Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 45.35
Liaison Wesley Enterline
Submission Date April 22, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
OP-21: Support for Sustainable Transportation

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.75 / 2.00 Wesley Enterline
Sustainability Coordinator
Facilities Planning and Management
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution provide secure bicycle storage (not including office space), shower facilities, and lockers for bicycle commuters?:
No

A brief description of the facilities for bicycle commuters:

Currently, there is no shower and locker facilities that are publicly available and advertised for bicycle commuters, although this may be implemented in the near future.


Does the institution provide short-term bicycle parking (e.g. racks) within 50 ft (15 m) of all occupied, non-residential buildings and make long-term bicycle storage available within 330 ft (100 m) of all residence halls (if applicable)?:
Yes

A brief description of the bicycle parking and storage facilities:

A mostly complete map of bicycle rack and long-term storage locations can be found here:
http://arcg.is/1BtZIaf

Residence Life has bicycle lockers available at several locations and covered bicycle storage near Starin Hall: http://www.uww.edu/residencelife/residence-halls/bikelockers


Does the institution have a “complete streets” or bicycle accommodation policy (or adhere to a local community policy) and/or have a continuous network of dedicated bicycle and pedestrian paths and lanes?:
Yes

A brief description of the bicycle/pedestrian policy and/or network:

The City of Whitewater has recently adopted a Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, which includes recommendations for a Complete Streets ordinance that recently passed Common Council. While there is no specific commitment to following this policy on campus, the general effort to provide connectivity and accommodation to the city efforts (particularly the city streets that intersect the campus) is already underway as the campus has been an active partner in the city's process.


Does the institution have a bicycle-sharing program or participate in a local bicycle-sharing program?:
No

A brief description of the bicycle sharing program:

The bicycle sharing program is scheduled for pilot launch in Spring 2015, but is not complete at the time of submission.


Is the institution certified as a Bicycle Friendly University by the League of American Bicyclists (U.S.) or under a similar third party certification covering non-motorized transportation?:
No

A brief description of the certification, including date certified and level:

Will be considered further once we have an opportunity to work through some of the planning process with the city government.


Does the institution offer free or reduced price transit passes and/or operate a free campus shuttle for commuters?:
No

A brief description of the mass transit program(s), including availability, participation levels, and specifics about discounts or subsidies offered (including pre-tax options):

The campus is located in a small municipality that does not have a transit pass. A free campus shuttle was tried for bringing students on campus to local businesses, but was underutilized simply based on the close proximity of these businesses to a relatively centrally-located campus.

A regional bus system is available and operated by a larger nearby municipality with a bus service, but discounts are not offered as it has struggled financially since its inception. http://www.ci.janesville.wi.us/index.aspx?page=558


Does the institution offer a guaranteed return trip (GRT) program to regular users of alternative modes of transportation?:
No

A brief description of the GRT program:

Demand has not warranted this type of program.


Does the institution participate in a car/vanpool or ride sharing program and/or offer reduced parking fees or preferential parking for car/vanpoolers?:
Yes

A brief description of the carpool/vanpool program:

http://zimride.uww.edu

The campus is a member of Zimride, now operated by Enterprise Rental, which is an online ride sharing database. Campus users can create profiles using secure campus log-in information and be automatically matched with other commuters who enter the same schedule. We have also partnered with several other UW System schools who also have Zimride to expand our regional network.


Does the institution participate in a car sharing program, such as a commercial car-sharing program, one administered by the institution, or one administered by a regional organization?:
Yes

A brief description of the car sharing program:

http://www.enterprisecarshare.com/car-sharing/program/uww

Enterprise CarShare a car sharing program on campus that allows you to reserve a car by the hour for one, all-inclusive price. Unlike traditional rental, you only have to be 21 years old to share in your community. However, for the campus program you can actually rent a vehicle if you are at least 18 years old and have an insurance policy to cover liability and repairs.

The vehicles are located near the Visitor's Center in the main commuter parking lot. Currently, we have two vehicles available for rental.


Does the institution have one or more Level 2 or Level 3 electric vehicle recharging stations that are accessible to student and employee commuters?:
Yes

A brief description of the electric vehicle recharging stations:

http://www.chargepoint.com/

We have two electric vehicle Level 2 charging locations on campus that are connected to the ChargePoint network. One is a single-post charger located at the General Services building and is designed to serve an electric vehicle in the service or rental vehicle fleet. The other location is a dual-post charger in the parking lot adjacent to Upham Hall and is designed to serve the wider campus community with a convenient location.

Vehicles parked in these spots are asked to limit their time at the charging station to four hour increments and to not park at the spot if they do not need to use the charger.

Both charging stations are free to the public if the user already has a ChargePoint card.


Does the institution offer a telecommuting program for employees as a matter of policy or as standard practice?:
No

A brief description of the telecommuting program:

No consistent or campus-wide telecommuting program exists. Telecommuting is only offered on a case by case basis and at the discretion of the supervisor.


Does the institution offer a condensed work week option for employees as a matter of policy or as standard practice?:
Yes

A brief description of the condensed work week program:

Most campus departments offer an option to use "flex time" where more hours are worked on certain days and other days can be taken off during the week. This practice tends to be more available for faculty and staff that work with students because there is a somewhat limited Friday class schedule on this campus.

Full policy included in Classified Policies document: http://www.uww.edu/Documents/adminaffairs/hr/2012ClassifiedPolicies.pdf

The University of Wisconsin Whitewater endorses the use of Flextime and understands it contributes to employee morale.
Flextime does not allow for a change of work location.

A. In establishing Flextime both management and employees recognize that the use of Flextime cannot prevent or interfere with the accomplishment of the mission, goals and tasks of the University and its various units, nor can Flextime cause a reduction in the levels of service presently being provided.
B. Classified employees may participate in Flextime if their work unit and position allows for University needs to be met while participating in Flextime.
C. Employees who do not have a satisfactory performance appraisal may not be allowed to participate in Flextime, it is at the discretion of the supervisor.
D. The Flextime schedule for FLSA “exempt” employee s is 80 hours every two week pay period. The Flextime schedule for “non-exempt” employees is 40 hours per week.
E. The maximum number of hours a supervisor may approve to work per day is 12. Flextime is hour for hour and paid at the standard rate. It must not cause overtime.
F. The supervisor may choose hours or days of the week that the employee must be present as p art of the Flextime schedule.
G. Flextime schedules must be approved by the supervisor in advance. Supervisors may require submission of the proposed schedule in writing up to two weeks in advance or may approve a verbal request in situations that could not
have been anticipated more than 24 hours in advance. In all cases where time sheet are filled out, or recorded in the system, they must be recorded accurately as the exact hours worked.
H. Flextime schedules may be for long-term or short-term. In either case, the supervisor or employee must inform the Office Human Resources and Diversity specifically their payroll specialist of any approved Flextime.
I. Employees who use vacation time or sick leave on a day they have Flextime, must report the number of hours
they are gone as leave time. For example, if an employee is approved to work 9 hour days, for 4 days and then a half day
on Friday, and the employee is sick on a 9 hour day, the employee must report 9 hours of leave time for that day.
J. Supervisors may revoke use of Flextime if operational needs are no longer being met, suspected abuse or employee work-related issues.

Employees must initiate the request for Flextime by using the Flextime Request Form from the Office of Human Resources and Diversity.


Does the institution have incentives or programs to encourage employees to live close to campus?:
Yes

A brief description of the incentives or programs to encourage employees to live close to campus:

http://www.uww.edu/foundation/downpayment/

The Warhawk Real Estate Foundation ("Foundation") is an entity separate from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater that owns a number of vacant lots within the City of Whitewater. The Foundation has created the Faculty and Staff Down Payment Assistance Program to help the university with its stated goal to "attract, retain and support sufficient numbers of faculty and staff who are committed to innovatively promoting student learning and fostering student success."

Specifically, the Down Payment Assistance Program allows full-time UW-Whitewater employees to purchase a lot from the Foundation for the construction of a new house. Effective immediately, all lots will be priced at $15,000. The employee will work with the lender of their choice to secure financing for the purchase of the property, and a construction firm of their choice to build a house on the property. If the employee signs a construction contract within two years of the purchase of the lot, and has maintained employment at UW-Whitewater, the Foundation will provide $5,000 toward construction in the form of a check made out to the construction firm.


Does the institution have other incentives or programs to encourage more sustainable modes of transportation and reduce the impact of student and employee commuting?:
Yes

A brief description of other sustainable transportation initiatives and programs:

Janesville-Milton-Whitewater Innovation Express is a regional commuter bus service that serves the UW-Whitewater campus: http://www.ci.janesville.wi.us/jmw


The website URL where information about the institution’s sustainable transportation program(s) is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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