Sustainability at Columbia

FEBRUARY 2011

Help Columbia get Greener and Win an Ipod!

We need your opinion on how Columbia can get greener, save money and conserve resources! As a part of developing a sustainability roadmap for the college, we are doing a survey of the community on green attitudes and behavior. How can the college better encourage, model and promote sustainable practices? Please take our 10 minute online survey and you’ll help guide the development of measures and plans. You’ll also be entered into a drawing to win an Ipod and a $50 iTunes gift cards given to participants. The survey is open for a limited time, so don’t miss your chance. We’ll post the results on this site in April.

Take the Survey here

Thanks in advance for your participation,
The Columbia College Sustainability Task Force

OCTOBER 2010

Sustainability Town Hall Meetings

What does sustainability mean to you? As we embark on the creation of a sustainability roadmap for the college, we want to know. We invite you to attend a town hall meeting to learn a bit more about the goals of the plan, and offer any ideas or suggestions you might have.

Thursday, October 21st
Conaway Center
1st: 10am –11:30am
2nd: 2pm- 3:30pm

SEPTEMBER 2010

Columbia College takes its commitment to sustainability to the next level

September 15, 2010: Columbia College Chicago has embarked on the development of a sustainability management plan that will engage the campus community to create, embrace and execute green practices and policies. The intention of the plan will be to save money, lower environmental impact, attract students and faculty with sustainability consciousness, and increase the reputation for environmental and social responsibility of the college.

The college has hired the sustainability consulting team of Sustainametrics and TerraLocke to help engage the stakeholder community as the first phase in the development of the plan. The consultants will work closely with Columbia’s Sustainability Task Force, a working group which was established in May of 2009. Comprised of students, faculty and staff which represent the various departments of the college, this group was created to help guide the development of the sustainability plan to act as ambassadors to their respective departments, and to pilot sustainable initiatives.

The engagement is expected to take approximately seven months and will include the following phases:

Assess the status of current sustainability initiatives;
Analyze initiatives using College specific metrics;
Recommend potential initiatives based on collaboratively defined criteria; and
Deliver a sustainability roadmap document that has the support of College stakeholders.

The students, staff, faculty and administrators will be encouraged to contribute to this effort through small group meetings, town hall gatherings, online forums, and surveys, and by joining green task teams.

For more information on the sustainability plan development and to get involved, contact Joe Leamanczyk, Project Manager, Office of Campus Environment, Ph: 312.369.7119, jleamanczyk@colum.edu

Updates on Columbia Green efforts and programs are found at http://www.colum.edu/Administrative_offices/Recycling/

Columbia continues its green journey

Alicia Berg, Vice President of Campus Environment, highlights that, “the development of a more formal sustainability plan is a natural progression to the college’s commitment to sustainable practices and policies.”

President, Dr. Warrick Carter, along with over 600 college presidents, has signed the American College and University President Climate Commitment, which states that:

We believe colleges and universities must exercise leadership in their communities and throughout society by modeling ways to minimize global warming emissions, and by providing the knowledge and the educated graduates to achieve climate neutrality. Campuses that address the climate challenge by reducing global warming emissions and by integrating sustainability into their curriculum will better serve their students and meet their social mandate to help create a thriving, ethical and civil society.

We further believe that colleges and universities that exert leadership in addressing climate change will stabilize and reduce their long-term energy costs, attract excellent students and faculty, attract new sources of funding, and increase the support of alumni and local communities.

The school is also a member of AASHE, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. AASHE is an association of colleges and universities committed to leading the sustainability movement.

Consulting team brings expertise in helping schools go green

The consulting team of Terralocke, from the Chicago area, and Sustainametrics, from California, brings its collective experience to this project, including greenhouse gas inventory and data analysis, information technology, sustainability training, stakeholder engagement and collaboration systems, social networks for enterprise feedback and communications, waste/water/energy audits and retrofits, recycling and waste management, LEED and Green certifications. The local team members have deep connections with Chicago’s sustainability community, including the Chicago Climate Action Plan mitigation and adaptation activities, Chicago’s local food movement including the State of Illinois’ Local Food, Farms& Jobs Report, the Chicago Center for Green Technology, Chicago’s Green Business Alliance, the Chicago Waste-to-Profit Network, and the Chicago Retrofit Program.

Sustainability Task Force

These individuals come from various departments on campus to represent the college community. This group will guide the creation of the plan, so if you have ideas please communicate them to the task members.

Sustainability Task Force Members as of 8/19/10

Name/ Department

Norman Alexandroff / Student Affairs
John Wawrzaszek / Recycling
Neale Baldyga / Recycling
Mike Guidotti / Facilities
Aldo Guzman / Student Engagement
Kari Sommers / Student Life
Tom Russell / Purchasing
Brenda Berman / Marketing
Jeff Edwards / SFS
Paul Chiaravalle / President's Office
Mike Swindler / Marketing faculty
Corey Plazak / Creative Services
Howard Schlossberg / Journalism faculty
Charles Celander / Film
Chris Kerr / Art + Design
Lott Hill / CTE
Melissa Levy / General Counsel
Marty Kane / Academic Initiatives & International Programs
Brian Zera / Web Development
Michael Anderson / IA
Kathy Jordan Baker / IT
Paula Scheiwe / Accounting
Jonathan Keiser / Accademic Affairs
Andre Foisey / Research Evaluation/Planning
Debi Rosenblum / CFO
Rebecca Courington / CIT
Jodi Adams / Media Arts
Thom Clark / Community Media Workshop
Jocelyn Oats / FPA Faculty
Melissa DaRocha / Facilities
Elizabeth Davis-Berg / Science and Math Faculty
Joe Leamanczyk / Campus Environment
Alicia Berg / Campus Environment
Derrick Streater / HR