Minutes November 19, 2008

Campus Sustainability Council
Meeting, Wed. 11/19/08, 3:30-4:30
Facilities Management Conference Room
Minutes

Victor Alatorre, Steve Arndt, David Barnhill, Jim Feldman, Ashley Goral, Brian Klinger, Mike Lizotte, Maureen Muldoon, Cassandra Nagle, Marty Strand

1. Continued discussion of unit level liaisons.

• Committee members noted that there are two ways of conceiving of the liaisons, or perhaps two dimensions:
• Administrative: conduit of information
• Developmental: draw campus community into the sustainability effort
• We will continue discussion of liaison after the new Director of Campus Sustainability arrives.

2. Reports from priority focus groups

Student life (Maureen Muldoon reporting)

• Victor, Moe, and Cassandra met.
• They plan to target student groups.
• Real time data of energy consumption would be very helpful (such as at Oberlin), but we can’t do that right now.
• Earth Week competitions and Eco-Olympics are ideas to consider.
• Sustainability tips online could be helpful.
• The Campus Sustainability class in spring semester may develop ideas for student life.
• It was noted that the Reeve Advisory Council had a weekend retreat at River Falls with the theme of sustainability
• Eau Claire students are coming to look at Reeve’s sustainability

Curriculum (Jim Feldman reporting)

• Around 14 people expressed interest in this group.
• There will be a meeting after Thanksgiving to brainstorm ideas on how to get sustainability into the curriculum.

Dining (Marty Strand reporting)

• A couple of people responded, but the entire Food Committee asked to be on this group.
• There have not been any meetings as yet.
• Reeve Union & Dining Services has sustainability as a focus this year, and they have developed an action plan.

Solid waste and recycling (Steve Arndt reporting)

• 6 people responded with interest in this group
• There was a brief discussion of the new recycling containers in classrooms in A/C and Swart buildings.

Purchasing (Brian Klinger reporting)

• Purchases under $5,000 are considered discretionary, and the university doesn’t keep track of the details in a way we could determine the sustainability of the purchasing or make that a part of the specifications.
• For purchases $5,000-$25,000, we could write sustainability into the specs (e.g., energy star). Brian could monitor these.
• Marty and Randy have done a lot with sustainability in the dining contract.
• Local area printing contract: one possibility is to use Forest Stewardship Certified paper.
• The Advance-Titan contract calls for the use of recycled paper and soy ink.

Fair Trade (David Barnhill reporting)

• A Fair Trade Festival will take place on Thursday December 4.
• Promotional material will appear in Campus Vision and table tents in Blackhawk & Reeve.
• The IMC has developed a specific ‘look’ for our Fair Trade initiatives.

Transportation (Mike Lizotte reporting)

• 15 people responded with interest in this group: 9 staff/administration, 2 faculty, 4 students
• There hopefully will be a meeting before the end of the semester.
• Mike is involved in the city of Oshkosh’s pedestrian & bicycle plan.

--Muldoon/Barnhill recording