| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 73.03 |
| Liaison | Mark Lichtenstein |
| Submission Date | June 7, 2016 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Mark
Lichtenstein Executive Director of Sustainability Energy and Sustainability |
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:
Since 2009, a Campus Climate Change Committee (CCCC) made up of ESF faculty, staff, administrators, and students has been meeting two times per semester to review and approve Student Sustainability Fund projects, and review and provide feedback on ESF's progress towards sustainability.
The goals of the CCCC are to: continue and increase efforts to foster awareness and involvement with sustainability and climate action projects among the campus community, publicize and expand sustainability efforts to the local community and beyond, closely monitor and adjust plans, progress, and goals as necessary, and continue growing ESF’s portfolio of sustainability efforts.
Starting in the summer of 2015 with new leadership, the College has been transitioning from the CCCC to a more structured and inclusive Sustainability Committee organized around STARS credit categories. An ad-hoc group of College representatives has met since that time and the first official meeting of this new committee took place in May, 2016.
Members of each committee, including affiliations and role (e.g. staff, student, or faculty):
2016 Sustainability Steering Committee:
Alex Poisson - Sustainability Coordinator and Ph.D. Student- Graduate Program in Environmental Science
Chellby Kilheffer- PhD Student- Environmental Forest Biology Conservation Biology
Christine Langlois- Staff- Physical Plant for Maintenance Operations
Chuck Spuches- Staff- ESF Outreach
Ethan Requardt- Undergraduate Student- Sustainable Energy Management
Gary Peden- Staff- Physical Plant for Maintenance Operations
Ilana Weinstein- Undergraduate Student
James Rooney- Undergraduate Student
Josh Arnold- Staff- Energy Manager
Justin Heavey - Staff, Office of Sustainability
Lisa Campagna- Staff- Office of Business Affairs
Mariann Johnston- Faculty- Ranger School
Marie-Odile Fortier- Faculty- Forest and Natural Resource Management Dept.
Mark Lichtenstein - Executive Director of Office Sustainability
Melissa Fierke - Faculty, Environmental and Forest Biology
Mike Kelleher- Faculty, Forest and Natural Resource Management Dept.
Nafisa Tabassum- Graduate Student- Environmental Resources Engineering
Namrata Shenoy- Graduate Student- Environmental Management
Neal Abrams- Faculty, Chemistry Dept.
Neil Patterson- Staff- ESF Center for Native Peoples and the Environment
Paul Crovella- Faculty- Sustainable Construction
Paul Otteson - Staff, Communications Office
Rebecca Hart- Staff- Environmental Studies Secretary
Robert Davis- Staff- Director of Forest Properties
Sharon Moran- Faculty- Environmental Studies
Taylor Brown - Undergraduate Student- Environmental Resources Engineering
Terry Ettinger - Greenhouse Manager, Environmental and Forest Biology Dept.
Timothy Volk – Faculty, Sustainable Energy Management
Tomasz Falkowski- Graduate Student- Environmental Resources Engineering Ecological Engineering
Tristan Brown- Faculty- Sustainable Energy Management
Vanessa Gravenstine- Graduate Student- Environmental Science Environmental & Community Land Planning
Does the institution have at least one sustainability office that includes more than 1 full-time equivalent (FTE) employee?:
A brief description of each sustainability office:
The Office of Sustainability's mission statement is to advance campus community knowledge and skills, and provide leadership to reduce ESF’s carbon footprint and impact on the environment, and to broadly promote sustainability.
The office helped develop a broad range of college sustainability policies including: Space Churn Renovation Plan and Policy, Reduced Mercury Light Bulb Purchasing Policy, Low Impact Site and Green Building Exterior Management Policy, Erosion and Sedimentation Policy, College Sustainable Cleaning Products Purchasing Policy, and the College Solid Waste and Recycling Policy. In addition, the Office advises and engages in many areas of sustainability including campus grounds, transportation, and storm water runoff (green roofs, rain gardens, and others). The Office also reviews and helps implement student projects and develops materials to disseminate sustainability information.
Full-time equivalent (FTE) 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 (e.g. a campus-wide committee or an officer/office responsible for the entire campus)?:
A brief description of the activities and substantive accomplishments of the institution-wide coordinating body or officer during the previous three years:
The Office of Sustainability (http://www.esf.edu/sustainability/) is staffed by an Executive Director for Sustainability (jointly appointed as Chief of Staff to the College President) and a sustainability coordinator (long term graduate assistant-ship and professional experience credits). This office also oversees and coordinates student interns and graduate assistants during the summer and during the year.
Accomplishments
Fall 2015:
- Divestment: provided informational support and advise to a student-led fossil fuel divestment campaign; leading to ESF's College Foundation decision to commit to fully divesting from fossil fuels ( http://www.esf.edu/communications/view.asp?newsID=3985 )
- NYS' REV Campus Challenge: registered to New York State Governor Cuomo's REV clean energy challenge. ESF is a "leader" in clean energy.
- EcoReps: oversaw ESF's EcoReps program in partnership with ESF's Student Affairs Office, and Residence Hall.
- SUNY Sustainability Conference: attended the annual SUNY Sustainability Conference, this year hosted by SUNY Stony Brook, in Long Island.
- White House Climate Pledge: signed the White House's climate pledge, in the lead up to the U.N. Paris Climate talks.
- Diversity and inclusiveness: attended and participated in a mix of activities on campus, from diversity training run by ESF's Student Affairs Office, to a diversity and inclusiveness forum hosted by ESF's two student governance associations, to a panel of guest speakers hosted by ESF's student Club the Baobab Society.
- Syracuse Food Justice Symposium: participated in Syracuse's first annual Food Justice Symposium, an event co-organized by Syracuse Grows, Cornell Coop Extension and a host of other Syracuse community organizations. The event boldly tackled difficult socio-economic issues surrounding hunger, injustice, food insecurity such a racial inequality, "black lives" matter, and a still too dominant, yet often unmentioned, "white supremacy" culture.
Summer 2015:
- summer interns: oversaw a team of 4 summer student interns, who worked on waste management, energy, urban gardens, food systems
- organic garden and edible habitats landscape: acted as a volunteer coordinator for ESF's student-run organic garden, along with members of ESF's student club Green Campus Initiative. Also coordinated a planting of 800 native perennial flowers on ESF's main campus, to attract and support insect pollinator diversity.
- Native Earth Youth Camp: participated in ESF's Center for Native People and the Environments (CNPE) summer camp experience for indigenous youth at ESF's Huntington Wildlife Forest, in the Adirondacks
http://www.esf.edu/nativepeoples/NativeEarth.htm
- Composting: helped re-organize ESF's composting program, to have greater integration and cooperation between students and ESF's Campus Grounds.
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):
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives 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.