Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 66.63
Liaison Mike Evans
Submission Date March 3, 2022

STARS v2.2

Williams College
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Mike Evans
Assistant Director
Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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 Campus Environmental Advisory Committee is a group of faculty, staff, students, and administrators that serves as a forum for environmental policy at Williams. Advising the President of the college, CEAC develops environmental resources and strategies regarding campus operations and planning. The goal is to improve Williams’ ecological impact.


Members of each committee, including affiliations and role:

John Kleiner, Professor of English (Chair)
Alice Bradley, Assistant Professor of Geosciences
Matthew Gibson, Associate Professor of Economics
Michelle Apotsos, Associate Professor of Art
Huijun Huang, Class of 2022
Regina Fink, Class of 2022
Nicolas Howe, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Rita L. Coppola-Wallace, Executive Director, Design and Construction
Mike Evans, Associate Director, Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives
Sarah Gardner, Associate Director and Lecturer in Environmental Studies
Tanja Srebotnjak, Director of the Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives


Does the institution have at least one sustainability office that includes more than 1 full-time equivalent employee?:
Yes

A brief description of each sustainability office:

The Zilkha Center pursues sustainability at Williams in collaboration with many other departments and individuals on campus and further afield. They provide connections between those diverse groups; design and advocate for operational change; research, implement and share best practices. They incorporate education, knowledge sharing and opportunities for action in all that they do. They consider their work in the broader context – the world, our region, and our local communities. They actively seek out collaborations with peer institutions and partners to magnify their impact. And they continually review their efforts through internal reflection and collaborative partnerships, always seeking new methods and setting new goals that will keep them moving toward their vision.


Full-time equivalent of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
3

Does the institution have at least one sustainability officer?:
Yes

Name and title of each sustainability officer:
Tanja Srebotnjak, Director; Mike Evans, Associate Director; Christine Seibert, Sustainability Coordinator

Does the institution have a mechanism for broad sustainability coordination for the entire institution?:
Yes

A brief description of the activities and substantive accomplishments of the institution-wide coordinating body or officer during the previous three years:

Over the past few years, the Zilkha Center (ZC) has focused on a number of big projects in the built environment, energy, and engagement in particular.

The Zilkha Center was represented on the Sustainability Working Group during the college's strategic planning (2019-2020) and sustainability was one of two cross-cutting commitments and one of eight working groups. The Zilkha Center is now taking the lead on convening stakeholder groups to take the high level goals and turn them into actionable plans starting with the Climate Action Plan (CAP) and the Zero Waste Action Plan (ZWAP).

The Zilkha Center coordinated a partnership with four other liberal arts colleges to plan and purchase from a utility scale solar facility that will provide 80-90% of campus purchased electricity. The construction for the Farmington Solar Project finished and became operational this fall.


Job title of the sustainability officer position:
Director of the Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives

Job description for the sustainability officer position:
Job description for the sustainability officer position:
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Job title of the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
Associate Director of the Zilkha Center for Environmental Initiatives

Job description for the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
Job description for the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
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Job title of the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
Sustainability Coordinator

Job description for the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
Job description for the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
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Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainability coordination is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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