Environment Committee
INDEX 2023-2024
I. Committee Meeting Schedule 2023-2024
II. Agenda Items
III. Documents
IV. Committee Roster
V. Zero Carbon Commitment Subcommittee Roster
I. ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULE 2023-24
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II. AGENDA ITEMS 2023-24
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III. DOCUMENTS 2023-24
Faculty Senate Motion to Support a Zero Carbon Campus
IV. ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE ROSTER 2023-24
Elizabeth Payne, Chair
Keith Berube
Ian Bricknell
Phillip Dickens
Cynthia Isenhour
Harlan Onsrud
Susan Smith
V. ZERO CARBON SUBCOMMITTEE ROSTER 2023-24
Elizabeth Payne, Co-Chair
Harlan Onsrud, Co-Chair
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
INDEX 2021-2022
I. Committee Meeting Schedule 2021-2022
II. Agenda Items
III. Documents
IV. Committee Roster
V. Zero Carbon Commitment Subcommittee Roster
I. COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULE
Scheduled 2021-2022 Upcoming Full Committee Meetings To-Date
Sept 29, 3-4pm
Oct 15th, 10 am
Nov 24th, 3-4pm (cancelled due to break)
Dec 10th, 1-2 pm
Feb 16th, 3-4pm
March 16th, 3-4pm
April 13th, 3-4pm
While typically meeting in person, the meetings will be available also by Zoom. Physical and Zoom locations for meetings are sent by email.
Zero-Carbon Commitment Subcommittee Meetings To-Date
Dec 10th, 12-1 pm
II. AGENDA ITEMS
The following is a working list of agenda items that will evolve over time as comments are received, actions are taken or issues are resolved..
A. Proposed Issues to be Addressed by the Environment Committee for 2021-2022
- Proposed committee description changes to bylaws. The committees name, roles, and membership are set forth in the bylaws and needs to be updated. This update has now been accomplished by formal vote of the Faculty Senate. The Bylaws now state:Section 6. ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
- Function. The Environment Committee reviews and makes recommendations to the Senate in matters relating to the learning, workplace, and physical environments of the University. Issues may include but are not limited to: infrastructure; campus social climate and well-being, programs and services; and the environmental sustainability of University operations.
- Membership. The members of the Environment Committee are represented as much as possible by at least one faculty senator from each college and Cooperative Extension. Although any University of Maine faculty member may serve on the committee, a majority of the voting members must be duly elected Faculty Senators. Ex-officio members of the committee include the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Vice President for Student Life, one undergraduate student government representative, and one graduate student government representative.
- Confirmation of new committee members in alignment with the revised bylaws changes. Nominations may now be acted upon by the committee and added to the roster if approved by the Faculty Senate President.
- Provost’s Advisory Council on Equity partner accommodation subcommittee update
- Next steps on childcare initiative
- Planned activities of the Zero-Carbon Commitment Subcommittee
B. Proposed Issues to be Addressed by the Zero Carbon Commitment Subcommittee for 2021-2022
- Ongoing suggestions for subcommittee meeting agenda items, projects, speakers, joint meetings, and guests for future sub committee meetings.
- Consideration of further expansion of subcommittee and full environment committee membership and involvement of additional experts from across campus as reviewers of documents and proposals as needed. Some might serve as committee members while others might best participate as corresponding faculty members.
- Proposed campus community surveys of issues raised by the white paper.
- Responses are proposed to be sought to explicit motions being considered for approval by the entire Senate (e.g. in favor of achieving 2040 commitment? no expansion of carbon footprint through new construction or reconstruction? etc.)
- Prior to deploying the surveys, the white paper and survey questions will first be reviewed by the environment committee and then the questions made open to review by the following proposed groups:
- All Faculty Senate elected members (correspondence)
- Academic Chairs, Deans, and Research Unit Heads (correspondence)
- Graduate Student Government (meeting with representatives)
- Undergraduate Student Government (meeting with representatives)
- UMaine Campus Energy Team (meeting)
- UMaine Sustainability Council (meeting or correspondence)
- Subcommittee meets to revise the survey in response to feedback and then consults with the upper level administration concerning any concerns or potential changes
- Deploy the survey with invitations to respond (using unique response links) sent to:
- All UMaine Faculty members
- All UMaine undergraduate and graduate students
- Subcommittee meets to review results and develop motions to make to the full senate
- Planning for annual audit of the campus in meeting its interim net-zero carbon emission goals.
C. Zero Carbon Commitment Subcommittee Task Completion Target Dates
- March 8 – Feedback interviews wrapped up with Graduate Student Government, Undergraduate Student Government, UMaine Campus Energy Team, and UMaine Sustainability Council
[March 9: FS Mtg]
- March 11 – Subcommittee meets to revise the survey and white paper in response to feedback from all sources
[March 14-18: Spring Break]
- March 21 – Subcommittee consults upper level administration representatives concerning any concerns or potential changes
[March 22: Post survey within UMS Qualtrics environment with one-time use option for emailed recipients, Submit survey for IRB waiver, Request email addresses for all faculty, staff and students]
[March 23: FS Elected members Mtg]
- March 28 – Subcommittee deploys survey with invitations to respond (using unique response links) sent to all UMaine Faculty members and all UMaine undergraduate and graduate students
[March 30: FS Exec Com Mtg]
- April 4 – Subcommittee meets to review results and develop motions to make to the Full Senate
- April 20 – Subcommittee submits any resulting motions to Elected Members Meeting of the Faculty Senate
- April 25 – Revisions completed in response to elected members comments and incorporated into white paper and motions
[April 27: FS Exec Com Mtg]
- May 4 – Zero Carbon Commitment Subcommittee or Environment Committee submits motions to the full Faculty Senate for vote.
III. DOCUMENTS
NOTE: The first three following documents are works in progress. They will continue to be updated as new insights are gained resulting in language changes and new or revised citations.
White Paper: Achieving the University of Maine Commitment to Zero Carbon Emissions by 2040
(Document Version 26 Nov 2021)
(Document Version 23 Jan 2022)
(Document Version 22 March 2022)
(Document Version 15 April 2022)
(Document Version 20 April 2022)
(Document Version 28 April 2022) [Version used in conjunction with May 2022 survey]
Reviewer Comments with Subcommittee Responses to the Reviewer Recommendations
(Document Version 22 March 2022)
(Document Version 28 April 2022)
University of Maine Survey on Campus Actions to Address Climate Change
(Document Version 26 Nov 2021)
(Document Version 23 Jan 2022)
(Document Version 25 Feb 2022)
(Document Version 22 March 2022)
(Document Version 15 April 2022)
Summary Results of the Survey on Campus Actions to Address Climate Change
Findings from the May 2022 Climate Change Actions Survey (Default Qualtrics Report Format)
Initial Report from the Subcommittee 2022/2023
Related Websites of the UMaine Administration
UMaine President’s Sustainability Council, https://umaine.edu/sustainability/our-team/council/
UMaine Climate Action Plan Working Group, https://umaine.edu/sustainability/our-team/council/seats/
Presentations to the Faculty Senate Environment Committee:
Title: Report to Faculty Senate on UMaine Campus Zero Carbon Emissions Commitment
Presenter: Dan Dixon, UMaine Director of Sustainability, Presentation to the Faculty Senate, Spring 2021
Slides plus Campus Action Plan Update
Title: Briefing to Faculty Senate Environment Committee on the Evolving Campus Zero Carbon Plans Since the Spring Presentation
Presenter: Dan Dixon, UMaine Director of Sustainability, Presentation to FS Environment Committee Meeting on Friday Oct 15, 2021
Video (Content starts as about 5 minutes in … no slides provided)
Title: Climate Change Consortium: Goals and Objectives
Presenter: Paul Mayewski, Director, Climate Change Institute at Faculty Senate Elected Members Meeting on Wednesday Nov 3, 2021
Video: [Presentation starts at about 12 minutes in …. password is unavailable for now}
Accompanying Slides: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10EFGZin5BUTftbnZLVpViW7fRbH1bIWx/view?usp=sharing
Forthcoming Likely Documents:
- Reports on joint meetings with other committees
- Reports on the Survey Findings
- Environment Committee Audit Report for 2021 on (a) UMaine Achievement in Achieving the Annual Target and (b) Progress in Achieving the Long-Term Net-Zero Carbon Emission Goal
- Draft of three-minute Environment Committee presentation(s) to the Board of Trustees
IV. ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE ROSTER
Regular Committee Members
In addition to elected members of the Faculty Senate, the environment committee membership, assuming a diverse representation of members from across the university community, may eventually include further UMaine faculty members, emeriti faculty members, administrators, and students. While Faculty Senate Bylaws changes are under consideration, parties may be named under a consultative or corresponding designation. Additional campus community members that might be interested in joining or being affiliated with the committee should contact the co-chairs indicated below.
Donald Beith, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, <donald.beith@maine.edu>,
Catharine Biddle , Associate Professor of Educational Leadership, College of Education and Human Development, <catharine.biddle@maine.edu>,
Kristina Cammen, Assistant Professor, Marine Sciences and Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, <kristina.cammen@maine.edu>
Mark Haggerty, Associate Professor of Honors, Rezendes Preceptor for Civic Engagement, Honors College and Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, <haggerty@maine.edu>
Amanda Klemmer*, Assistant Professor of Landscape Ecology, School of Biology and Ecology, <amanda.klemmer@maine.edu>,
Eric Landis, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Frank M. Taylor Professor, Distinguished Maine Professor <landis@maine.edu>,
Sara Lello, Lecturer and Student Success Advisor, Department of English, <sara.lello@maine.edu>,
Harlan Onsrud *, School of Computing and Information Science, <harlan.onsrud@maine.edu>,
Timothy Waring, Associate Professor of Social-Ecological Systems Modeling, School of Economics, Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, <timothy.waring@maine.edu>
* indicates Environment Committee Co-Chair
Ex-officio Committee Members
Ex-officio members are specified in the Senate Bylaws and are invited to attend and participate in meetings, receive communications, and encouraged to respond to correspondence and proposed work of the committee but do not have a formal vote.
Undergraduate Student Government Representative: Rebecca Dore, Civil and Environmental Engineering, UMaine Student Government President of the Sustainability and Environment Action Division (SEAD), <rebecca.dore@maine.edu>
Graduate Student Government Representative: Hannah Holbrook, School of Policy and International Affairs, Secretary, Graduate Student Government, <hannah.holbrook@maine.edu>
Vice President for Academic Affairs (or designated appointee): John Volin, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, <john.volin@maine.edu>
Vice President for Student Life: Robert Dana, Vice President for Student Life and Inclusive Excellence and Dean of Students, <rdana@maine.edu>
President of Faculty Senate: William Nichols, Professor of Literacy Education, College of Education and Human Development, <william.nichols1@maine.edu>
Consultative Faculty Members
These are faculty members with expertise of particular interest to the committee. If the quota for Faculty Senate members has not already been reached from their college, they may be shifted to full committee membership as appropriate or with the Senate approval of proposed bylaw changes.
Justin Lapp, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Associate Faculty, Climate Change Institute, <justin.lapp@maine.edu>
Ling Li, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Bioenergy Systems, School of Forest Resources, <ling.li@maine.edu>
Corresponding Faculty Members
Corresponding faculty members are kept in the information loop and receive regular correspondence from the committee. They are not official voting members and are not obligated but are invited to respond to correspondence or proposed work of the committee.
Paul Mayewski, Distinguished Maine Professor, School of Earth and Climate Sciences and Director Climate Change Institute <paul.mayewski@maine.edu>
Ivan Fernandez, Distinguished Maine Professor, School of Forest Resources and Climate Change Institute, <ivanjf@maine.edu>
Miltiades K Zacas, Adjunct Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, <miltiades.zacas@maine.edu>
Andrew Goupe, Donald A. Grant Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering <agoupe91@maine.edu>
Cynthia Isenhour, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Climate Change, Anthropology, <cynthia.isenhour@maine.edu>
Mike Scott, Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees, <mscott@maine.edu>
Michael W. Howard, Professor of Philosophy, <mhoward@maine.edu>
Corresponding Administrators
Corresponding administrators are kept in the information loop and receive regular correspondence from the committee.
Daniel Dixon, Director, Office of Sustainability, Member of Climate Change Institute <daniel.dixon@maine.edu>
Brian Olsen, Associate Provost for Strategic Initiatives <brian.olsen@maine.edu>
Stewart Harvey, Executive Director of Facilities and Capital Management Services, <stewarth@maine.edu>
V. CARBON COMMITMENT SUBCOMMITTEE ROSTER
Donald Beith, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, <donald.beith@maine.edu>
Kristina Cammen, Assistant Professor, Marine Sciences and Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, <kristina.cammen@maine.edu>
Mark Haggerty, Associate Professor of Honors, Rezendes Preceptor for Civic Engagement, Honors College and Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, <haggerty@maine.edu>
Eric Landis, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Frank M. Taylor Professor, Distinguished Maine Professor <landis@maine.edu>,
Harlan Onsrud *, School of Computing and Information Science, <harlan.onsrud@maine.edu>,
Timothy Waring, Associate Professor of Social-Ecological Systems Modeling, School of Economics, Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, <timothy.waring@maine.edu>
Rebecca Dore, Civil and Environmental Engineering, UMaine Student Government President of the Sustainability and Environment Action Division (SEAD), <rebecca.dore@maine.edu>
Hannah Holbrook, School of Policy and International Affairs, Secretary, Graduate Student Government, <hannah.holbrook@maine.edu>
Justin Lapp, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Associate Faculty, Climate Change Institute, <justin.lapp@maine.edu>
Ling Li, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Bioenergy Systems, School of Forest Resources, <ling.li@maine.edu>
Miltiades K Zacas, Adjunct Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, <miltiades.zacas@maine.edu>
Andrew Goupe, Donald A. Grant Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering <agoupe91@maine.edu>
Cynthia Isenhour, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Climate Change, Anthropology, <cynthia.isenhour@maine.edu>