Sustainable Campus Committee Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
UC 329 3.10pm – 4.30pm
Members Present: Curtis Noonan, Ashley Preston, Derek Kanwisher, Lisa Swallow, Sarah Kester, Perry
Brown, Paul Williamson, Krystal Wolf, Phil Condon, Jessie Davie, Dustin Leftridge, Mike Panisko, Charles
Couture, Mark LoParco, Kelly Chadwick, Christina Voyles
Approval of Minutes: There are mo minutes from last year’s meeting to approve.
Future Meetings: Dustin made a request to change subsequent meetings to the 1st Wednesday of each
month (3:00) and there was general agreement on this point. Next meeting would be 10/1/08.
UM FLAT: Derek Kanwisher presented update of UM FLAT project. During Summer 2008 UM Provost
and other administrators expressed support for the project. Associate Provost Perry Brown will be
providing funds for the project. A site has been selected. Groundbreaking will be in Spring 2009 with
expected move-in of Fall 2009. Derek is trying to get UM FLAT as a recognized UM group.
Year-End SCC Report: Jordan Hess is expected to finalize report for approval at next meeting. To this
point President Dennison has only received the SCC-approved recommendation summary from last year.
Sustainability Position Update: (Perry Brown) Four candidates have been chosen to interview out of
roughly 40 applications. Currently the background checks are being performed and interviews will take
place shortly (no date specified). The suggestion was made that members of this committee be able to
meet the candidates. Perry will notify the committee of the candidate’s arrival and suggested four of
five members have a chance to post questions to the candidates. Ideally all interviews will be set for
September, with the intention of filling the position by the end of October.
SIT Position Update: Emily Peters no longer holds this position. Jessie Davie and Trevor Hunter have
been in negotiation regarding funding for Jessie’s position. The committee feels that two student
positions are preferable to combining them into one. Dustin was asked to represent this committee by
emailing Laura and putting forward the case for keeping two student positions. The case will be made
that both positions have been successful in the amount they’ve accomplished, and that the same
amount of work can’t be done by one person. Dustin will also enquire regarding the tuition waiver for
Jessie Davie’s position.
Odyssey National Alternative Fuels Vehicle Day: (Paul Williamson) A brochure was passed out to the
group explaining this event that will be held Friday October 3, 2008 ( nationwide promotion of fuel
alternatives and advanced technology vehicles). The committee has not participated in this event thus
far, but it was agreed that the committee would like support Paul’s involvement. There will be a web
presentation (location on campus to be determined). (As of Paul’s email today, Thursday, September
11, 2008, there will NOT be a webcast). Suggestions were made for a variety of events:
• Ask Josh Slotnick to present on current student projects on bio fuels
• Derek Kanwisher offered to present information on a bus tour in which his group presented
alternative fuels at each stop of their trip
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On the Library Mall; a demonstration of the various fuel efficient vehicles “parade of alternative
vehicles” currently being utilized at the UM; the suggestion was made to contact Nancy in
transportation for help in this area
Contact NOVA or NPR re: episode of “Car Talk” which discussed the electrical car
Green House Gas Report: (Jessie Davie) Copies of the final report were passed out to the committee.
In total, 200 copies have been printed. Jessie will make up list of who should be receiving these. Please
email Jessie to requests reports. To make this public, the report must be submitted via an online form
to the ACUP by next Monday September 15th however President Dennison must approves it first. The
ball is rolling as the ACUP online form has been filled out and reviewed by Phil Condon.
The question was put forward to the committee of how to promote the report. Suggestions include;
press release, the website, hanging a banner of the reports cover, and informing the governor’s offices.
Phil suggested that considering the President’s Office funded the report; the committee should look to
them for PR suggestions. Dustin mentioned promoting this as a media event, having a press release, a
PDF version of the report on the website, and getting President Dennison’s approval and input on how
to move forward ASAP. The suggestion was made that ASUM be involved, and Jessie Davie work with
the Alumni Office regarding an early “roll out” next week or the week following. Dustin was asked to
find out where the SCC’s PR budget stands.
Committee Membership: Emily Peters is no longer on the committee and Perry Brown will also be
leaving soon. Discussion ensued regarding who should replace them. All present nominated Jessie
Davie as the student representative position formerly held by Emily Peters, and Jessie accepted. To
replace Perry’s position, Dustin recommended approaching one of the following candidates:
• Peggy Kuhr, Dean of Journalism school
• James Burchfield, Interim Dean for College of Forestry (as suggested by Jim Foley)
• Christopher Comer, New Dean for the College of the Arts & Sciences (as of January 1, 2009)
Perry’s recommendation was to approach Mr. Comer as he has expressed interest in the sustainable
movement. Perry said Mr. Comer would also bring “outside” insights. Should Mr. Comer accept, Perry
offered to stay on until January 1, 2009.
Phases of Energy Conservation Measure: Discussion of what is being considered as Phase II. Phil
Condon mentioned Phase I was to lessen energy consumption by 20%, which has been completed. It
was brought up that the item list for Phase II still being refined. Mike Panisko spoke about the recent
memo which discussed eliminating individual space heaters. There was discussion on the money
requested for energy audits and whether it would be beneficial to get an external audit performed. The
discussion concluded with Mark LoParco stating that maybe Phase II be considered “on hold” until the
Sustainability Coordinator Position has been filled.
Action items:
1 –Letter of support for the Energy Tech AAS Degree Program by Lisa Swallow. Ashley Preston of the
Energy Tech Program explained that in order to run this program next year, it needs to be submitted and
approved as a curriculum again this year as a permanent program. (The program is an energy
conservation focused course. In addition to foundation courses, it provides courses on energy audits,
utilizing solar and wind energy, alternative fuels, bio energy, and other courses aimed at energy
efficiency and conservation.) Lisa’s letter expressed the importance of the SCC in building working
relationships on campus, creating student internship positions and supporting programs like the Energy
Tech degree. Lisa’s letter also addressed a variety of sustainable events and programs at UM. The
committee felt the letter was good and agreed to endorse sending the letter in support of the energy
tech program.
2 – Request for “Green Thread” funding: Lisa asked the committee to consider partial funding for a
participant to attend a workshop in Atlanta (this workshop is based on the original Piedmont Model,
therefore extremely beneficial to attend).
Lisa will be contacting the School of Journalism and the School of Arts for further support of the Green
Thread Project, (as all other schools are “on board”). The request will be brought forward at the next
SCC meeting, once Dustin is able to determine where the SCC budget stands.
Additional items:
The next SCC meeting will be on Wednesday, October 1, 2008. All meetings will now be held on the first
Wednesday of each month, UC 329, 3.10pm – 4.30pm
Mark LoParco introduced Sara Kester, Dining Services’ temporary Sustainability Coordinator and
Christina Voyles, his new assistant.