residence hall learning communities. This used to be accomplished in the uMatter learning community through the “iRock” program.
4. Implement a campus-wide waste reduction campaign.
5. Develop a tool that assesses the sustainability literacy of UWRF students. A sample group would be assessed at beginning then the end of their program.
6. Develop a program to encourage faculty from multiple disciplines/academic programs to conduct research in sustainability topics.
7. Coordinate South Fork and Kinnickinnic River restoration and management of invasive species. There are potential synergies with the Kinnickinnic dam removal effort, and other watershed programs.
8. Develop a student-managed, socially responsible investment fund through which students are able to develop socially responsible investment skills and experience. The Foundation has been in discussions with the student group ECOS regarding this topic.
9. Develop real-time reporting on energy use of all campus buildings. Currently Grimm and McMillan Halls are the only buildings implementing such reporting.
10. Initiate a campus-wide sustainability awareness program.
11. Secure additional segregated fees to fund sustainability projects and efforts.
12. Perform parking/bike improvements. Re-zone parking to give priority to high efficiency/pooled passenger vehicles/mopeds. Provide additional bike racks, winter storage and dedicated bike lanes.
13. Install chilled water plant efficiency improvements.
14. Implement large scale renewable energy project: In the CAPlan, a $4 million, 4MW wind turbine project was proposed to greatly offset UWRF’s footprint and serve as a revenue generator. The SWG acknowledges that financial and political barriers make this project challenging. The intent for adding this item is to instead explore all options for large scale renewable energy (wind, solar, etc…) to determine options which are most feasible with highest return on investment potential, while seeking low-cost or no-cost financing options.
Sustainability Coordinator (Mark Klapatch):
Mark started his role in May, 2015. During the remainder of 2015, he networked with campus, community, state, and national sustainability stakeholders by attending committee meetings as well as conferences. A campus-wide sustainability awareness campaign, the addition of dry cell battery recycling, and facilitation of STARS are notable accomplishments.
Does the institution have at least one sustainability committee?:
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).
The Sustainability Faculty Fellows consists of faculty who have gone through the Kinnickinnic Project which is a faculty-led initiative that involves strategic curriculum integration on sustainability. The Sustainability Faculty Fellows is led by a coordinator (Dr. Greta Gaard) who has a quarter time release from teaching.
Members of each committee, including affiliations and role (e.g. staff, student, or faculty):
2014-15 SWG Members:
Committee Chair, Staff, Matt Fitzgerald, Student Affairs
Student, Molly Breitmun
Student, Daniel Saunders
Faculty, Charles Rader, Geography, CAS
Faculty, Ruth Baker, Geography, CAS
Faculty, Veronica Justen, Faculty, Plant & Earth Science, CAFES
Faculty, Pamela Dixon, Management & Marketing, CBE
Faculty, Mary Wright, Teacher Ed., CEPS
Staff, Kathy Young, Diversity/Human Resources
Staff, Tim Thum, Facilities Management
Community, Mike Noreen, River Falls Municipal Utilities
2015-16 SWG Members:
Committee Chair, Staff, Veronica Justen, Faculty, Plant & Earth Science, CAFES
Student, Natasha Horsfall
Student, Daniel Saunders
Student, Brent Arnoldussen
Faculty, Teresa Eberhardt, English, CAS
Faculty, Charles Rader, Geography, CAS
Faculty, Mary Wright, Teacher Ed., CEPS
Faculty, Anthony Varghese, Computer Science and Information Systems, CBE
Staff, Kathy Young, Diversity/Human Resources
Staff, Tim Thum, Facilities Management
Staff, Mark Klapatch, Office of Sustainability
Staff, Cara Rubis, Student Affairs
Community, Mike Noreen, River Falls Municipal Utilities
The Sustainability Faculty Fellows is comprised of 51 faculty members.
https://www.uwrf.edu/Sustainability/Curriculum/SustainabilityFacultyFellows.cfm
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?:
A brief description of each sustainability office:
The Office of Sustainability at UW-River Falls serves multiple functions. As part of the Facilities Management department, the Office of Sustainability is involved in numerous campus sustainability initiatives. The Sustainability Coordinator (Mark Klapatch) also oversees the custodial operations in the academic buildings on campus, helps run the Surplus Property Program, coordinates the refuse and recycling contract and operations, and supports student organizations. There are 3-6 students employed by the office at any given time working on projects including STARS data collection, marketing, waste minimization, programming, etc.
Full-time equivalent (FTE) of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
The website URL where information about the sustainability office(s) is available:
Does the institution have at least one sustainability officer?:
Name and title of each sustainability officer:
A brief description of each sustainability officer position:
Mark Klapatch - Sustainability Coordinator serves as the Chief Sustainability Officer for the campus. In doing so, he is responsible for the management and assessment of a coherent campus-wide sustainability program. Principle areas of responsibility involve developing and managing campus sustainability projects and initiatives; working with campus constituents on sustainability projects relating to campus operations; sustainability programming and outreach across campus and with the community; working with campus in the data collection and assessment of projects and initiatives; and working with faculty and staff through the Sustainability Working Group (SWG) and other governance groups.
The website URL where information about the sustainability officer(s) is available:
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.