Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.79
Liaison Ian Johnson
Submission Date May 26, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Colorado College
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Ian Johnson
Sustainability Director
Office of Sustainability
"---" 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:

During the last four years, the Campus Sustainability Council (CSC) has been instrumental in driving sustainability initiatives on campus. By increasing its membership to include a diverse group of faculty, staff and students, the Council has been able to successfully influence the wider campus community. The Council was responsible for adding the various sustainability components to the College's Strategic Plan. Last year, the Council pushed the administration to prioritize sustainability in its professional staffing, leading to the replacement of the Sustainability Coordinator with two higher up and full-time positions, the Energy Manager and the Sustainability Manager. Furthermore, in the last few years, the Council has lobbied for and successfully increased the College's dedicated budget for sustainability projects. The money has helped support the construction of a campus greenhouse, an online energy monitoring system, and campus signage for sustainability features. The Council presented a plan and strategy for reaching the College's carbon neutrality goal by 2020.

The previous Sustainability Coordinator operated as a subset of Facilities and was instrumental in implementing the dashboard system, implementing composting programs for both dining services and off-campus housing, supporting the expansion of non-potable irrigation across campus, developing the student garden, and implementing a green-cleaning policy (amongst many others). The new Office of Sustainabiliy continues to focus on those items, but is placed in the Office of the Dean of the College, giving the Sustainability Manager access and influence on a higher level of administration and curriculum development as it relates to sustainability principles.

In 2015, the Campus Sustainability Council has been integral in advocating for a carbon neutral library drafting a petition and unanimously voting to support a carbon neutral library. The CSC has created a Sustainability Action Plan to be signed by the President of the college. This plan outlines specific sustainability projects with clear goals, responsible parties, and deadlines. The CSC has reconfigured its subcommittees to include: Investments, Conservation Campaigns, Green Sciences, Academics, Operations, and Communications/Community Outreach. These subcommittees have created individual action plans for the year of 2015.


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 mission of the Campus Sustainability Council is to make Colorado College a model for campus and community sustainability. The CSC works to design, promote, and implement initiatives that are ecologically viable, economically sound, and socially just, now and for future generations.The CSC plays a key role in raising campus awareness and keeping sustainability issues at the forefront, reminding us all to live up to Colorado College’s core value of nurturing a sense of place and an ethic of environmental sustainability.


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

Co-chairs:
Howard Drossman, Education
Karen To, Communications
Gabriella Palko, Office of Sustainability Student Intern Manager
Office of Sustainability:
Ian Johnson, Sustainability Director
Anna Kelly, Communications Intern
Kendall Kultgen, State of Sustainability Intern
Charlotte Cadow, Buildings and Grounds Intern
Sophie Javna, Local Food Liaison
Katy Dupree, Greenhouse Gas Inventory Intern
Kyra Wolf, Curriculum Development Intern
Lily Biggar, Residence Life Intern
Niyanta Khatri – Website Maintenance and Development Intern
Meredith Allen – Zero Waste Intern
Faculty:
Barbara Whitten, Physics
Mark Wilson, Biology
Miro Kummel, Environmental Science
Corina McKendry, Political Science
Mark Smith, Economics and Business
Staff:
George Eckhardt, Facilities
Tom Allen, Sodexo
Roz Brokaw, Admissions
Sara Gallagher-Carlson, Advancement
Laura Rosendo, Advancement
Darren Ceckanowicz, Technical Director, EV
Don Davidson, Interim Purchasing Director/Facilities Services
Mark Ferguson, Campus Energy Manager
Cecelia Gonzalez, Facilities
Ryan Hammes, Outdoor Education
Derek Hanson, Bon Appetit
Randy Kruse, Bon Appetit
John Lauer, Director of Residential Life & Housing
Mark Lee, Associate Director of Web Communications and New Media
Leslie Weddell, Communications
Leonard Ortman, Controls Specialist, Facilities
Tess Powers, Dean’s Office
Mike Siddoway, Associate Dean of the Faculty
McKinley Sielaf, Library
Dave Harker, Center for Community Engagement
Justin Weis, Associate Director of Housing Operations
Patrick Bultema, ExDir, Innovation Institute
Denise Sheridan, Environmental Health & Safety Coordinator
Paul Buckley, The Butler Center
Liz Scherkenbach, IT
Naomi Clark, Finance & Admin
Laura Wawrousek-Snyder, Career Center
Jane Newberry, Athletics
Brooke Larson, SOR
Drew Cavin, Field Studies
Local Community Members:
Frank Kinder, Colorado Springs Utilities
Alicia Archibald, Bestway
Jane Ard-Smith, Colorado Springs Sierra Club
Linda Koga, Sustainability Director, UCCS
Konrad Schlarbaum, Sustainability Coordinator, PPCC
Students:
Laurel Sebastian, EnACT Co-chair
Sierra Melton, EnACT Co-chair
Vacant, CCSGA
Erika Hiromitsu, Local LLC RA


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:

The Office of Sustainability fosters communication, collaboration and coordination between sustainability stakeholders in the CC community. The Office serves to develop and support campus initiatives, working closely with the Campus Sustainability Council and the student environmental action group, EnAct, to make the Colorado College a model for campus and community sustainability.


Full-time equivalent (FTE) of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
2

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:
Ian Johnson

A brief description of each sustainability officer position:

The Sustainability Manager is in charge of developing, promoting, and administering the many sustainability plans, initiatives, and deliverables associated with on-campus and external activities. He advises student sustainability groups, updates the campus utility dashboard, implements campus resource conservation campaigns, collaborates with the Facilities Management to encourage the use of efficient practices of technologies, develops community partnerships, administers the Campus Annual Sustainability Projects Fund and the EcoFund, supervises the sustainability interns, and writes and distributes an annual Colorado College Sustainability report evaluating progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and on the campus's carbon neutrality goal.


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