Valparaiso University
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination
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Reporter |
Does the institution have at least one sustainability committee?:
The charter or mission statement of the committee(s) or a brief description of each committee's purview and activities:
Valparaiso University
Sustainability Green Team for Uplift Strategic Plan
The purpose of the Sustainability Green team to help advise and promote Sustainability on campus. The team makes recommendations on the development and implementation of sustainability initiatives, policies, practices, research, and curricula across Valparaiso University. The committee will help with decisions in long term sustainability goals for the University and identify ways to achieve goals.
Section 2: Definition of Sustainability
The most common definition of sustainability is “meetings the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
Article II- Responsibilities
The committee is in charge of advising the Office of Sustainability on matters pertaining to the campus environment and sustainability as it directly relates to Valparaiso University.
Section 1: Responsibilities
• Promote the Office of Sustainability’s mission statement and visions and its successes throughout the university.
• Foster linkages among and within campus departments.
• Develop comprehensive ways to help adopt sustainability matters on campus.
• Recommend, develop and maintain adopted sustainability goals.
Article III- Membership
The Sustainability Advisory Committee members shall consist of a diverse perspective of the University’s faculty, staff, and students. The committee is not the policy of rulemaking body and thus is expected to arrive at its recommendations by sense of body rather than consensus or vote. Members are comprised of both permanent members and members with specific terms and will be appointed by annually.
Section 1: Sustainability Committee Members
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b.
Article IV: Meetings
The Sustainability advisory committee will meet at least once a month. The chair will provide a minimum of two (2) weeks advance notice of meeting schedules, but can call special meetings with shorter notice with issues with urgency arise. Additional meetings may be added quarterly on an “as need bases.”
There are currently 7 working groups, which over 60 members have signed up under. Energy, waste, water/ecosystems, food, justice, communication, fundraising
Members of each committee, including affiliations and role:
There are over 60 members that are on the team. There are currently 11 leaders.
Faculty, Beth Gingrich, Professor of Business, Luke Venstrom Professor of Engineering, Julie Peller Professor of Chemistry, Chris Iceman Professor of Chemistry, Doug Tougaw Dean of the College of Engineering
Staff- Julie Whitaker Energy and Sustainability Coordinator, Cynthia Rutz Director for Teaching and Learning, Michael Fenton Director of University Communication
Does the institution have at least one sustainability office that includes more than 1 full-time equivalent employee?:
A brief description of each sustainability office:
Valparaiso University acknowledges the responsibility of a faith-based university to care for creation by spanning environmental stewardship through the university’s operations, academia, research, and service to balance todays and tomorrows economic, environmental, and social demands. We aim to transform the University by operational and economic measurements, expanding curriculum, and implementing outreach initiatives.
Full-time equivalent of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
Does the institution have at least one sustainability officer?:
Name and title of each sustainability officer:
Does the institution have a mechanism for broad sustainability coordination for the entire institution?:
A brief description of the activities and substantive accomplishments of the institution-wide coordinating body or officer during the previous three years:
Office of Sustainability
• Coordinates and facilitates the development of sustainability initiatives by providing information and assistance to all campus departments and programs.
• provides the framework for planning and implementing Valparaiso University’s strategic goals in reducing greenhouse gases, improving sustainability culture on campus, and reducing waste.
• Implemented, installed, and manages the campus community gardens.
• Manages the energy and waste audit program that reports on improvements of building energy efficiency and waste reduction and identifies and implements funding opportunities for conservation projects across campus
• Fosters and implemented new sustainability initiatives across campus, including earth week, energy competitions, Green Your Event, Green Your Office, waste reduction, and Tree Campus USA.
• Participates and organizes the data collecting of the university's greenhouse gas inventory and Valpo’s first submissions for the ASSHE STARS.
• Manages student interns that work on energy audits, waste reduction, and sustainability programming.
Job title of the sustainability officer position:
Job description for the sustainability officer position:
Job description for the sustainability officer position:
Job title of the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
Job description for the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
Job description for the sustainability officer position (2nd position):
Job title of the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
Job description for the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
Job description for the sustainability officer position (3rd position):
Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainability coordination is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.