University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

1. UTPA's Office for Sustainability, under the direction of Marianella Q. Franklin, created the University Sustainability Council (USC) to build a comprehensive program for sustainability on campus, bridging the gap between old traditions and the young generation. The USC is a permanent standing committee established to develop a framework integrating sustainability across UTPA. The USC committee reports to the VP of Business Affairs, who submits recommendations to the President.

The members of the Council serve as the chair for each of the working group sub-committees. They also serve as a voice for their particular campus constituency to ensure that the voices of the entire campus community are heard with regard to their critical sustainability issues. The members of the Council must represent all aspects of sustainability on campus, including economic and social equity as well as environmental issues. The University Sustainability Council collaboration resulted in The Sustainability Campus Action Plan.

2. The University of Texas-Pan American's Office for Sustainability received public recognition in 2013 for their outstanding work in outreach and education at the annual Texas Environmental Excellence Awards (TEEA) ceremony held in Austin. The office was named a finalist in the education category of the TEEA, initiated in 1993 by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The TEEA recognizes and honors the state's most outstanding waste reduction and pollution prevention projects in coordination with TCEQ's goals to protect the state's human and natural resources and ensure clean air, water, and safe waste management.

3. Activities, workshops and "Lunch and Learns",include, but not limited to:
April 20, 2012 Sustainable Health in a Changing World
April 4, 2012 Economic Development …Creating a Bike-Friendly Culture
March 21, 2012 HVAC Sustainable Practices
March 6, 2012 Sustainable Learning Environments – The Green in Green Design
February 28, 2012 Energy Efficiency…Moving Beyond First Year Savings

The University of Texas-Pan American strives to become a model of sustainability, integrating the goals of preserving a healthy and sustainable ecological system, developing economic viability, and pursuing social justice.

The Office for Sustainability seeks to engage every corner of the university in efforts to create an environment in which all members of the campus community support facets of sustainability in their personal and professional lives. The Office supports generating knowledge, acquiring skills, developing values, and initiating practices that will contribute to a sustainable, high quality of life on campus, in the Rio Grande Valley, and across the globe.

The goal of the Office for Sustainability is to assist all areas of the campus to achieve UTPA’s goal of becoming a model of sustainability in South Texas, integrating ecological soundness, economic viability, and social justice.

The University Sustainability Council (USC) is comprised of 15 committees, which fall under the three broad categories of Leadership, Education, and Operations.

University Sustainability Council members:
James R. Langabeer , Vice President for Business Affairs
Marianella Q. Franklin, Director for Sustainability Programs
Dr. Wendy Fowler, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs for Research & Sponsored Projects
Sandra Quintanilla, Executive Director for Marketing
Jessica Salinas, Executive Director for Community Engagement
Dr. Ana Maria Rodriguez, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs for Undergraduate Studies
Dr. Calvin Philips, Associate VP ESS & Dean of Students
Travis Hughes, Assistant Director for Wellness & Recreation
Dr. Richard Costello, Director for Environmental Health & Safety
Marvin Boland, Director for Facilities Planning & Construction
Marta Salinas-Hovar, AP/Architect/Project Manager FP&C
Chief Roger Stearns, Chief of University Police Department
Esequiel Granado, Associate Vice President of Business Affairs, Comptroller
Letty Benavidez, Director for Auxiliary Services
Oscar Villarreal, Director for Maintenance & Operations
Albert Luis, Assistant Director for Maintenance & Operations
Anne Toal, Technology Assessment Officer

USC Associated Members
Martha Jauregui, Manager for Custodial Services
Norma Dryer, Director of Materials Management
Christopher King, Director of Athletics
Dr. Ala Qubbaj, Faculty Representative
Raghuveer Puttagunta, Student Government Association (SGA) Representative
Jackelin Trevino, Environmental Awareness Club (EAC) Representative
Javier Gonzalez, EAC Representative
Mary Lou Cano, Staff Senate Representative

Under Leadership there are three committees: Research, Marketing & Development, and Community Engagement.

Under education, the four committees of Curriculum, Co-Curricular Education, Health & Wellness, and Athletics.

Operations includes eight different committees: Energy Conservation; Facilities; Transportation; Dining Services; Purchasing; Materials, Recycling & Waste; Landscape
& Grounds; and Information Technology.

The Office for Sustainability seeks to engage every corner of the university in efforts to create an environment in which all members of the campus community support facets of sustainability in their personal and professional lives. The Office supports generating knowledge, acquiring skills, developing values, and initiating practices that will contribute to a sustainable, high quality of life on campus, in the Rio Grande Valley, and across the globe.

The goal of the Office for Sustainability is to assist all areas of the campus to achieve UTPA’s goal of becoming a model of sustainability in South Texas., integrating ecological soundness, economic viability, and social justice.

This position provides leadership in support of the University’s long-range planning activities. This position directs implementation of the University’s comprehensive strategic planning, implementation, and progress tracking of all sustainability goals. The Director of Sustainability manages a coherent, campus-wide sustainability program by coordinating operations, planning, academic, research, and student sustainability activities. Fosters a culture of sustainability among students, faculty and staff; collaborates with University leaders to identify and prioritize areas for institutional sustainability efforts; plans and develops long and short range programs; engages with institutional leaders to foster sustainability broadly across campus units.

Serves as a point person for all sustainability activities on campus, annual reporting requirements and other University policies related to sustainability. This position manages all inputs to AASHE STARS (Sustainability Tracking Assessment & Reporting System), the transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. Measurements and inputs relate to all units on campus, including energy and materials flows of Facility Services’ managed state buildings and grounds, Auxiliary Services program revenue space, as well as coordination with UTPA community stakeholders. Sustainability planning and programming is fostered through this position for multiple campus divisions. This regards but is not limited to: energy management, waste and recycling strategies, sustainable food operations, potable and storm water management, alternative transportation planning, LEED or comparable green building standards, procurement standards, conservation awareness and behaviors modification, and other related
sustainability measures.

Coordinates and supports the academic community to integrate sustainability into curriculum, living learning lab opportunities, internships, as well as campus sustainability service learning. Works with appropriate University entities to leverage sustainability efforts to increase student recruitment, retention, and graduation rates.

A major role of this position is to interpret and in turn provide recommendations to implement sustainability plans and policies. This will be accomplished through the development of feasibility studies, energy use and material flows of the UTPA campus, and an ability to work across campus to embed sustainability measures into the culture and objectives of each division and unit.

Performance indicators such as those embodied in the STARS report will be used to track progress toward goals and also institutional sustainability performance. The position reports to the Vice President of Business Affairs.The Chief Sustainability Officer will regularly be called upon and report out to multiple units of campus leadership at their request.