Contribute to Green Efforts on Campus The UW-Eau Claire Foundation has created the Campus Sustainability Initiatives Fund to help advance the university's green efforts. The UW-Eau Claire Foundation seeks funding to support the sustainability efforts being developed on campus. In August 2007, UW-Eau Claire joined colleges and universities across the nation in becoming a signatory to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. The Presidents Climate Commitment is the first such effort by any major sector of society to set climate neutrality — not just a reduction in harmful emissions — as its target. Chancellor Brian Levin-Stankevich's signing of the commitment was backed by UW-Eau Claire faculty and staff members involved in the university's ongoing strategic planning process. The Campus Sustainability Initiatives Fund will help with the implementation of the university's strategic plan, which calls for stewardship of the university's physical resources and reducing the size of the campus's carbon footprint. Establishment of the Campus Sustainability Initiatives Fund coincides with the naming of English faculty member Kate Hale as the Campus Sustainability Fellow. Hale will work with the chancellor's Climate Commitment Advisory Group to identify ways to expand participation in sustainability efforts and will serve as a liaison with community, government and other organizations. Other green efforts on campus include the university’s new yearlong master-planning process for the campus and its facilities. In June 2008 UW-Eau Claire submitted a request for proposals, to be reviewed and approved by the UW System, which would allow the university to hire a firm to support these efforts. The chosen firm will be qualified to emphasize sustainability and make alterations to UW-Eau Claire’s campus and facilities so that they complement the goals of the newly adopted strategic plan. Faculty, staff and students have committed to sustainability as well. Through the Clean Commute Initiative — led initially by committee chair Bob Eierman, professor of chemistry, and now by co-chairs Kristin Blake, an admissions counselor; Crispin Pierce, assistant professor of public health professions; and Doug Faulkner, associate professor of geography — a team continues to work with campus administrators and facilities staff as it makes recommendations encouraging green commuting. Jim Phillips, a chemistry professor, and Hale also joined other faculty and staff members, including biology professor Paula Kleintjes Neff and geography professor Sean Hartnett, to propose the creation of the Watershed Institute for Collaborative Environmental Studies. The institute aims to foster interdisciplinary education, scholarship and community outreach related to the natural world and the place of humans in it, with UW-Eau Claire serving as the environmental information portal and common meeting ground for campus and community. After choosing the giving option that is best for you on the Foundation's giving page, type "Campus Sustainability Initiatives Fund" in the online giving form when designating the use of your gift. |
