Minutes September 17, 2008

Campus Sustainability Council Meeting
September 17, 2008
Minutes

Attending: Victor Alatorre, Steve Arndt, David Barnhill, Joe Blohm, Jim Feldman (via conference phone), Ashley Goral, Brian Klinger, Mike Lizotte, Maureen Muldoon, Marty Strand

Introductions and process

Steve brought up the issue of process and suggested that we follow Robert Rules of Order, though in a somewhat informal way. When decisions need to be made, we will have a motion, second and a vote, and the persons making the motion and second will be identified. We also need to have an agenda and minutes. Maureen (Moe) volunteered to take notes during the meeting but would need someone else to type them up. David volunteered to have that done, and Joe said he could take care of that if needed.

Brief reviews

The responsibilities of the Council

A brief review of the responsibilities of the Council lead to a lengthy discussion. Mike asked about the status of the Council and the way the charge was written. He asked whether we should be a formal university committee created by the university’s governance structure and the committee of committees. He suggested that the Vice-Chancellor’s charge to the Council sounded more like the temporary Campus Sustainability Team that had been working on the Campus Sustainability Plan. He also argued that the Council was supposed to be broadly representative, and he believes it is not.

Steve noted that the two Vice-Chancellors had approved the charge. Mike said he saw the charge as a weaker version than what the Plan called for, and if we can’t do it right we shouldn’t call ourselves the Campus Sustainability Council.

Ashley noted that student groups have to go through the process getting approved by the OSA and if this is a permanent group we should go through the university governance group. Mike added that some other campuses do sustainability work in an easy way, while we should be challenge the administration on shared governance. Steve pointed out again that the two co-chairs of the Council had gone over the charge with the Vice-Chancellors and that was what they approved.

There was general agreement that we “need clout” and so Council members expressed interest in going through governance.

Steve stated that the exact roles of the Council are not completely defined as we are setting up a new group and task. David argued that there was nothing in the Plan and the discussions about it that would lead us to question that the Council is permanent or that we should go through the process of becoming a formal university committee. He also said he believes the Council does have “representation across the campus.” Mike claimed that the in the process of creating the Campus Sustainability Plan, the Campus Sustainability Team edited out concerns about the status of the Council and left the issue vague on purpose. He added that he didn’t think the Council was sufficiently representative.

Jim suggested that we agree to be the Interim Campus Sustainability Council. Steve moved that we change the name to the Interim Campus Sustainability Council and that we investigate the best method of forming a permanent representative Council. Mike seconded. The motion was approved without objection.

Campus Sustainability Plan

Steve and David reviewed some of the Plan’s top priorities: creating organizational infrastructure, writing plans in key operational areas, reviving and expanding the sustainability audit, raising awareness through faculty workshops and residence hall program, sustainability website, fair trade university declaration.

Concerning the fair trade university declaration, David noted that there is a real concern about “greenwashing,” that is, not really following through with the criteria of a fair trade university or doing the bare minimum. We need to be our own critics. Steve noted that the CSC would act in that capacity. Joe mentioned that because of the declaration he has been contacted by several fair trade vendors.

Campus Sustainability Director (CSD)

Steve stated that the CSD Search and Screen Committee has received 23 applications and it is currently doing phone interviews with semi-finalists. The Committee hopes to finish those interviews next week and then decide on finalists for campus interviews, and then have an offer made and accepted by November 1.

Putting the plan into action

The co-chairs recommended that the Council create focus groups that would work on different elements in the Plan. It was noted that the agenda listed many focus possible groups, perhaps more than we could pursue at this time. David noted that we could decide to consolidate some of the groups listed.

It was agreed that we need to seek active participation from people outside the Council. A mass email informing the campus about the opportunity to participate in the groups could be sent, followed by Council members personally inviting individuals. One way to recruit students is to make an announcement at OSA, which would then be brought to individual student groups.

We agreed that each Council member should look over the list of focus groups, and send to Steve and David (1) what you think are the top five priorities among the groups and (2) which ones you are most interested in participating in. Council members can also make suggestions of possibly reformulating focus groups, for instance, by combining them.

Regular meeting times

We agreed to meet the third Wednesday of each month at 3:30 pm.

--Muldoon, Barnhill