Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 54.61
Liaison Daniela Beall
Submission Date March 3, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Susan Grant-Robinson
Cabinet Liaison-Inter Affairs
Chancellor's Office
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Sustainability committee(s) 

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:
Committee Charge
UW-Green Bay, described as America’s first environmental university, where every day was Earth Day, was called “Eco U” by Harper’s Magazine, Newsweek and other national and regional media shortly after its founding roughly fifty years ago. The nickname came about in large part because of the University’s interdisciplinary approach to solving environmental problems.

Functions
1) Building upon this historical foundation, the UWGB Sustainability Committee (hereafter identified as the Committee) will assist in the development of a culture of sustainability awareness and behaviors across the entire campus community.
2) Working collaboratively with faculty, staff, students, and the community, Committee members will identify strategic opportunities to integrate sustainable practices into operational, educational, and residential programs and processes, leveraging available financial resources while seeking new financial resources to achieve identified goals.
3) The Committee will build upon past and ongoing successes in environmental and sustainability efforts to create value and a competitive position with external stakeholders, differentiating ourselves from other higher education institutions.
4) The Committee will support faculty efforts to embed sustainability concepts and teaching across the curriculum.
5) The Committee reports to the Chancellor.


Membership
6) The Committee will be comprised of members of the University community who express an interest in environmental sustainability and/or hold a position that encompasses elements of sustainability. The maximum voting membership is 16 individuals, and a quorum will consist of one more than half of the voting membership. Typically, this will include:
a) A representative from Facilities, University Union, University Communications, Residence Life, Computing and Information Technology, and Purchasing;
b) Staff members with sustainability responsibilities
c) At least one current UWGB student;
d) Community members with expertise and interest in sustainability; and
e) Faculty and Academic Staff with expertise and/or interest in sustainability.
7) Committee members will serve a mutually agreed upon number of years.
8) The Committee will elect its own members, with approval from the Chancellor.
9) The chairperson shall be a faculty member who will serve a three-year, uninterrupted term and receive a three-credit course reassignment for each year of his or her term. The Chancellor will appoint the chairperson, with input from the Committee and other stakeholders (such as the academic deans).

Members of each committee, including affiliations and role:
Sustainability Committee 2020-2021 Committee Members

David Voelker - Sustainability Committee Chair - Professor of Humanities and History
Karmen Anderson – Student Member

Faculty and Staff Membership
Patricia Albers - Senior Lecturer of Accounting
Erik Aleson - Associate Director of Facilities Management
Eric Amenson - ATS Electronics Technician
John Arendt - Director of the Environmental Management and Business Institute & the Director of the Office of Sustainability
Vallari Chandna - Associate Professor of Management
Julianne Crayton - Assistant Director for Operations, Residence Life
Susan Grant Robinson - Cabinet Liaison for Internal Affairs
David Helpap - Associate Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs
Michael Holly - Assistant Professor of Environmental Science
Holly Keener – University Exec Staff Assistant
Carly Kibbe - Assistant Professor of Human Biology & Biology
Michael Shaw - Marketing Content Writer
Matt Suwalski - Director of University Union
Christopher Williams - Assistant Professor of Writing and Applied Arts
Georjeanna Wilson-Doenges - Professor of Psychology

Sustainability office(s) 

Does the institution have at least one sustainability office that includes more than 1 full-time equivalent employee?:
No

A brief description of each sustainability office:
On July 1, 2020, to continue advancing its mission-directed focus on sustainability and environmental awareness, UW - Green Bay formally established an Office of Sustainability. With the establishment of an Office of Sustainability, the university has a clear destination with which to take its sustainability concerns and a needed facilitator to advance the institution forward. The opportunity to accomplish our shared goals will be facilitated by establishing an Office of Sustainability within the Environmental Management and Business Institute (EMBI).

With EMBI’s focus on serving as an academic resource for improving environmental sustainability on the UW-Green Bay campus and in the region as a whole, placing an Office of Sustainability within EMBI was a logical decision. In terms of logistics and organizational structure, the budget—while originating from the office of the Chancellor—already is housed in the EMBI office. No changes in the administration of the funding were required. And, by housing an Office of Sustainability in EMBI, the following priorities finally find a stable home:

• Assume primary responsibility for the development and submission of the campus STARS report, with consultation from the Sustainability Committee.
• Provide monthly contact and annual conference representation with the UW-System Sustainability network.
• Serve as the sustainability liaison and sustainability expert of policies/events regarding sustainability on campus.
• Maintain dialog with the Student Government Association (SGA) primarily through the Environmental Affairs Committee and contact with the Student Union Fund Allocation Committee (SUFAC) in its role in distributing Student Sustainability Funding and environmentally focused student organization funding.
• Maintain a dialog with each of the campus environmental groups as well as the UWGB Residence Hall and Apartment Association (RHAA).
• Initiate campus sustainability events to actively engage the student community (e.g. Recyclemania, Campus Conservation Nationals).
• Maintain the UW-Green Bay Sustainability webpage and blog and work to incorporate each of the branch campuses into the site – perhaps creating a spotlight page for each campus.
• Work with branch campus CEOs to support sustainability within their individual institutions and to assimilate their individual identities with the umbrella of sustainability under the main Green Bay campus.

Under this arrangement, the Director of EMBI would assume the role of Director of the Office of Sustainability as well. The Sustainability Committee, as it currently exists, becomes an advisory committee to the center and its director. In this capacity, the committee’s core functions and its membership structure and general composition would remain intact.

With the establishment of an Office of Sustainability, the university will once again have a clear destination with which to take its sustainability concerns and a facilitator to advance the institution forward.

Full-time equivalent of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
0.10

Sustainability officer(s) 

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

Name and title of each sustainability officer:
John Arendt, Director of Sustainability

Institution-wide coordination 

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:
Sustainability strategic plan in place; greenhouse gas inventories completed, with recurring evaluations planned; Climate Action Plan in place and updated periodically; STARS assessment completed with updates underway; multiple programs for students developed and undergoing implementation.

Optional Fields 

Job description (1st position)

Job title of the sustainability officer position:
Director of Sustainability

Job description for the sustainability officer position:
Job description for the sustainability officer position:
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Job description (2nd position) 

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Job description (3rd position) 

Job title of the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
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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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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.