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
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Wesley Enterline
Sustainability Coordinator
Facilities Planning and Management
"---" 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:

Given a number of class presentations and sustainability walking tours over the course of the academic year.

Collaboration with UW-Whitewater students on a wide variety of class projects related to sustainability.

Assisted Residence Life in planning for Campus Conservation Nationals and establishing Eco-Reps peer to peer outreach program, although my involvement dissipated throughout the semester.

Engaged student organizations to organize and implement Earth Week 2014 activities, which included organizing meetings and handling logistics for the events planned by students during that week.

Participated in Campus Sustainability Day with a prairie seed collection event that involved the Children’s Center and campus clean-up efforts.

Hosted Green Vehicle Tour as part of an effort to showcase alternative energy vehicles by the Wisconsin Clean Cities organization.

Met with University Center students to consult on project to improve recycling efforts in that building.

Participated in Harry Potter Festival put on by English Department by holding an “Herbology Class” in the Upham Greenhouse.

Expanded UW-Whitewater Campus Garden in vacant lot near Ambrose Health Center and Moraine Bookstore and engaged another semester of a Service Learning class with at-risk students in garden planning and outreach.

Re-launched Sustainability Website using new web management system and started process of rebuilding and updating content to serve as a resource for all campus sustainability efforts.

Continued as co-chair of the Sustainability Council and continued pursuing an agenda to promote sustainability in academics and assess overall sustainability progress using AASHE STARS framework.

Collaborated on a variety of projects with additional internal and external stakeholders.

SUSTAINABILITY FELLOW:

Student Sustainability Fund Reboot - Student leadership from WSG led to the re-launch of the Student Sustainability Fund. The grants were reorganized into a three-tier process to encourage students to use the money that they were awarded and to complete projects for which they were awarded funds. The process for reviewing, mentoring, and approving grants was revised to streamline the process for students while still providing responsible oversight. The call for proposals and the application were substantially revised. The Student Sustainability Fund has funded three projects since it was re-launched at the beginning of the spring. All of these projects have been completed. Two more projects have been approved and are awaiting disbursement.

Campus Master Plan Advocacy - The university’s revision of its long-term master plan provided opportunities to raise awareness of the need for attention to sustainability in the campus’s growth. The sustainability fellow and the sustainability council coordinated advocacy at campus master plan open forums. The three primary goals were 1) preservation of campus green space, 2)

LEAP and General Education Reform Input - A sustainability LEAP TEAM created sustainability learning objectives and provided them to the General Education Review Committee (GERC) for consideration in the ongoing general education reform.

STARS 2.0 Approval and Data Collection - The Sustainability Council, Faculty Senate, and the Chancellor approved an initiative to undertake STARS 2.0 certification. The Faculty Sustainability Fellow is responsible for the academic portion of the STARS data collection. This data collection is approximately 75% complete and will be completed by the end of summer 2014.


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 Council embraces a broad definition of sustainability which includes three integrated aspects: environmental, social, and economic. Efforts on the UW-Whitewater campus seek to further and balance sustainability across each of these components.

The Council consists of 10-15 members and is co-chaired by a representative of Facilities, Planning and Management, and a faculty member. Membership includes representatives from faculty, staff, and students. Members are expected to serve a two-year term. The council will convene monthly while classes are in session and as special needs arise. The council will also create working groups as needed for particular issues or projects.


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

Sustainability Council Members as of Fall 2014:

Greg Swanson, Director of Facilities Planning and Management (Co-Chair)
Josh Mabie, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Languages and Literature (Co-Chair)
Eric Compas, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Geography & Geology
Andrew Kapp, Associate Professor, Dept. of Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health
Wes Enterline, Sustainability Coordinator
Frank Bartlett, Director of University Housing
Ann Rakowiecki, Marketing Director, Chartwells
Bob Barry, Executive Director of the University Center
Jo Ann Oravec, Associate Professor, ITBE
Paul House, Assistant Professor, Chemistry Department
Residence Life Student Sustainability Coordinator (or current supervisor)
Student Government Sustainability Director
Student Government Senator
Students Allied for a Greener Earth representative (SAGE)


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:

Currently the Sustainability Office is based in the Facilities Planning and Management Office and consists of a full-time Sustainability Coordinator, a quarter-time Sustainability Planning Intern, and a quarter-time Campus Garden Student Manager.


Full-time equivalent (FTE) of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
1.25

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:
Joshua Mabie, Faculty Sustainability Fellow; Wes Enterline, Sustainability Coordinator

A brief description of each sustainability officer position:

Wesley Enterline - Sustainability Coordinator
A complete job description is available as part of Wesley's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wesleyenterline

Josh Mabie - Sustainability Fellow
Include sustainability in institutional initiatives and reforms.
Advance sustainability education in the general education curriculum.
Report to the chancellor on the status of sustainability initiatives.
Co-chair the sustainability council with FP&M director.
Set monthly meeting schedule
Call for agenda items at least one week in advance of the meeting
Publish agenda (email and blog) before the meeting
Co-chair the Student Sustainability Fund review committee with WSG sustainability officer
Review and approve student grants as needed
Chair the Faculty Sustainability Committee
Provide, monitor, and update the academic content of the UW-Whitewater sustainability website.
Provide for long-term success and stability of faculty sustainability fellow position, the sustainability council, and sustainability initiatives on campus by
Recruiting new council and committee members
Mentoring student leaders
Maintaining a bench of faculty sustainability fellow successors.
Supervise student sustainability worker who will provide administrative assistance
Maintain an online directory of sustainability faculty research and teaching
Partner with the LEARN Center to organize events to gather sustainability faculty


The website URL where information about the sustainability officer(s) is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Wisconsin Executive Order 145: http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/code/executive_orders/2003_jim_doyle/2006-145.pdf

Wisconsin Executive Order 145 directs that each state agency and the UW System assign a lead person to work with the Department of Administration in the development of the sustainability and energy efficiency goals, the budget and management review, the purchasing of renewable energy, and the implementation of the sustainable building guidelines.

The Sustainability Council needs to be re-booted and re-constituted with membership that represents a wider representation of our campus. This will likely follow efforts to create a Sustainability Plan as the next phase of the STARS assessment.


Wisconsin Executive Order 145: http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/code/executive_orders/2003_jim_doyle/2006-145.pdf

Wisconsin Executive Order 145 directs that each state agency and the UW System assign a lead person to work with the Department of Administration in the development of the sustainability and energy efficiency goals, the budget and management review, the purchasing of renewable energy, and the implementation of the sustainable building guidelines.

The Sustainability Council needs to be re-booted and re-constituted with membership that represents a wider representation of our campus. This will likely follow efforts to create a Sustainability Plan as the next phase of the STARS assessment.

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.