Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 55.66
Liaison Marian Brown
Submission Date Feb. 26, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Wells College
PA-1: Sustainability Coordination

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Marian Brown
Director
Center for Sustainability and the Environment
"---" 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:

The campus sustainability committee was first convened in 2008 to support the College president's signing of the American College and University President's Climate Commitment and the development and implementation of its Climate Action Plan. Members of that committee also developed proposals for an academic program in Sustainability, including an Individualized Major and two minors: Sustainability and Sustainable Food Systems. Those academic programs came online in Fall 2014. Responding to the interim president's call for project proposals, members of the Sustainability Committee proposed the creation of the Center for Sustainability and the Environment. That proposal was accepted, a director hired, and the Center opened in June 2014 to begin to draw together the curricular, research, operational and outreach activities related to campus sustainability.


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 charge of the Sustainability Advisory Committee, reconstituted and re-charged by President Jon Gibralter, is to advise the President of the College on the continuing efforts to integrate sustainability and practice and assure alignment between sustainability planning and institutional planning. The Sustainability Advisory Committee will develop recommendations to implement “best practices” to position Wells College to be a regional and national leader in sustainability. (This advisory committee will oversee progress on the Climate Action Plan, the development and implementation of the resiliency plan, and oversight of progress using AASHE STARS assessment measures and metrics).

The mission of the original Sustainability Group, also known as the Wells College Presidents’ Climate Committee, was to ensure the fulfillment of the requirements of the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment of which Wells became a signatory in the Fall of 2008. Additionally, the Presidents’ Climate Committee acted as the " repository for all campus sustainability initiatives for consideration and potential inclusion in the Wells College Climate Action Plan, the goal of which is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.


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

Sustainability Advisory Committee
Reporting to: President Jonathan Gibralter

Marian Brown, director, Center for Sustainability and the Environment
Brian Brown, director, Facilities Operations and Services
Kit Van Orman, manager, Human Resources and Business Services
Laurie Turo, administrative assistant, Academic & Student Life
David Foote, assistant director, Communications, alumnus
Dan Wentworth, director, Information Technology
Milene Morfei, professor, Psychology, alumnae
Matt Hogan, visiting lecturer, Math
Kurt Pipa, lecturer, Japanese
Rich Kegler, director, Book Arts Center
Kevin Sennett, general manager, Wells Dining
Tom Vawter, professor emeritus, Biology and Environmental Science (also local community member)
Stephen Armstrong ’16, student, Psychology, Collegiate Cabinet rep (Collegiate will appoint replacement reps)
Nicole Loeven ’16, student, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (graduating in May)
Ana Toumpas ‘17, Biology/Environmental Science, Wells Campus Greens (studying abroad)
Ashley Gingeleski ’17, Environmental Science, Wells Campus Greens (graduating in May)
Emily Mills ‘18, Individualized major in Sustainability
Kaitlyn (Kate) Wells ‘18, student, Chemistry
Eliza Schwab ‘18, student, Business, Athletics


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 Center for Sustainability and the Environment has three distinct, yet highly-interconnected areas of focus:
Academics: The Center supports faculty interested in incorporating sustainability content in courses across disciplines and assists students and their faculty mentors to undertake sustainability-related research projects.
Operations: The Center works with operational units across campus to further develop the campus as a "living-learning" laboratory that reinforces and models the principles and practices of sustainability that students learn in their coursework.
Outreach: The Center serves as the hub for programs that engage the college community in co-creating a more sustainable campus environment.


Full-time equivalent (FTE) of people employed in the sustainability office(s):
1.25

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:
Marian Brown, Director, Center for Sustainability and the Environment

A brief description of each sustainability officer position:

The director of the Center for Sustainability and the Environment provides support for and linkages among the three areas of campus sustainability: curricula and research, campus operations, and community outreach. The director functions as the chief sustainability officer for the college.


The website URL where information about the sustainability officer(s) is available:
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.