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University of Vermont 2006 Campus Sustainability Achievement Award Application

Category

Four-year and graduate institutions 1,001 – 10,000 student FTE

Contact

Gioia Thompson
Environmental Coordinator
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT
(802) 656-3803
environmental.council@uvm.edu

Governance & Administration

The University of Vermont’s mission describes a commitment the foundations of a sustainable future, including “an abiding concern for the environment…A strong commitment to diversity …A willingness to address difficult societal issues with honesty, civility, and practicality,” an emphasis on “ethical decision making”, and an “appreciation of our commitment to the State of Vermont and our land-grant heritage.”

The University’s stated academic focus on environment, along with liberal arts and health, has grown out of more than 30 years of environmental studies and sciences. About 10 percent of undergraduates major in environmentally related areas, including natural resources, sustainable agriculture, environmental engineering, environmental science, and environmental studies. More than 250 environmentally related courses are offered across the campus, and students participate in dozens of environmental projects on and off campus as volunteers, interns, and researchers.

The Environmental Council, created in 1996, has a full-time coordinator who is responsible for tracking environmental performance; recommending environmentally responsible practices; working with students, faculty members, and staff members on environmental projects; and connecting with the Burlington and Vermont community. The Council’s Small Grants program gives $500-$1,500 to collaborative projects involving the faculty, staff, and students.

During the past two years, under the leadership of President Daniel Mark Fogel, the University’s commitment to environmental excellence in academics, operations and outreach has been elevated from a medley of grassroots and departmental efforts to a university-wide strategic direction.

  • The Strategic Plan for 2003-2008 emphasizes environmental excellence in academic programs and operations in two of its seven goals. In 2006 all University policies are being reevaluated for their alignment with these strategic goals.

  • In 2004 Provost John Bramley released a statement Becoming the Nation’s Leading Environmental University, outlining existing strengths and new directions for academics, operations, and outreach. This statement has further inspired the grassroots and department level creativity in operations, curriculum, and outreach, as described below.

  • President Fogel signed a pledge in 2004 in support of regional greenhouse gas reductions.

  • The 2006 Campus Master Plan declares the intention to become a “model for environmental sustainability”, with environmental principles to evaluate new proposals, commitment to LEED construction, and a vision of a pedestrian campus with less land used for parking and best practices in stormwater management.

  • The University’s institutional commitment to tracking environmental performance was recognized in 2004 with a Vermont Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence for the Environmental Council’s environmental report card, Tracking UVM, developed in collaboration with local sustainability organizations.

  • President Fogel contributed an article in 2005 to the American Council on Education’s flagship magazine, The Presidency, in a section on sustainability in higher education. Excerpts were also published in “President’s Perspective” section of the spring 2006 the UVM alumni magazine.

  • The University’s communications website recently established a prominent section for Environment News.

  • The University is a member of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future, National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology program, the Consortium for Environmental Excellence, NACUBO, APPA, and SCUP.

Operations

The Environmental Council has brought together student and middle managers in facilities and auxiliary services since 1996 through monthly meetings, events, and support of student academic projects. The Environmental Coordinator’s office location in the Physical Plant building facilitates communications between the middle managers of operations and student interested in internships, theses and other academic projects. Managers of recycling, energy, procurement, transportation, dining services, and residential life regularly work with students on demonstration projects, surveys, data analyses, and other activities intended to reduce the campus environmental footprint and increase awareness.

Recent activities include:

  • During Convocation 2005 President Fogel signed a green building policy that aspires to LEED Silver and requires commissioning. The new student center and 800-bed residence halls will be LEED certified.

  • Two students led the way to the University mandating the use of 100% recycled, chlorine-free copier paper in April 2006, in collaboration with the President’s office, Procurement, and Print & Mail Services.

  • UVM's Environmental Safety program has been an active participant in the EPA's development of a new performance based regulation for management of chemical wastes from laboratories. This effort has resulted in a 40% decrease in the normalized amount of chemical wastes produced by UVM's 500 teaching and research laboratories over 5 years and led the EPA to announce the proposal of a new rule based on this pilot project in May 2006.

  • The Energy Management office’s projects with local utilities are estimated to have avoided 2,924,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) and 2.2 billion British thermal units (BTUs), totalling $2,460,000 in electric savings and $1,997,000 in natural gas savings between 2000-2005.

  • The energy office exchanged hundreds of incandescent lightbulbs with compact fluorescent lightbulbs through the EcoReps program (see below) in 2004-2006.

  • The energy office participates in demonstration projects, most recently the fall 2006 installation of a 10kw wind turbine on central campus and the development of public information on the turbine’s performance in collaboration with two students, and the Environmental Coordinator.

  • Transportation & Parking Services worked with an ongoing Environmental Studies class and the local transportation demand management association to advertise that University students, faculty, and staff can ride local buses free—with tremendous success. In 2006 the department piloted a yellow bike program with an Environmental Studies senior. The department will be buying 6 new CNG-fueled buses as part of a collaborative project with the City of Burlington over the next three years.

  • With two EC Small Grants and the cooperation of the Grounds, Planning, and Transportation departments, graduate students in Civil and Environmental Engineering designed a rain garden and installed it in June 2006 next to a busy parking lot.

Curriculum & Research

In addition to the Environmental Program, offering a self-designed major in four colleges, the University of Vermont’s environmentally related academic programs include majors in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (Biological Science, Botany, Environmental Sciences, International Development, Plant & Soil Science, Urban Forestry); the College of Arts and Sciences (Biology, Botany, Geology, Geography, Zoology); the College of Engineering and Mathematics (Environmental Engineering); the Rubenstein School of Environment & Natural Resources (Forestry, Natural Resources, Recreation Management, Wildlife & Fisheries Biology). Sustainability related centers include the Gund Center for Ecological Economics, Center for Rural Studies, Center for Sustainable Agriculture, and the Natural Areas Center.

Recent high level statements and initiatives have helped provide the tools to foster service learning, residential learning communities, and interdisciplinary activity, blurring traditional lines between academics, research, operations, and outreach:

  • In July 2006 UVM launched a $32 million National University Transportation Center with a focus on sustainability and rural transportation. The university will receive the federal money from the U.S. Department of Transportation over a five-year period to build core faculty, programs, and technologies to create multi-disciplinary research in the transportation sector. UVM and several public and private partners will match the grant funds for a total $32 million investment.

  • A new Residential Learning Community for 120 students called the GreenHouse will open in fall 2006 in a new LEED building. The GreenHouse will provide environmentally themed programming from a range of majors and involve faculty, staff and students across all academic units at the university.

  • In 2005 a new Green Forestry Education Initiative was launched to transform the Jericho Research Forest into the hub of UVM’s sustainable forestry program. In addition to research and hands-on service academic activities, the program encourages community involvement through monthly events and student projects.

  • An interdisciplinary program in Environmental Sciences was recently integrated into the University curriculum, with leadership from the Rubenstein School of Environment & Natural Resources and the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences.

  • A summer intensive in Sustainable Business was created in 2005 in collaboration with Continuing Education, Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, School of Business Administration, and the Vermont Business Center.

  • In 2004 a federal appropriation helped create the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies, VCET will be a key component of a UVM-based umbrella organization called the Vermont Innovation Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship. A group designed to serve as a portal to UVM, accelerating technology commercialization, promoting entrepreneurship, and enhancing research effectiveness by breaking down institutional barriers and improving communications and collaboration.

  • The Office of Community-University Partnerships and Service Learning, created in September of 2003 supports active, collaborative UVM-Community partnerships, high quality service-learning, and community-based scholarship. The office identifies relevant resources, education, and incentives for the full range of academic endeavors at the university as well as a wide variety of social and environmental organizations in the local community. A recent example involved students helping to recycle mobile homes.

Community Service and Outreach

The University of Vermont is blessed to be located in a state and community with many well-established and diverse sustainability projects, programs, and organizations. In addition to traditional activities of the Extension Service, the University fosters sustainability outreach through service learning (described above), collaboration on land use and transportation, and many other activities.

The Environmental Council, comprised of faculty, staff, students, and community members, encourages internal outreach and collaboration through the Small Grants program, monthly open meetings, listservs, and an annual Eco-Fair to celebrate successful projects. The Council encourages and tracks external partnerships and collaborations related to campus greening, such as the Clean Cities program, the Vermont Campus Energy Group, the local Alliance for Climate Action, and the Northeast Campus Sustainability Consortium.

  • The UVM Eco-Reps Program, started in 2003 as a pilot, won a Vermont Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence in 2005 for its work educating students in the residence halls about environmentally responsible behaviors. In 2006 the program will be located in the new GreenHouse residential learning community with a doctoral student coordinating the work of 20 or so undergraduate students who will work across campus.

  • The Rubenstein School worked with others, including the Lieutenant Governor, to establish a Vermont Green Job & Internship Fair in 2005. In 2006 the fair’s professional presentations and student displays focused on renewable energy.

  • The University actively supports strong town-gown relations, recently expanding the Office of Student & Community Relations, which in January 2006 released a video developed in cooperation with the Office of Student Conflict Resolution and the Mayor’s Office with the aim of improving relations between off-campus students and their neighbors. Environmental outreach has been a long tradition through programs like the George D. Aiken Lectures, last year celebrating 30 years of public education with broadcasting help from Vermont Public Radio.

  • University Dining Services (contract through Sodexho) has established a productive relationship with the student activist groups related to local food. In spring 2006 Dining Services hosted Vermont farmers and food producers for a day to explore ways to bring more locally produced foods to the tables on campus. Dining also engaged a student activist as an intern to analyze current procurement of native and local food. Fair trade activists have helped bring fair trade coffee to campus. In summer 2006 Dining Services played an active part in the Vermont Fresh Network’s annual event to celebrate local foods.

  • In February 2005 UVM hosted the third Annual Northeast Climate Conference, bringing to together 400 college students from the northeastern United States to collaborate on effective ways of fighting climate change on their campuses and in their states. Common themes included grassroots movements, student organizing and networking, outreaching, future planning, and staying positive.