Sustainability Working Group
Who, What, Why?
The Sustainability Working Group (SWG) is the primary shared-governance group for promoting and coordinating sustainability values, principles, and practices at UW-River Falls. The SWG addresses the planning, design, implementation, and assessment of sustainable campus community programs and policies as well as documentation, such as the Sustainability Tracking and Rating System (STARS®), the Climate Action Plan (CAPlan), and the Sustainable Campus Community Plan (SCCPlan).
The SWG is a conduit through which the campus community can recommend curricular, co-curricular, operational, financial, and other sustainable campus initiatives and policies to the appropriate faculty, student, and/or administrative governance or operational units.
The SWG is a Faculty Senate standing committee consisting of 11 voting members chaired by a qualifying member as appointed by Faculty Senate. There is one ex officio, non-voting member from the River Falls community. The SWG has no standing sub-committees, however, it will augment non-voting members as needed to address the scope of sustainability goals and initiatives.
The duties of the SWG are to:
- facilitate the continual refinement of a holistic vision for UWRF as a premier sustainable campus community model that fully and systemically integrates inclusivity, global literacy, leadership, and sustainability, as a culture of learning and living, and
- recommend campus sustainability projects, monitor their progress, and submit budget requests on behalf of the entire campus for sustainability related projects and programs.
Recommendations of the SWG will be forwarded to the appropriate governance group and the chair will consult with these groups as necessary.
- Mark Klapatch, Sustainability (Chair)
- Grace Coggio, Sustainability Faculty Fellows
- Veronica Justen, CAFES
- Dawn Hukai, CBE
- Cara Rubis, Student Affairs
- Mike Noreen, RFMU (Non-voting ex-officio)
- Jennifer Allen, Facilities
- Jennifer Friedman, HR
- Mary Wright, CEPS
- Moira Lynch, CAS
- Julie Elias, IAS
- Lexie Schalk, Student
- John Fritzke, Student
SWG Meetings: Agendas & Minutes
Guiding Documents:
- SWG Structure, Function, Org Chart
- SCCPlan and CAPlan Charge
- Faculty Senate Bylaws (Search page for "Sustainability")
Sustainability Champions
- Kyle Gettleman, Production Services Coordinator
- Christina Killen, Academic Department Associate, Plant and Earth Science
- Gina Vento, Academic Department Associate, Physics
- Kathy Welch, Visiting Assistant Professor, Stage and Screen Arts
- Karyn Wells, Assistant Director of Student Involvement
