Western Illinois University 2007 Campus Sustainability Leadership Award Application
Category
Four-year and graduate institutions over 7,500 student FTE
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| Student and staff volunteers engage in prairie restoration activities on the Macomb campus of Western Illinois University. |
Contact
Gordon Rands
Associate Professor of Management, Member WIU Sustainability Committee
1 University Circle,
Macomb, IL
309-298-1342
GP-Rands@wiu.edu
Governance & Administration
Western Illinois University’s activities are guided by its strategic plan, “Higher Values for Higher Education”, adopted in 2004. One of the plan’s stated goals is “to improve the university’s commitment to environmental sustainability.” The plan lists the following objectives under this goal:
1. Incorporate a purchasing preference for recycled and environmentally-friendly products.
2. Decrease solid waste production and improve the recycling program.
3. Conduct an energy audit and seek ways to improve energy efficiency and water conservation.
4. Continue to enhance the university landscapes with sensitivity to issues of maintenance and water conservation and preference for species native to Illinois.
5. Review transportation systems in light of health, safety and environmental issues with particular attention to the use of all vehicles and vehicular traffic.
6. Evaluate sources of pollution, consider prevention and reduction, and pursue mitigation.
7. Develop and begin to implement a plan to address any identified deficiencies.
WIU has since taken many actions consistent with the commitment signified in the strategic plan. WIU has signed the Talloires Declaration and the Illinois Sustainable University Compact. Sponsored by the Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, this compact entails committing to achieve eight specific sustainability goals (in the areas of energy efficiency, LEED certification of all new buildings, sustainable transportation, stormwater management, recycling, composting, purchasing non-toxics, and integrated pest management) by 12/31/2010. WIU is a member of AASHE, the U.S. Green Building Council and the US EPA’s Energy Star Alliance. As a result of these commitments, WIU has adopted an Energy Management Plan, and is about to finalize a green purchasing policy.
WIU has established a standing sustainability committee that meets monthly. Five members of the committee attended the 2006 AASHE meeting and an even larger contingent is anticipated at the 2007 Greening the Campus conference. The committee consists of faculty, staff, administrators and students, and is chaired by the Assistant to the President for Planning and Budget. The directors of Physical Plant, Housing and Dining Services, and Purchasing are among its members. The committee operates both as a forum for discussion and for making and reporting on assignments, infusing sustainability into the job duties of many staff members.
Another evidence of WIU’s commitment to sustainability is its annual Environmental Summit, which spotlights both campus sustainability progress and broader sustainability issues. The theme of the 2007 Summit (the fifth) was Environmental Justice, and the Summit keynote address was delivered by Majora Carter, executive director of Sustainable South Bronx. The 2008 Summit theme will be Sustainable Landscapes. WIU has also participated in three SCUP Campus Sustainability Days.
During the 2007-2008 academic year the University Theme will be “Global Challenges and Personal Responsibility: Environmental Sustainability.” Numerous speakers will be brought to campus to speak on the theme, including Natural Resources Defense Council attorney Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., both by the University Theme committee and by individual programs and departments. The Sustainability Committee and Theme Committee will be jointly sponsoring several events, and have been provided with space on campus buses for sustainability-related public service announcements.
Operations
Pollution
The University’s transit system (serving over 1.4 million riders annually) reduced emissions by 90% using a 2% biodiesel blend, and is testing 5% biodiesel blend. Three hybrids have been added to the University fleet. All fleet sedans use E85 fuel, available at the on-campus fueling station. The University is also exploring preferred parking for hybrids at its Quad Cities Riverfront Campus.
Grounds and Landscape
The University maintains native plantings and xeriscapes. A recently campus Tree Inventory/GIS mapping project allows tracking of Illinois native trees and our "heritage" trees (those dating back to pioneer times).
Western composts or mulches all tree branches and landscape trimmings, and requires pest management contractors to use integrated pest management practices.
Western has converted 1 1/2 acres on its main campus to an authentic short-grass prairie utilizing campus volunteers as part of a twice a year campus-wide program called We-Care. The University is currently evaluating another two acre site for a campus prairie restoration.
Western is currently implementing a permeable paving/turf reinforcement system to provide load-bearing strength while protecting turf root systems from compaction and to suspended pollutants and moderate amounts of engine oils that are consumed by active soil bacteria.
Green Purchasing
Western’s green purchasing preferences include purchase of: 100% post-consumer recycled content toilette tissues, 40% post consumer recycled content paper towels, and 100% post consumer recycled content roll towels on recycled paper stocks. The University also purchased 200 gallons of Green Seal certified carpet cleaner and 600 gallons of general purpose cleaner.
Similar green purchasing expectations are expected of external venders. For example, the University required all vendors to install Energy Star certified refrigerated vending machines.
Solid Waste and Recycling
Western Illinois University increased recycling of metals by purchasing a used rolloff container. A total of 119 tons of recycled metal was collected in the past year, double from the previous year. The University also recycled over 800 separate electronic items and located an electronics recycler that accepts computer monitors.
Western Illinois University participated in the national RecycleMania competition during academic year 2006 – 2007. The University finished in the top third nationally in the grand championship competition during its first year of participation.
Energy
Western Illinois University is committed to achieving silver LEED certification in all new construction, which currently includes a new Multicultural Center, Performing Arts Center, and a new facility at the Quad Cities Riverfront Campus.
Western Illinois University has secured three grants from the Illinois Clean Energy Foundation for separate lighting retrofits in academic buildings.
Physical Plant hired a graduate student to conduct a wind generation viability study. These efforts have complemented the University’s Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, which has documented wind speed data.
The University is studying use of oilseed, fiber and biomass crops for bio-fuels, including ethanol and biodiesel.
Other
The University allocates 15% of annual maintenance budget to sustainable products, equipment, and projects.
WIU was recognized in 2007 by the Illinois Board of Higher Education with an institutional Best Practices Award for its sustainability efforts.
Curriculum & Research
In coordination with the 2007-08 University Theme of “Global Challenges and Personal Responsibilities: Environmental Sustainability,” the First Year Experience program has selected Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder as the common reading for all FYE classes. Freshmen are required to attend several extracurricular events, such as Theme speakers. Evaluation research on the effect of theme events and activities on student, staff and faculty environmental knowledge, attitudes, behavioral intentions and actual is currently being planned.
WIU has an interdisciplinary Environmental Studies minor, drawing upon courses taught in various departments. Many of these courses have examined different aspects of campus sustainability, including solid and electronic waste recycling. Two different classes had assignments related to a proposal to develop a demonstration/education/residential facility using various sustainable technologies at the Horn Field Campus (see below). This proposal continues to be under development, and is likely to become an element in the University’s upcoming Capital Campaign.
The Environmental Studies minor is headed by the Director of the Institute for Environmental Studies, a unit of the College of Arts and Sciences. The Institute also has the mission of fostering and facilitating environmental research by university faculty and students, including interdisciplinary research. One example of such interdisciplinary research that has received university seed grant funding is an examination by anthropology and management professors into the factors underlying the environmental footprints of migrants from the Republic of the Marshall Islands to the United States.
The College of Arts and Sciences’s Biological Sciences Department also maintains the 1700 acre Alice L. Kibbe Life Science Station located adjacent to the Mississippi River. The field station, with prairie, upland and lowland forest, and aquatic habitats, serves as a site for student classes and research. One of the major research programs has involved numerous graduate and undergraduate students in various research investigations of turtles in the Mississippi River, both upstream and downstream of a nearby lock and dam.
WIU also maintains the Allison Research and Demonstration Farm, an organic farm operated by the university’s Agriculture Department, a unit of the College of Business & Technology. The farm primarily grows organic corn, soybeans and wheat, and this year has planted organic popcorn in shades of purple and gold (the school colors), which will be marketed in stores in the local area as a fundraiser for student organizations. The farm is expanding its crops, with pumpkins, cantelopes and watermelon new in 2007. Discussions with Sodexho food service are occuring regarding supplying campus dining facilities with organic produce raised at the farm.
The Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration of the College of Education and Human Services also operates the Frank Horn Field Campus. This campus is utilized for classes, particularly in outdoor leadership training, and for outreach activities, which will be discussed further under outreach.
Campus Culture
With little tradition of student activism, a sustainability-oriented campus culture has been slow to develop. Several efforts to change this are occurring. In January 2007 multiple showings of “An Inconvenient Truth” were sponsored by WIU’s Program for the Study of Ethics, followed by a campus forum on global warming and the university. Planning is beginning to occur for Focus the Nation activities in January 2008. WIU’s President highlights sustainability efforts in many campus speeches, including new student orientation.
There is a small Campus Greens student organization, which sponsored an Earth Day celebration in 2007. This event has generated an effort to develop a sustainability-focused student fee. Undergraduate and graduate students are currently researching sustainability fees at other universities, with plans to propose a student referendum to initiate such a fee in the spring of 2008.
One item that has been recently proposed for consideration is the hiring of student sustainability interns, who would have the responsibility for initiating various activities to increase student awareness of and engagement in sustainability issues. A decision on this proposal will be made following passage of the university’s final 2007-2008 budget by the Illinois State Legislature.
One non-curricular attempt to increase student sustainability awareness was the university’s participation for the first time in Recylemania during the spring of 2007. Banners were posted at the residence halls calling student attention to the competition, and articles and periodic advertisements appeared in the campus newspaper informing students of the competition and of WIU’s standing within it.. Annual participation in Recyclemania is planned, and inter-hall competitions are being considered for the future.
An open campus forum on campus sustainability to be held during 2007-08 is in the initial planning stages, in order to increase the awareness of the campus community to campus sustainability issues, as well as to receive broader input on developing a long term vision of a sustainable WIU. The Sustainability Committee is also in the process of developing a marketing campaign for sustainability utilizing the Rocky the bulldog, the university mascot. This is the result of a project conducted as an assignment in an undergraduate marketing class.
In April 2007 Sodexho, the Institute for Environmental Studies and the Campus Greens sponsored "A Day of Change" at all dining centers. For this day, Dining Services put together a menu offering organic and/or sustainably-produced food. Utensils, cups and plates used were made of readily compostable materials. Student diners were provided with information on the cost differential between compostable and disposable items, and were asked to vote to indicate if they were willing to pay higher meal prices to make this experiment permanent. The results were overwhelmingly positive, and this transition will occur during the 2007-2008 academic year.
Student sustainability awareness will also be enhanced by the Multicultural Center, a new facility located across from the student union that will house various multicultural student organizations. The facility, in the early stages of construction, will be Silver LEED certified, and will include geothermal heating and a green roof.
Community Service & Outreach
The annual Environmental Summit includes a sustainability fair, where local organizations and businesses with environmental emphases display information and products. Speakers at the summit have traditionally included representatives of such organizations as well as representatives of other educational institutions in the region.
The Alice Kibbe Life Science Station is used by various groups for outreach activities. The Station has received funding for a long term aquatic ecosystem monitoring research project through the Student Challenge Awards Project of the Earthwatch Institute that allows gifted high school students to work with scientists. Students are housed in a superinsulated multipurpose structure utilizing various green building technologies, funded by a National Science Foundation grant and university matching funds.
Kibbe has also hosted an annual conservation day for 400 to 500 5th and 6th graders as well as weekend conservation workshops with high school girl scouts. At these workshops, girl scouts participate in conservation projects like invasive woody species control, prairie seed collection at and a prescribed burning equipment presentation, and also received instruction and mentoring concerning career options in the natural resource field. The Station has also sponsored environmental education workshops for high school teachers in the region. The Station has also adopted two river miles to clean up several times a year as part of the Mississippi River Beautification and Restoration Project.
The Allison Research and Demonstration Farm’s various programs are aimed at demonstrating the practicality of organic crops for farmers in the western Illinois, southeast Iowa and northeast Missouri region. Research on and demonstration of other more sustainable crop alternatives, such as oilseed, fiber and biomass crops for biofuels, as well as newer crops such as milkweed and cuphea, are also ongoing on conventional (non-organic) university farm plots. The university sponsors an annual Alternative Crops Day for farmers from the tri-states region.
The facility being planned for the Horn Field Campus is envisioned as a LEED Platinum combined educational and outreach facility. It will host university classes as well as meetings, workshops and conferences for organizations in the region. The facility will utilize a variety of renewable energy, energy efficiency and water efficiency technologies. It will be constructed of sustainable materials and will feature self-guiding displays that will educate users of the facility on sustainable practices and technologies, and will provide real time readouts on energy generation and usage. To further attract community members to the facility a slow food restaurant is being planned. It will utilize organic and sustainable foods grown on site, as well as purchasing from local growers, thereby helping stimulate the regional market for sustainable produce. Near self-guiding interpretive nature trails, the facility will also have a student residential component to demonstrate the practicality of these technologies for residential applications.
Service learning initiatives include a wind generator feasibility study for a local farmer by MBA students in a strategic management course. The Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs has a major ongoing wind energy viability program aimed at farm groups, school districts and communities within the state.