University of Vermont 2008 Campus Sustainability Leadership Award Application

Category

Four-year and Graduate Institutions over 7,500 FTE

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The University of Vermont's Davis Student Center, the first LEED Gold student union in the nation.
Photographer: Sally McKay

Contact

Gioia Thompson
Director
Office of Sustainability
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT
(802) 656-3803
sustainability@uvm.edu

Governance & Administration

 

The University of Vermont's vision, values and strategy fully embody and express the institution's commitment to sustainability.

  • Our vision is to be "among the nation's premier small research universities, preeminent in our comprehensive commitment to liberal education, environment, health, and public service."
  • Our values statement describes a commitment to 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."
  • Our Strategic Plan for 2003-2008 emphasizes diversity and environmental excellence in academic programs and operations.

During the past four years, under the leadership of President Daniel Mark Fogel, the University's commitment to sustainability and environmental excellence in academics, operations, and outreach has grown from grassroots and departmental efforts to a consolidated, university-wide strategic initiative.

  • Much of the change has been spurred by concern about climate change. President Fogel signed a pledge in support of regional greenhouse gas reductions in 2004, and then became a Charter Signatory of the Presidents' Climate Commitment in May 2007. Fogel's vocal leadership earned him recognition as Vermonter of the Year for his support of climate change action.
  • In January 2008, at the height of Focus the Nation events, Fogel announced the creation of a new Office of Sustainability and President's Commission on Sustainability, building on twelve years  of work by the Environmental Council, now reshaped as the Environmental Forum.
  • The Office of Sustainability focuses on bridging the academic mission with the operations of the University. In 2008 it hired three University Sustainability Fellows to track performance, expand campus educational programs, and support the Environmental Forum, the President's Commission on Sustainability, and collaborative projects with other institutions in Vermont and the Northeast.
  • The President's Commission on Sustainability will focus on environmental sustainability, complementing the work of the President's Commissions on Racial Diversity, on the Status of Women, and on Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, and Transgender Equity. The President states that "diversity and inclusion are inseparable from academic excellence." We believe these values are also inseparable from sustainability.
  • Student leadership development is another key pathway to sustainability. In 2008 the administration and trustees supported successful student initiatives to educate the community by encouraging Focus the Nation activities; creating a Clean Energy Fund for renewable energy projects through a $10 per semester fee; and adding climate change action to policies of the trustees' investments committee.  
  • Playing a scientific role is the new Vermont Climate Collaborative, a "partnership of Vermont's government, academic, and private sectors," UVM is linking scientists with government and institutional policy makers.  UVM Assistant Professor Dr. Jennifer Jenkins serves as the Collaborative's science advisor.
  • The focus of 2008-2009 sustainability activities is developing the University's climate action plan, with help from sustainability office and commission.
  • The University is a member of AASHE, the Campus Consortium for Environmental Excellence, NACUBO, APPA, and SCUP. 

 

Operations

Energy efficiency and environmental performance are central themes spanning all aspects of operations.

  • In 2008 student initiatives supported by the administration and trustees resulted a new Clean Energy Fund from student fees ($200k annually) and a climate friendly investing initiative.
  • In 2007 President Fogel modified the UVM's green building policy to require LEEDTM Silver for all new buildings and major renovations, aspiring to Gold. Since 2005 all new UVM buildings have been formally certified at Silver or higher. The Dudley H. Davis Student Center and an 800-bed residential complex achieved LEED Gold. The center includes a sustainability gallery to highlight its social justice mission and environmental design commitment, and inclues real-time and historical displays of campus energy and water consumption.
  • Annual bonds of $1million fund the Energy Management office's projects with local utilities that avoided an estimated $2.4 million in electricity and $2 million in fuel costs between 2000-2005. The program won the Vermont Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence in 2006. Additional investments in infrastructure contributed to 24% lower heating fuel use in 2006 than in 2004.
  • The energy office replaced more than 2,500 incandescent lightbulbs with compact fluorescent lightbulbs through the EcoReps program in 2004-2008, most recently in collaboration with student activists in the Campus Energy Group. No incandescent lightbulbs are installed by the staff on campus.
  • UVM buys power for main campus from the municipal utility, which purchases 60% of its electricity from renewable sources (mostly local biomass).
  • The energy office participates in demonstration projects, including residential 5kw solar and 10kw wind turbine installations on central campus. The new Clean Energy Fund will make possible more extensive installations of renewables on campus.
  • All university shuttles have run on biodiesel since 2002, and four of ten buses have been replaced to run on clean natural gas. UVM has a successful commuter incentive program, free off-campus bus rides for faculty, staff, and students, alternate-fueled shuttle buses, and a variety of other alternate fueled vehicles-including unmarked Priuses among police vehicles. Well-enforced parking policies with high fines reinforce positive commuter incentives.
  • The university's comprehensive, long-established recycling program diverts about 35% of waste through recycling and composting. Kitchen grease is turned into biodiesel fuel. New techno-trash bins around campus collect electronics waste and batteries. The University participates in Recyclemania in the waste minimization category. Student orientation features zero-waste dining.
  • The university, a member of Farm to College and the Vermont Fresh network, purchases 30 percent of its food from Vermont-based companies, including syrup, chicken, cheese and other foods. Vegetarian and vegan options abound, as do fair trade and organic foods. To-go containers are limited to paper and PLA, and no food is served on polystyrene. A sustainability intern tracks progress.
  • The University mandates use of 100% recycled, chlorine-free copier paper, and is now requiring environmental certifications for bathroom tissue and paper towels after student activists calling themselves the Forest Crimes Unit staged a campaign.

 

Curriculum & Research

 

The University's stated academic focus on environment, along with liberal arts and health, has grown out of more than 30 years of course offerings in environmental studies and sciences. At least 10 percent of undergraduates major in environmentally related areas, including natural resources, sustainable agriculture, environmental engineering, environmental science, and environmental studies.

In addition to the Environmental Program, which offers a self-designed major in four colleges, the University of Vermont's sustainability-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). Research centers span health research and promotion, rural economic vitality, community and place-based education, and environment and natural systems. Examples include the Gund Center for Ecological Economics, Center for Rural Studies, and the Center for Sustainable Agriculture.

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 Transportation Research Center with a focus on sustainability and rural transportation. The university will receive federal money from the U.S. Department of Transportation over a five-year period 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.
  • The Institute for Global Sustainability offers more than 30 courses in the summer on sustainability through Continuing Education in collaboration with the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, School of Business Administration, and the Vermont Business Center.
  • Students in the spring Managing the Sustainable Campus course review campus food, recycling, green building and other programs, offering suggestions for indicators and best practices. The culminating project in 2008 was a presentation to upper administrators on applying Environmental Management Systems thinking to the development of the university's climate action plan.

 

Campus Culture

 

The Environmental Forum, composed of faculty, staff, students, and community members, encourages internal outreach and collaboration through monthly open meetings, listservs, and an annual Eco-Fair to celebrate successful projects. As a result, managers of  recycling, energy, procurement, transportation, dining services, and residential life regularly work with students on events, demonstration projects, surveys, data analyses, and other activities intended to reduce the campus environmental footprint and increase awareness.

Formal programs include the following.

  • The UVM Eco-Reps program, started in 2004 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, and hosting campus-wide activities. A doctoral student oversees the work of 30 or so undergraduate students who work across campus. As part of her research she coordinates conversations with other institutions across the country.
  • Programmed housing at UVM includes Residential Learning Communities (RLC) for international studies, honors students, and people interested in healthy lifestyles. A new RLC for 180 students called the GreenHouse opened in the fall of 2006 in a new LEED Gold building, providing place-based and environmentally themed programming involving faculty, staff and students across all academic units.
  • A residential cooperative, Slade Hall, is by University standards, "a residence hall," for 24 students, but the residents describe it as an open, loving community of intention-the home of "Slade Nation." Slade is an environmental food cooperative, emphasizing sustainable community living, an appreciation of diversity. Residents practice a low consumption life style, including reduction and recycling of waste through composting and re-use. In the fall, much of their food comes from their garden, greenhouse, and orchard. Residents buy and cook their own food, buying responsibly and locally, including organic and only vegetarian foods.
  • The larger campus also expanding awareness and improving practices to include more local food, a key aspect of "culture." University Dining Services (UDS), contracted through Sodexho, has established a history and culture of productive relationships with the student activist groups related to sustainability. UDS engages a student intern to analyze current procurement of native and local food and encourage change; in 2008 the amount of locally grown food was calculated at 6%, up from 1% in 2005. Dining Services plays an active part in the Vermont Fresh Network's events to celebrate local foods. Fair trade activists have helped bring fair trade coffee to campus, now representing almost half the coffee consumed. UDS's social responsibility website catalogs current efforts.

 

Community Service and Outreach

 

In 2008 UVM was recognized by the national organizers of Focus the Nation for the breadth and scope of events, organized by a coalition of students who began their conversations at the Forum. Hundreds of community members came to these events.

One such event was the Sustainable Burlington Design Workshop, sponsored by UVM's Community-University Partnerships and Service Learning program and the Burlington Legacy Project, the City of Burlington's sustainability planning group. A Sustainable Burlington Design Charrette involved a community-lead envisioning of a new Burlington.  Participants included the local Community and Economic Development Office, the Mayor's office, and many local organizations and nonprofits. The charrette has spurred further groups and conversations that will help revise the city's climate action plan by December 2008.

Ongoing programs include:

  • Community Service Programs (CSP) Office is housed in the Department of Student Life, with a mission to foster a culture of student involvement, leadership, and learning through hands-on community service. CSP has a vision of a student body that understands "issues around cultural pluralism, social justice, and environmental issues."
  • Volunteers in Action (VIA), a student volunteer club network of 17 programs that address a number of social issues in and around the local community. Issues range from hunger, to HIV/AIDS awareness, to working with students in local schools.
  • Campus Kitchens Project is a brand new student club designed after the national DC Kitchen in Washington, D.C. This program will salvage on-campus food, have students safely repackage the food into healthy and well-balanced meals, and then deliver them to local people in need.
  • The Office of Community-University Partnerships and Service Learning, created in September 2003, supports active, collaborative UVM-community partnerships, high quality service-learning, and community-based scholarship. A recent example involved students helping to recycle mobile homes.
  • The Green Forestry Education Initiative was launched to transform the Jericho Research Forest, near the UVM campus, 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.
  • UVM's Rubenstein School worked with others outside the university, including the Lieutenant Governor, to establish a Vermont Green Job & Internship Fair in 2005. The fair's professional presentations and student displays have a special focus on renewable energy. The fair is open to the public.

Note that many of the academic departments and research programs related to sustainability mentioned above have outreach and community service components.