Executive Summary
The GW Institute for the Environment, under faculty leadership, has assumed responsibility for implementing the Green University Initiative by facilitating the volunteer efforts of students, faculty, staff and administration. The GreenU Task Force subcommittees are now component committees of the Institute, continuing the development, implementation and benchmarking of the Strategic Plan. The Institute facilitates these volunteer activities by identifying and providing resources and support in the form of work-study and student interns, electronic and written communications, and by developing programs, events and proposals to further the goals and objectives outlined in the Plan. Currently the Executive Committee and the Steering Committee function to provide input from university administration and from stakeholders in the GreenU Initiative. An Advisory Board external to GW has been constituted to keep us in touch with the larger community's environmental needs and expectations. We are actively working to identify organizational mechanisms to facilitate the interface between volunteers and operations; to promote interdisciplinary research and education; and to incorporate applied learning experiences into all our greening efforts. The Virginia Campus continues to set an example for environmental activism for the rest of the university.
The report describes the accomplishments of the past year. Examples include: the development and distribution of the first pilot environmental research awards; the institution of the first student environmental research poster competition; the development of two electronic communications networks, one for information dissemination and one for open discussion; publication of an updated list of environmental courses; publication of a survey of faculty environmental research interests; and the development of a rapid response communication system with faculty to distribute grants and other information. More than fifteen hundred faculty, staff and students completed written surveys on green transportation needs and impediments that are being turned into policy recommendations. The Institute organized three major environmental campus events and co-sponsored a dozen more. It developed the GreenUpdate newsletter, distributing 11,000 copies for each of the two issues. It worked with a wide range of faculty to apply for eight sponsored projects, and worked with faculty and facilities management to allow students to conduct applied learning projects.
Priority goals include wider student participation with expanded internship and applied learning opportunities, identification of funding, and improved benchmarking.
Green University Initiative
The Green University Initiative is now formally led by the GW Institute for the Environment, although it remains primarily a volunteer-driven movement with significant operations interface. The bulk of this report will review the goals, outcomes, and future directions of the Initiative as directed by the Institute. The greening process is owned by many members of the University community, however, and many activities proceed independent of the Institute. Examples include the formation of the Office of Energy and Environmental Management, the switch to 30% post-consumer content paper as the University-wide photocopy paper, construction of a new, environmentally-friendly dormitory, the Presidential Reception for environmentally-active students, faculty and staff, the Graduate Degree Programs in Environmental Studies brochure, and the continued development of environmental courses and research throughout the University, among many others. These activities testify to the strength and depth of GW's environmentalism. The role of the Institute is to facilitate, celebrate and publicize such strengths wherever possible. The Institute for the Environment additionally works to identify and promote strategic environmental initiatives in education, research and facilities infrastructure; to provide the organizational framework for volunteerism and for applied learning opportunities; and to identify and promote fresh, interdisciplinary responses to environmental challenges.
Virginia Campus
The Virginia Campus Green Team, led by Mr. Bruce Canty, deserves special comment as an example of University environmentalism. It celebrated its first year of operations in November, 1995, and has identified four areas of notable achievement during the past academic year:
Goals
The goals set for the Institute for this academic year included benchmarking and implementing the Strategic Plan, and developing an effective organizational structure with secure funding. In addition, the need to re-engage disaffected faculty members in the greening process had become an overt goal that was integrated into both of the above at the start of this time period.
Organizational Structure
During this academic year, the Institute acquired a new organizational structure, absorbed the coordination of the GW Green University Task Force and the functions of the Office of Green University Programs, and set about the task of benchmarking and implementing the Green University Strategic Plan. A half-time faculty member, Dr. Rosemary Sokas, assumed directorship on September 1, 1995, and an assistant director, Polly Berman, was selected and brought on board within weeks. Ms. Berman, in turn, has organized an office and support structure that includes 3 - 4 work-study students and 2 - 8 paid and unpaid student interns. David Scott Smith completed his one year IPA assignment, returned to the EPA in November, 1995, and remains active in a volunteer capacity.
The Institute for the Environment restructured the six subcommittees of the Green University Task Force into component committees, facilitated elections of new co-chairs (including student co-chairs), and provided logistical, organizational, technical and financial support. Students working through the Institute schedule meetings, report minutes, and maintain electronic communications among committee members, as well as archiving committee activities.
Committee co-chairs continue to comprise the Steering Committee of the Task Force. This group provides broad review of Institute activities in an advisory capacity, and serves to provide the opportunity for any member of the University, the community, or the partners of the greening effort to raise issues of overall importance to the greening process. The Steering Committee is chaired by the Executive Dean of the Virginia Campus. Meetings have become sporadic as the activities of the various committees have devolved into specific project working groups, with a low attendance of 12 recorded for the January meeting. However, the most recent event, an open meeting/luncheon held in conjunction with a number of Earth Day activities, attracted 55 participants. We have initiated discussions to change the function and organization of this committee to bring in broader University participation. Possibilities include restructuring the group as an overall visioning or planning committee with elected leadership and perhaps membership (since the co-chairs are elected within each committee, this is already partially in place, although at-large membership might be considered as well). The objective for next year will be to examine and implement changes to strengthen the committee through enhanced participation.
The Executive Committee of the Green University Task Force was retained in an advisory capacity to the Institute. Members include the Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, the Executive Dean for the Virginia Campus, the Associate Vice President for Business Affairs, the Dean for Academic Affairs for the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, the Assistant to the President for Congressional and Federal Relations, and an Associate Dean of the Columbian School of Arts and Sciences. The director of the Institute chairs this committee, which currently reviews the work of the Green University Initiative, advising the Institute about potential pitfalls and opportunities. Committee members have provided a wealth of information about the appropriate methods to use to implement specific objectives. However, there is a need to develop a mechanism to enable the Institute to formally present recommendations for changes in University policies, activities or expenditures that would further the greening of the University. Towards this end, new members are being added to the committee to include members from all Vice Presidential Offices who will be asked to function as liaisons and make decisions regarding policy recommendations. Incoming members of the Executive Committee include the Staff Attorney for the General Counsel, the Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations, the Executive Director for Campus Life, and the Special Assistant to the Vice President for Administrative and Information Services.
The Institute for the Environment also selected and commissioned an Advisory Board of diverse stakeholders external to the University, to provide feedback about direction and priorities. An extraordinary group of leaders of government, industry, philanthropy and environmental activism agreed to serve and met for the first time on Earth Day, 1996. At that time Ellen Sigal, President, Sigal Environmental, Inc. assumed chairmanship of the board, and a mission statement and set of guidelines were adopted. At their request, the Advisory Board will meet in an additional session this July to become fully acquainted with the various aspects of the Green University Initiative. The Executive Committee volunteered to act as staff for the Advisory Board, and a newsletter was developed and distributed to keep members abreast of our activities.
In addition to Ms. Sigal, members of the Board include:
Through the efforts of the Institute, GW joined both the National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology Program, and the University Leaders for a Sustainable Future, with President Trachtenberg becoming a signatory to the Taillores Declaration.
The Institute has proposed an Environmental Fellow/Senior Environmental Fellow designation to recognize volunteer scholars who are contributing significantly to the GreenU Initiative. Although they would be unpaid at present, they would be eligible to apply for grant funding through the Institute. Details of the position are currently being discussed with appropriate administrators.
Efforts to identify core funding for the organizational structure of the Institute included the distribution of generic requests to seven foundations over the signature of President Trachtenberg and of Debra Montanino. Of these, work with the Nathan Cummings Foundation has been most encouraging for the development of programmatic funding for the future. However, neither the Nathan Cummings Foundation, nor our USEPA partners have expressed interest in funding the organizational infrastructure. On March 15, 1996 the Institute submitted a proposal to the USEPA, "Institutionalizing Environmental Change in a University Setting" in the amount of $298,802 (PI is Dr. Sokas, staff includes Ms. Berman, co-PI's include Dr. Telba Irony, Operations Research; Dr. Rachelle Heller, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Dr. Rumana Riffat, Civil, Mechanical and Environmental Engineering; Dr. Mark Starik, Strategic Management and Public Policy). Meetings at the EPA have suggested that this proposal will experience fierce competition, with funding rates of 5% likely. It appears necessary to identify specific benefits and savings accrued to the University as a result of Institute activities and develop a mechanism for identifying a fraction of these to fund Institute activities. Dr. Mark Starik, a tenured faculty member in SBPM and an active member of the Green University, is developing workshops to explore this idea. A number of problems exist, including the possibility that savings and/or enhanced revenue production will not be identified, or that the threat of "taxation" will place a chill on the collaborative nature of current working relationships. The one externally-funded activity this year was a $16,000 contract from the USEPA (including $ 12,000 in direct costs) to conduct a series of six workshops on pharmacokinetics for toxicologic modeling. Supplemental contributions totaling $1500 total from the American Industrial Health Council and the Halogenated Solvents Industry Association has provided for refreshments and for non-government travel.
Formal, written evaluations following each session have been extremely positive. While this workshop has been attended by an average of 20 individuals, including GW faculty from the departments of Pharmacology, Statistics, and Medicine, it has not resulted in additional funded activity, and has not supported the organizational infrastructure. Because the overhead was reduced, no attempt was made to obtain a portion for Institute activities. EPA funding has also covered partial salary support for individuals on IPA (Intergovernmental Personnel Act) assignment at the university.
Finally, a recent project has been suggested by Chris Thomas, Environmental Quality Manager from the University of South Carolina, to collaborate with GW to develop a proposal for a standardized campus environmental auditing tool and to seek funding to do this. Integration of environmental learning objectives about environmental management systems (ISO 14001) would be a component of the proposal, as would active learning components through the audit process.
Objectives and Outcomes
The Strategic Plan, unveiled on Earth Day, 1995, was the product of a thorough-going effort on the part of over 50 members of the University community, including faculty, students, staff and administrators, who worked in subcommittees as the Green University Task Force. Each of the six subcommittees defined a mission and set both long term goals and strategies to create a new culture of sustainability within the University. As noted above, the subcommittees have now become committees of the Institute and the focal points for the greening process. The remainder of this report will be organized according to the committee structure.
Academic Programs
(Co-chairs Mark Starik and Deb Anderson)
The four long-term goals for Academic Programs at GW include developing environmental curricula; promoting broad environmental awareness through interdisciplinary and interdepartmental collaboration; developing basic and applied scholarship; and disseminating knowledge and exemplary environmental practices.
Outcomes include the following:
Development of an updated Environmental Curriculum Guide for the 1996-97 academic year was completed, describing 152 courses with environmental content. Work is underway to contact each course director to verify accuracy of listing and to request a copy of each course syllabus, to maintain in a central repository for students to review. Julie Relyea, student employee of the Institute, coordinates this effort.
A 700 level course, "Sustainability/Green University Practicum" was developed and offered by Dr. Mark Starik. The course is cross-listed in several schools and eight students are participating for the first year, including students from environmental politics, biological sciences, engineering management, strategic management, and environmental and natural resource policy programs. Faculty from 10 departments as well as GW staff and external stakeholders (two from EPA) participated in teaching the course.
The Institute facilitated work between the EPA Green Lights Program, the Office of Energy and Environmental Management, and Dr. Rumana Riffat's environmental engineering course to develop an applied student project to audit lighting patterns in several University buildings. The Institute also hosted the EPA Green Lights and Energy Star Building Program Energy Investment Seminar "Understanding the Economics of Energy Efficiency in Buildings".
The Institute developed and distributed an RFA for "Teaching Assistant Positions" for three Teaching Assistantship positions to be funded at the level of $7/hour for undergraduates and $8/hour for graduates for 12 hours per week for 10 weeks to encourage the incorporation of applied environmental learning objectives into existing academic course work -- faculty were encouraged to apply for existing courses that have clear environmental content or to enhance the environmental content of previously non-environmental courses. Selection criteria were based on: the clarity of environmental goals and the role of the Teaching Assistant (30 points); the relevance to the Green University strategic plan (20 points); objectives related to activities of either the Institute's Infrastructure and Facilities, Environmental Health and Safety, Outreach or International Committees (20 points); interdisciplinary nature (20 points) and number of students likely to be affected (10 points). Only one application was submitted on time, to develop and incorporate an environmental health audit under the auspices of the Health and Safety Committee. However, the faculty member awarded the grant never identified a student recipient, and the project was not initiated.
A subcommittee headed by Dr. Will Logan developed the first annual Green University Student Environmental Research Poster Competition. Assisted by the Institute, these faculty issued a call for abstracts, developed selection criteria, selected abstracts and provided guidance for poster development, rented appropriate display equipment, identified prizes and a Blue Ribbon selection panel (Dr. Donald Lehman, Dr. Charles Gilmore, Mr. William Mansfield and Dr. Frances Noonan) facilitated the judging and the awards. The session itself was held on Earth Day, immediately following faculty research presentations and in conjunction with an EcoExpo of environmental organizations, and was attended by over 200 persons, including several science classes from the School Without Walls. Fifteen students developed and exhibited outstanding posters based on original research. The first place award went to Jennifer Prelgo for her work on "The Characterization and Implication of Flickering Flames" (Department of Chemistry), first runner up went to Peter Richardson for his work on "The Effect of the Post-Flame Temperature on the Production of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) Emitted from Underventilated Hydrocarbon Diffusion Flames"(Department of Chemistry) and second runner up went to Jennifer Lee for her work on "Geochemistry of Sediments from Novaya Zemlya Trough Cores, Kara Sea, Russian Arctic". In addition to small denomination textbook gift certificates donated generously from the GW Bookstore and restaurant gift certificates donated by Food for Thought, Luna Grill and Burrito Brothers for the winners, all participants received certificates of recognition. The activity served to heighten awareness of the range and depth of environmental research, and provided an excellent opportunity for students to develop presentation skills.
At the request of the GW Center for Continuing Education, a group of faculty, staff, and adjunct volunteers began development of a Sustainable Development Certificate Program to be offered in the Spring term. As part of this activity, faculty are developing a list of learning objectives to be accomplished through the certificate that could become the basis for future interdisciplinary course work.
Information on the availability and application requirements for graduate student fellowships through the EPA was distributed to appropriate graduate program directors.
Success/failure: The rich array of environmental scholarship at GW has been highlighted and shared, and efforts at promoting interdisciplinary activities have been initiated. Attempts at developing applied learning activities have been somewhat more problematic. The clear failure of the Teaching Assistantship project may reflect inadequate funding, and this has lead to Dr. Lehman's agreement to fund a full GTA position on a one-time basis. Obtaining operations input to the classroom and following up to ensure that both faculty and students in turn share the products of their efforts with operations requires considerable vigilance. The goals and needs of the parties involved are not effortlessly congruent, and facilitated meetings, discussions, and planning are required.
Next Objectives: In the 1996-97 academic year, we will attempt to identify and incorporate interdisciplinary environmental learning objectives in the certificate program and in the course that receives the GTA position. In addition, we will work to develop a bank of appropriate internship positions that will specifically attempt to fill the needs of the greening effort.
Research
(Co-chairs Steve Patierno and Hermann Helgert)
The Research Committee underwent significant change this year with the incorporation of biomedical and public health research. It remains essentially an exclusively faculty-driven initiative, and was the source of a major strategic effort to re-engage faculty in the greening process.
Outcomes:
Identification of a one-time allocation of "C" funds from within the Institute's budget allowed us to develop a Pilot Environmental Research Grants program. The goal of the program was to provide pilot/seed funding to further develop interdisciplinary environmental research that would result in peer-reviewed publication and would enable faculty to develop the pilot information to allow them to succeed in future attempts at investigator-initiated research funding. Requests for Proposals were distributed to all University faculty, and included the following explicit scoring criteria: quality of the work proposed, including scientific or artistic merit (30 points); demonstrated ability of the PI, including quality of the written proposal itself (30 points); interdisciplinary project, either between departments in a school or between schools in the University (10 points); strategic importance of the work to the Green University Initiative (20 points); and project feasibility (10 points). Seven applications for the seed awards were submitted and were peer-reviewed by a subcommittee of the research committee. Although grants were permitted in amounts up to $ 5000, only a total of $ 15,000 was available for distribution. The outstanding nature of the competing applications lead the reviewers to decide to fund only the most outstanding to the full extent, and to reduce funding to permit an additional four awards. Subsequent assistance from the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies provided support for 6 graduate and 2 undergraduate students to work as part-time research assistants, significantly improving the awards.
The faculty and the projects that received funding were: Dr. Rachelle Heller (CMEE) for "OnLine Environment"; Dr. Patricia Latham (Pathology) for "Effects of Solar Light on Tryptophan: Impact on Macrophage and Immune Response"; Dr. Houston Miller (Chemistry) for "Measurement of Isotopic Ratios in the Atmosphere Using Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy"; Dr. Mark Starik (SMPP) for "The Greening of Universities and Colleges: Selected Case Studies of Environmental Initiatives of Higher Education Institutions"; and Dr. Elizabeth Wells (Biological Sciences) for "Proposal for Studying Goose Creek Drainage, with Special Attention to Artificial Wetlands Created by Dulles Greenway". Faculty gave brief outlines of their proposed work at the Earth Day event, attended by some 40 individuals. Because of the nature of the funding, they are required to assume responsibility for disbursement of funds by the end of this fiscal year, and have been asked to provide a final accounting of spending as well as a project report by December 31, 1996.
The Institute, together with the Office of Sponsored Research, worked with a wide variety of faculty to submit the following grant proposals:
In addition to these direct applications, the Institute identified grant opportunities, with the help of Ms. Sara Bonthuis, and distributed both electronic and paper copies widely to all interested environmental faculty, helping faculty on sabbatical with administrative needs as requested.
The committee developed a survey, distributed and collated by the Institute, that is now available as the Faculty Research Survey/Interests document. This document was created through a university-wide mail survey of faculty interests and activity in environmental research, it is a vehicle for information-sharing. The current listing, updated in June 1996, contains 102 faculty who identify themselves as environmental faculty with environmental research interests. This listing cuts across disciplines, from English and Theatre/Dance to Statistics, Environmental Engineering and Environmental Medicine. It has been distributed to participating faculty, interested students, and to external organizations such as the Heinz Foundation and the EPA. It is available on request.
The Institute also hosted an environmental faculty research retreat, led by Dr. Steve Patierno and attended by 17 faculty (additional faculty expressed strong interest but were unable to attend). The purpose of the retreat was to identify interest and organize an approach to developing a Center for Environmental Health Research. Deciding to build upon strengths, the interdisciplinary group agreed to proceed under Dr. Patierno's leadership to consider developing a center to promote the incorporation of sound environmental science into public policy decisions.
Success/failure: The major success of these activities has been to re-engage faculty in the entire greening process and to highlight and share information. It has been moderately labor-intensive, however, and it remains to be seen whether the pilot program will find funding for future years or whether any of the grant proposals will be awarded in this highly competitive research climate. We also failed to incorporate the arts in these activities, despite major environmental works being developed and produced by Professors Leslie Jacobson and Maida Withers. We also failed, as noted above, to build on the pharmacokinetics workshop, or to develop a working relationship between GW faculty and the EPA NCEA group.
Next Objectives: We are in the process of developing a brown-bag lunch lecture series, to alternate between GW and EPA locations and speakers. Work this year will focus on identifying project funding to permit the continuation of the pilot environmental awards, to facilitating the development of a proposal for a center for environmental health, and to maintenance of the faculty electronic network and distribution of research opportunities.
Infrastructure/Facilities
(Co-chairs Dana Hollish and Lisa Mantoni)
The long-term goals of this committee included the establishment of an energy and environmental control function within Facilities Management, which was accomplished in the 1994-95 academic year; the development of a published baseline for measurement; and improvement in the University's environmental practices.
Outcomes:
The Office of Energy and Environmental Management, as noted above, was created with Jim Marshall as manager, reporting through Walter Gray to Roger Lyons and then to Al Ingle. This Office is responsible for the University's green facilities/operations activities, including the EPA Green Lights Program and energy conservation. The Institute has interfaced with this office to attempt to provide hands-on learning for students through specific environmental courses. To date it has been difficult to obtain useful information in feedback from the students, but recently Dr. Rumana Riffat submitted four environmental engineering graduate papers auditing the Green Lights Program, and these were forwarded to Mr. Marshall.
In addition, the Institute has funded a graduate student with significant computer skills, Vinson Palathingal, to work under Mr. Marshall's direct supervision to develop computer programs to monitor energy consumption by individual units that will allow factors such as seasonal change and classroom use to be factored in measuring energy use patterns.
A number of initiatives were begun this year through the volunteer membership of the committee. Foremost was an attempt to address perceived and real needs of GW's recycling effort, leading to the development of a proposal, authored by co-chair Dana Hollish, that is under active discussion by the committee, including members responsible for operations. Students also lead a program to re-introduce the use of refillable mugs in J Street and elsewhere near the campus. The committee also attempted to provide information and suggestions during the process of negotiating a food service contract, and provided suggested environmental contract language adopted by the GW negotiators. Institute participation focused primarily on information exchange. As part of the GreenU Spring Event on January 30, 1996, the Institute hosted a Town Hall Meeting on the recycling issue, entitled "Trash Talk: The Naked Truth about Recycling at GW". Panelists included Dr. Al Ingle, Associate Vice President for Business Affairs; Mr. Jon Truett, Environmental Manager for the Medical Center; Ms. Megan Myers, student representative from Students for Environmental Action; Mr. Jon Miller, Recycling Manager for Georgetown University; and Mr. Michael O'Reilly, Branch Chief for Document Production, Recycling and Mail Management at the US EPA. Despite the wide range of expertise and the excellent presentations, however, only about 20 persons attended. The Institute also included articles on recycling and refillable mugs in its newly launched newsletter, GreenUpdate, described under Outreach. On March 18-20, 1996, the Institute co-sponsored with Public Technology, Incorporated, and the EPA a Sustainable Building Technology Workshop that included a session on green university programs and campus infrastructure. Dr. Irwin Price, Dr. Rosemary Sokas, Ms. Flo Ward, Ms. Polly Berman, Mr. Jim Marshall and Mr. Bruce Canty presented at or attended the event, which was attended by over 100 individuals involved in sustainable buildings from the Mid Atlantic Region.
The Institute, with advice and assistance from GW's Procurement and Supply Department and the EPA's Michael O'Reilly, has begun preparation for a Paperless Office Campaign pilot program to be launched in the Academic Center for the 1996-97 Academic Year. There are 26 departments in the Academic Center. Ms. Berman has met with most Office Directors or Department Chairs (four meetings remain as of 6/19/96) and is setting up training meetings for late July/early August. The building was selected because of the mix of academic (Columbian College) and administrative (Student Accounts, Graphics/Printing, Computer Information and Resource Center), and because of the access that students will have such that they can participate (Quick Copy, Computer Information and Resource Center). The goal is to have 80% minimum of the departments to commit to participate in the pilot; and the target goal is 15% reduction in copier paper use (for photocopiers and printers) for the 1996-97 year.
Benchmarks are being created for the 1995-96 year on fiscal year data from stores requisition forms and from maintenance counters on the photocopiers, with adjustments being made for the July-August 1996 delay in implementation. Renee Rendazzo and Lisa Mantoni, both student employees of the Institute, have been active in this project.
Finally, a proposal for a new position to coordinate recycling efforts throughout the University was developed by Mr. Mark Petruzzi, a graduate of GW's Environmental Engineering and Engineering Management Programs. This was considered, modified and submitted for funding by Dr. Ingle.
Success/failure: We have experienced major difficulties at the interface between volunteerism and operations, both in the arena of benchmarking and in policy development and implementation. Difficulty in ascertaining details of GW's recycling activities lead to the distribution of recycling information sheets developed by the Institute that were inappropriate for current GW use. Problems with the food services contract restricted students' ability to move ahead with refillable mugs on and off campus. Isolated, uncoordinated efforts mark both student, Institute, and Facilities Management's approach to these issues. However, the good news is that Dr. Ingle has recently proposed a set of guidelines to smooth the interface, which have been accepted by the Institute and have lead to the changes in the Executive Committee mentioned above.
Next Objectives: In the coming year it will be critically important to implement and evaluate the proposed mechanism for volunteer-operations interface; to develop appropriate baseline measurements; and to implement and evaluate a benchmarking system. Although targets have been set in the Strategic Plan, it will be necessary this year to incorporate the benchmarking mechanism and to set time tables.
Health and Safety
(Co-chairs Neal Mohlmann and Kate Cardamone)
This committee also deals with the interface between operations and volunteerism, and underwent massive restructuring this year following the removal of biomedical and public health research from its mission and the addition of transportation from the infrastructure committee. Its long-term goals remain to increase the involvement of students in environmental health activities; to establish an institutional Environmental Health Management function (proposed but rejected in 1994-95); and to target indoor air quality on campus. Modifications of these goals include the development and implementation of an environmental health audit through applied student projects, and the evaluation of University transportation patterns to develop recommendations for changes that would promote environmental and personal health.
Outcomes:
The Health and Safety Committee began researching and planning for an environmental health audit for GW, and will continue research/planning through Fall 1996. The target is to have the audit ready to implement for Spring 1997 and to integrate audit needs into course projects so that active learning can be accomplished simultaneously with the goal of conducting an environmental health audit of the University.
The committee has also assumed responsibility for evaluating the Transportation Survey of GW employees conducted by the Institute and the Office of Energy and Environmental Management in conjunction with METRO. Approximately 11,000 surveys were mailed out; 1,140 clear responses were received. Initial results show that 120 employees currently walk/bike to work; 493 drive to work and 527 currently use public transportation. 42% of the 493 who currently drive would be willing to switch to public transportation if given a transit benefit (Metro check). In January 1996, the Institute issued a student survey that included a transportation component as an inset in the GreenUpdate newsletter; 253 responses were received. In addition to discussing a Metro check for employees, METRO has raised the possibility of developing METRO flash passes for students that would be piloted at GW. The Institute also formally objected to a Faculty Senate proposal to reduce faculty parking fees (the proposal was rejected).
Success/failure: The restructuring of the committee, done to promote interdisciplinary collaboration in research, required substantial revision of the mission, goals and objectives of the health and safety committee. Although this consumed considerable committee time and resources, the newly-established objectives are of major importance to the University and promise to lead the way in demonstrating effective interaction between volunteers and operations.
Next Objectives: The development and implementation of the environmental health audit and the formulation of transportation policy recommendations based on data will occur in the next academic year.
International
(Co-chair Larry Hourcle and Megan Myers)
Long-term goals for this committee include surveying environmental topics of international importance, developing communication, sharing educational and research information, and developing examples of technology transfer.
Outcomes:
The Strategic Plan was translated into Spanish by Gonzalo Casas, a student volunteer to the Institute.
The faculty research interest survey included questions on existing international collaboration and projects among faculty. This will be compiled into a separate directory. Faculty and Administrators from the Law School's Green University effort met with the International Court for the Environment Foundation members on potential collaborations between GW and the Court.
Through Mr. Ron Willis' facilitation, faculty members have collaborated with Mr. Scott Sklar of the Solar Industries research and trade association to develop concept papers for technology transfer projects in Latin America.
Dr. Jack Harrald is developing a University-sponsored relationship with the University of Buenos Aires and is organizing GW participation in an October conference on implementing environmental regulations.
Dr. Larry Hourcle and Dr. Rich Scotti are leading the Institute's organization of an associated event of the Fourth Annual World Bank Conference on Environmentally Sustainable Development. The associated event is to be held September 27-28, 1996 at GW and is entitled "Academic Institutions: Pathways to a Sustainable Future". 50 participants from academia, development institutions, and NGO's will participate in the event. Amount received for the event is $4,500. The goal is to develop an understanding of educational needs for sustainability.
Success/failure: The interest and enthusiasm these topics incite has not been matched by the identification of appropriate funding.
Next Objectives: Next year's efforts will focus on the successful completion of the World Bank and Argentina conferences, and the active development of follow-up mechanisms to build both events into long-standing relationships.
Outreach
(Co-chairs Alexa Kim and Nicole Kibbert)
The long-term goals of this committee are to promote awareness about the GreenU Initiative among internal stakeholders and to reach out to a variety of external stakeholders with educational materials and activities. These goals were addressed principally through emphasis on electronic communications, special events, print materials development and collaborative activities.
Outcomes:
The first committee meetings of the academic year raised the need to promote electronic communication. Under Ms. Berman's leadership, e-mail listings of all committees, of all environmental faculty, and of all those interested in the GreenU Initiative have been created.
In October, 1995, the Institute developed a listserv called GreenGrp that disseminates a weekly calendar of events and announcements. There are currently 210 members online.
Developing the Web site and its National Environmental Information Resources Center, started under the direction of Mr. David Scott Smith, has proceeded somewhat more slowly as attempts at funding have been pursued. The Institute continued to fund student programmers Al Valentino and Russ Williams to maintain the site and the number of hyper-linked locations now exceeds 1,000. An advisory board for the NEIRC has been constituted and has met once. In addition to the proposal submitted to the Commerce Department in response to an RFP, the following unsolicited proposals have recently (June/96) been submitted to the EPA:
In June, 1996, the Institute received an in-kind contribution from Compaq Computer to receive one year of GreenWire, an electronic daily newsletter on the environment.
The Institute has recently developed a listserv called GreenTlk for discussion on the GW Green University Initiative. It has not yet been widely publicized, but has 20 members thus far.
Print activities of the Institute include the following:
The Institute developed a slide show describing its activities that has been shown to EPA partners and Advisory Board members, and used at external conferences. In addition, we participated and were featured in a USIA Video on the GW Green University Initiative, filmed on campus, to be used for international outreach efforts/educational efforts in 150 countries worldwide.
Three environmental events were organized on campus by the Institute:
Co-sponsored event and activities include the following:
Additionally, the Institute has conducted internal outreach that includes participation in Fall 1995 orientation through attendance at all welcome fairs conducted by Colonial Inauguration, attendance at individual school orientation activities including the School of Business and Public Management, the Elliott School of International Affairs, and the School of Education and Human Development. Components of the Colonial Inauguration scavenger hunt were environmentally related, and a walking tour of Roosevelt Island attended by 13 students. On May 4, 1996, the Institute participated in the Student Association's Spring Fling with a Plant a Wildflower station, where students decorated peat cups and planted wildflowers for themselves. Over 250 cups/wildflowers were distributed. We have submitted information about GW Green University Initiative/Institute for the Environment for 1996-97 Academic Year Student Planner. This year again, Institute representatives will attend and participate in Colonial Inauguration Welcome Fair for incoming students, and plans are in place for fall, 1996 orientation.
Success/failure: These activities represent a significant expenditure of our resources that are not financially recoverable, but that are important for promoting awareness and for networking. Overall successful, they have suffered at times from poor attendance rates. Activities co-sponsored with the Office of Campus Life are well attended, however.
Next Objectives: By the end of the year we will double the number of individuals receiving the electronic calendar, and will establish a working oversight advisory board for the NEIRC. Future publications and events will depend on identification of funding. In much the same way that we targeted faculty this past academic year, we will focus on developing student participation in all committees and in every aspect of the Green University. Plans are underway to request time in the required freshman experience courses to discuss the Green University Initiative and to encourage sign up on the two listservs. We are also planning a major renovation of the Web site to bring it visually and functionally up to current Web standards.