Swarthmore College
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

The purpose of the Sustainability Committee (SusCom) of Swarthmore College is to make recommendations to the President and to the College community regarding policies to promote environmental sustainability on campus. The Committee focuses on identifying policies and practices that promote the most efficient and responsible use of College resources; monitoring funds and grants pertaining to environmental sustainability; and coordinating and support campus sustainability initiatives and efforts.

Committee Members of the Sustainability Committee of Swarthmore College of 2019-2020 are:

Elizabeth Drake - Climate Action Manager
Brenna Leary - Sustainability & Engaged Scholarship Fellow
Amanda Karpen - Associate Director of Dining Services
Gregory Brown - VP for Finance and Administration
Domenic Porrini - Heat Plant/Energy Supervisor
Jennifer Peck - Assistant Professor of Economics
Nikole Senecal - Director of Donor Relations
Anthony Coschignano - Associate VP of Auxiliary Services
Melissa Tier - Sustainability Program Manager
Ben Berger - Associate Professor of Political Science, Director of Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility
Miriam Stein ('20) - Student
Jasmine Xie ('20) - Student
Aurora Winslade - Director of Sustainability
Tao Wang - Assistant Professor of Economics
Gabriel Brossy de Dios ('20) - Student
Ernest Wright - Budget Director
Kyle Richmond-Crosset - Sustainability & Engaged Scholarship Fellow
Stephen Lockard - EVS Supervisor
Andrew Feick - Associate VP for Capital Planning & Sustainable Facilities Operation
Noah Criss ('22)
Joel Cooper - Chief Information Technology Officer
Katherine Cerino - Events Manager
Jennifer Pfluger - Assistant Professor (PT) for Environmental Studies
Anne O'Donnell - Associate Director for Individual Giving
Samantha Barnes ('22) - Student
Christopher Kane - Strategic Sourcing Manager
Patricia Hearty - PCard Administrator and Buyer
Mark Davis Jr. - Manager of Desktop Systems
Syd Carpenter - Professor of Art
Andrew Barclay - Director of Student Activities
Esther Wieman - Associate Director of Events
Seneca Kinn-Gurzo ('20) - Student
Aaron Urquidez ('22) - Student
Nelson A Macken - Professor of Engineering
Keyanna Ortiz-Cedeno ('20) - Student
Nusaybah Estes ('21) - Student
Alexandra Sastre - Senior Associate for Internal Communication
Susan D. Smythe - ADA Program Coordinator
Ralph P. Thayer - Director of Maintenance
Christopher Proctor - EVS Manager of Administration
Carr Everbach - Professor of Engineering
Sue MacQueen - Scott Arboretum Campus Engagement Coordinator
Patricia Braun - Facilities Purchaser
Chris Capron - Admissions Counselor
Joy Charlton - Professor of Sociology
Tyrone Dunston - Director of EVS
Eric Wagner - Men's Soccer Coach
Linda McDougall - Dining Services Director
Tessa Hannigan ('20) - Student

The Swarthmore Office of Sustainability supports the College to integrate sustainability into all aspects of campus life: teaching, learning, operations, and culture. The Office of Sustainability envisions Swarthmore College as a leader in building partnerships that enable educational, operational, and cultural strategies that foster a deep sense of shared purpose to create a healthy, just, and environmentally sustainable world. Our community strongly internalizes the values of equity and justice to support healthy relationships, holistic sustainability, and climate urgency action. Community members utilize their sustainability mindset to solve problems, change lives, and change the world.

The Office of Sustainability and campus partners have made incredible strides in many domains over the past several years. Work has occurred in areas such as: zero waste (e.g., setting diversion goals; making compost bins available in every campus hallway), carbon pricing (e.g., refining the departmental levy & construction shadow price), decarbonization (e.g., developing a robust "Roadmap to Zero" plan to meet our 2035 carbon neutrality target; building new capital projects to meet the standards of our 2015 Environmental Sustainability Framework), food systems (e.g., developing targets for reusable & compostable materials, as well as local food procurement), campus grounds & forest (e.g., implementing a Crum Woods Restoration & Stewardship Plan), transportation (e.g., improving campus shuttles; assessing the campus vehicle fleet to move toward EV), academics (e.g., transitioning from having only an Environmental Studies minor to having a major!), and regional policy (e.g., participating in regional conferences, partnerships, and activism). See our topic areas here: https://www.swarthmore.edu/sustainability/topics

Leading the college’s sustainability program efforts, the Director will serve as the leader to implement the college's sustainability policy and program to mitigate the college’s environmental impact and to build awareness of the connection between sustainability and issues of social justice. This includes helping establish Swarthmore as a recognized leader in integrating sustainability into all aspects of educational mission, operations, and its institutional and community life / culture. The Director of Sustainability will be charged with providing leadership to the many distinct sustainability efforts on campus and fostering a culture of sustainability among students, faculty and staff.

Essential responsibilities include:
Conceptualize and lead campus-wide sustainability programs while collaborating and communicating effectively with the academic and scholarly research work of the faculty, campus operations, and student sustainability activities.
Manage the day-to-day activities of existing sustainability programs on campus, including the Green Advisor Program, the composting program with Kitchen Harvest, Zipcar, and the Green Initiatives Fund. 
Identify and prioritize areas for institutional sustainability efforts, including developing a strategic plan incorporating long- and short-term objectives and programs
Engage the institutional leaders to successfully cultivate sustainability broadly across campus units.
Consult and adeptly collaborate with the academic community to assist in integrating sustainability into the curriculum. 
Serve as liaison to student groups and other vital campus stakeholders. 
Support partnerships with neighboring communities around issues of sustainability. 
Serve as the primary staff support for the Swarthmore Sustainability Committee and serve as a staff support for the Board of Manager’s Social ResponsibilityCommittee. 
Work directly with project managers, engineers and facilities to infuse sustainability principles into new construction, renovations, standards, plans, and studies; and with energy managers, maintenance managers and crafts-people, grounds personnel, and custodians to integrate sustainability into energy management, operations, maintenance, grounds-keeping, solid waste removal, and cleaning practices.
Serve as point-person for all sustainability activities and campus spokesperson on sustainability issues

The Program Manager in the Office of Sustainability directs the following sustainability initiatives: the residential Green Advisors, including their role in New Student Orientation; the Sustainability Advocates for staff & faculty offices and their associated projects with student Green Advisors; community education and event planning for the annual UN climate conference delegation and/or other engaged scholarship activities in collaboration with Environmental Studies and the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility; and design and implementation of the Zero Waste Plan. The Program manager convenes the Zero Waste Working Group and leads budgeting for and installation of campus waste stations, oversees the campus-wide compost system and the Worthmore Free Store and move-out donation process, supervises waste consultants, and designs and leads presentation of reduction and diversion educational strategies. The Program Manager also takes a leadership role with campus food growing efforts and assists with the practicum research of Environmental Studies applied learning courses.

In conjunction with the Director of Sustainability, the Program Manager assists with supervision of the Sustainability and Engaged Scholarship Fellows or other staff positions that develop in the office, supervises paid student interns (usually 3-8 annually), and manages consultants for a variety of projects. The Program Managers manages the day-to-day functioning of the Office of Sustainability. The Program Manager is the primary organizer for the campuswide sustainability events, mentors students in the President’s Sustainability Research Fellowship program, co-chairs the Sustainability Committee, convenes the Food Systems Working Group, represents the College at regional and national sustainability conferences, and serves as a liaison between the College and community groups. The Program Manager proposes new initiatives, particularly related to food system resilience, to advance the College’s sustainability goals.

Qualified candidates must possess a bachelor’s degree and 5 or more years of relevant work experience or possess an advanced degree and 3 years or more of relevant work experience. They must demonstrate an interest in social and environmental sustainability, change management, and evidence-based design through previous work, volunteer experience, and/or academic study. Excellent skills in verbal and written communications, data compilation and analysis, and organization are also required.

Information about initiatives and commitments of the Office of Sustainability can be found here: https://www.swarthmore.edu/sustainability/our-ecosphere