Sustainability at Lake Superior College

Meeting Minutes 2/12/10

Meeting Minutes 2/12/10

Faculty/Staff Members present:  Carol Johnson, Cathy Carlson, Deanne Roquet, Heather Grillo, Glenn Merrick, Julius Salinas, Kevin Futhey, Kristi Heintz, Mat Gilderman, Wade Gordon.

Student Members present:  Chandra Shoberg,  Svea Lindgren, Tom Deschenes

Guest: Connie Jamieson – Northland College, Environmental Council

Announcements

Earth Day:  April 22nd

Heather Grillo attended to discuss Earth Day

Events will include:

-Campus Clean-up

-Food is being discussed

-A Band is being discussed

-Speakers: Carol will contact Dick about getting a bio on Paul Thompson who requires a $500 Speaker’s Fee (this will come out of the EC budget).

-Carol suggested a session about the beginning of Earth Day or a video to run throughout the day to commemorate the 40^th Anniversary of Earth Day

-Wade suggested running a webinar that day if there is one available

-T-shirts : a design contest will run for 2 weeks, Mat will collect entries.  Svea suggested a LSC Bookstore gift certificate be given to the design winner (t-shirts and prize will come out of EC budget).

     -Design will include LSC’s name, the date, and preferably some type of Earth Day’s 40^th Anniversary motif.   

     -The t-shirts will be used for participants in trash clean-up and all volunteers will get one  

     -Earth Day bags from last year will also be utilized

Sub-Committee Reports

Recycling

Carol suggested sending out monthly email reminders to all students/staff/faculty regarding recycling

  -A new email each month reminding people what LSC recycles and where

  -The possibility of a West End Recycling Center was brought up including batteries, plastic bags, light bulbs etc.

  -Kristi will look into plastic bag recycling

Interpretive Trail/Rain Garden

Glenn suggested we develop a management plan for the existing rain garden, it is in need of maintenance and is in our best interest to keep it up to ensure further collaboration with South St. Louis County SWCD and also to stay ahead of an eventual mandatory Storm Water Management Plan.

-Glenn and Kristi will meet with Keith Anderson of So. St. Louis Co. SWCD to develop a calendar for maintenance

-Education is lacking but imperative

  -Wade suggested we approach the President’s Cabinet with education/maint. concerns

Old Business

Living Green Conference:  February 27, 2010 @ LSC 10:00-4:00

-Svea has been posting flyers, please help distribute if you haven’t already

-Wade gave an update on events

     -Arne Vainio is the keynote speaker

     -There is a facebook link for the event – link will also be posted on the EC blog

     -There will be 12-15 break-out sessions, 9 have been covered

     -Student help is requested for registration

UMACS Update:  April 9^th and 10^th

–Deanne and Carol submitted our proposal “From Composting to Curriculum”

New Business

Environmental Council Retreat

Sub-Committee formed: Carol, Deanne, Wade

  -the sub-committee will get together to discuss when and where

  -Deanne suggested an agenda item include development of a protocol for dealing with some of the projects and issues our group takes on.

Guest Collaborator

Connie Jamieson-Environmental Council Member -Northland College, Ashland, WI

Connie brought information and ideas from Northland College’s Environmental Council

Highlights include:

Northland’s EC hierarchy

-The group is primarily students and is co-chaired by the college’s Sustainability Coordinator (Clair Hintz) and a Student Chair Representative (work-study position).  The Council is then broken down into smaller work groups, each with a student work-study Group Chair.  These work groups meet weekly.  The Group Chairs then meet monthly as the Environmental Council to discuss progress.  Work is primarily done in the work groups.

-Some Work Groups include: Dark Skies Initiative Group, Re-Use Room Group, Greenhouse Gas Group (in the final stages of Climate Initiative- Action Plan)Landscaping Group (dealing with composting), Communications Group, Purchasing Group

Following Connie’s presentation of information, a suggestion was made to incorporate a work-study position or independent study credits for a student to work on LSC’s Climate Action Plan.

     -Tom showed interest in perusing this project as an independent study

     – a timeline and requirements will need to be discussed further

Motions

No motions were made at this meeting.

Next meeting

The next meeting will be Friday February 26, 9:00 – 10:30 in the Student Life Conference Room.

Meeting Minutes 2/12/10

Meeting Minutes 2/12/10

Faculty/Staff Members present:  Carol Johnson, Cathy Carlson, Deanne Roquet, Heather Grillo, Glenn Merrick, Julius Salinas, Kevin Futhey, Kristi Heintz, Mat Gilderman, Wade Gordon.

Student Members present:  Chandra Shoberg,  Svea Lindgren, Tom Deschenes

Guest: Connie Jamieson – Northland College, Environmental Council

Announcements

Earth Day:  April 22nd

Heather Grillo attended to discuss Earth Day

Events will include:

-Campus Clean-up

-Food is being discussed

-A Band is being discussed

-Speakers: Carol will contact Dick about getting a bio on Paul Thompson who requires a $500 Speaker’s Fee (this will come out of the EC budget).

-Carol suggested a session about the beginning of Earth Day or a video to run throughout the day to commemorate the 40^th Anniversary of Earth Day

-Wade suggested running a webinar that day if there is one available

-T-shirts : a design contest will run for 2 weeks, Mat will collect entries.  Svea suggested a LSC Bookstore gift certificate be given to the design winner (t-shirts and prize will come out of EC budget).

     -Design will include LSC’s name, the date, and preferably some type of Earth Day’s 40^th Anniversary motif.   

     -The t-shirts will be used for participants in trash clean-up and all volunteers will get one  

     -Earth Day bags from last year will also be utilized

Sub-Committee Reports

Recycling

Carol suggested sending out monthly email reminders to all students/staff/faculty regarding recycling

  -A new email each month reminding people what LSC recycles and where

  -The possibility of a West End Recycling Center was brought up including batteries, plastic bags, light bulbs etc.

  -Kristi will look into plastic bag recycling

Interpretive Trail/Rain Garden

Glenn suggested we develop a management plan for the existing rain garden, it is in need of maintenance and is in our best interest to keep it up to ensure further collaboration with South St. Louis County SWCD and also to stay ahead of an eventual mandatory Storm Water Management Plan.

-Glenn and Kristi will meet with Keith Anderson of So. St. Louis Co. SWCD to develop a calendar for maintenance

-Education is lacking but imperative

  -Wade suggested we approach the President’s Cabinet with education/maint. concerns

Old Business

Living Green Conference:  February 27, 2010 @ LSC 10:00-4:00

-Svea has been posting flyers, please help distribute if you haven’t already

-Wade gave an update on events

     -Arne Vainio is the keynote speaker

     -There is a facebook link for the event – link will also be posted on the EC blog

     -There will be 12-15 break-out sessions, 9 have been covered

     -Student help is requested for registration

UMACS Update:  April 9^th and 10^th

–Deanne and Carol submitted our proposal “From Composting to Curriculum”

New Business

Environmental Council Retreat

Sub-Committee formed: Carol, Deanne, Wade

  -the sub-committee will get together to discuss when and where

  -Deanne suggested an agenda item include development of a protocol for dealing with some of the projects and issues our group takes on.

Guest Collaborator

Connie Jamieson-Environmental Council Member -Northland College, Ashland, WI

Connie brought information and ideas from Northland College’s Environmental Council

Highlights include:

Northland’s EC hierarchy

-The group is primarily students and is co-chaired by the college’s Sustainability Coordinator (Clair Hintz) and a Student Chair Representative (work-study position).  The Council is then broken down into smaller work groups, each with a student work-study Group Chair.  These work groups meet weekly.  The Group Chairs then meet monthly as the Environmental Council to discuss progress.  Work is primarily done in the work groups.

-Some Work Groups include: Dark Skies Initiative Group, Re-Use Room Group, Greenhouse Gas Group (in the final stages of Climate Initiative- Action Plan)Landscaping Group (dealing with composting), Communications Group, Purchasing Group

Following Connie’s presentation of information, a suggestion was made to incorporate a work-study position or independent study credits for a student to work on LSC’s Climate Action Plan.

     -Tom showed interest in perusing this project as an independent study

     – a timeline and requirements will need to be discussed further

Motions

No motions were made at this meeting.

Next meeting

The next meeting will be Friday February 26, 9:00 – 10:30 in the Student Life Conference Room.

Meeting Minutes 1/29/10

Faculty/Staff Members present:  Carol Johnson, Cathy Carlson, Deanne Roquet, Cliff Koski, Jeri Schwerin, Julius Salinas, Kevin Futhey, Kristi Heintz, Richard Haney, Theresa Hornstein.

Student Members present:  Chandra Shoberg (Student Senator), Svea Lindgren (Student Worker), Tom Dechenes (Env. Studies)

Announcements

Introduction of new members:

Svea will be working with Wade as a student worker and will focus primarily on the Living Green Conference this month, Chandra is an LSC Student Senator, and Tom is an Environmental Studies major.

Living Green Conference:  February 27, 2010 10:00-4:00

Arne Vainio will be a key note speaker

Dick followed up with Paul Thompson; he is unavailable to speak during the conference.

Cathy confirmed food had not yet been discussed, Svea will follow up.

Schools Cutting Carbon:  Deanne announced LSC did not get grant funding. 

Wade spoke with Deanne and suggested using other funding to go ahead with the project anyway.

  -Cathy has looked into water/soda dispenser without soda company affiliation so we aren’t limited on what can be distributed from it.

     -funding needs to be addressed

     -should be discussed with Mark Winson

     -Julius suggested reiterating the savings we will incur by going bottle-less

  -Plans for drinking fountain in commons still on track?

     -further discussion next meeting

LSC Presidential Search:  Deanne and Dick put together an Environmental Council representative draft of qualities we’d like to see in an incoming president.  This information was passed to Hanna Erpestad.

Earth Week Activities:  April 22^nd

Heather Grillo sent a message highlighting events

EC was asked to work on speakers

  -Dick suggested we try to get Paul Thompson for this event, Dick will follow-up

Kevin will work with Heather to put together the Event Checklist

Plan to put together an Earth Week Committee at next meeting

Possible Northland College Collaboration

Deanne mentioned she was contacted by Northland College and they’ve shown interest in meeting with our group.

  -Deanne will invite them to next the meeting

  -Chandra suggested using the Student Life Conference Room for this meeting.

 UMACS Conference: at U.W. River Falls April 9th & 10^th 

Deanne suggested we represent LSC by presenting our story (changes, challenges etc) in a case study format.  Chandra suggested a title “Everything from the Kitchen Sink to the Compost Pile.” 

  –Cathy intends to present on the success of her student workers program in food service

  –deadline for proposal is February 1^st; Deanne and Carol will write the proposal

  –Anyone interested is encouraged to go; funding is available through the EC budget.

Sub-Committee Reports

IE Sub-Committee-working on EC webpage highlighting our events and projects

Old Business

Disk Golf Course:  Trash and erosion issues were brought up.

  -Tom suggested more trash cans be provided; maintenance of this area is the responsibility of Parks and Rec.  They are reluctant to provide more trash cans and they’ve been cut on maintenance funding. 

  -Dick suggested a student group be formed to approach Parks and Rec. 

  -Julius suggested an “adopt-a-course” movement.

  -Deanne and Cathy mentioned some signage may be helpful, like “leave no trace” education.

New Business

Sub-Committees:  Wade and Deanne discussed earlier that we get moving on our sub-committees

-Sustainable Purchasing Policy Committee-Kristi and Dave

-MNWW Committee-Kevin, Deanne, and Cathy

-Annual Report Committee

-Long Range Climate Action Plan Committee (Pres. Climate Commitment)-Cliff, Mark, and Wade

     -Britt and Cliff started this project by doing an inventory last   year

     -Tom and Deanne suggested starting a special topics class to move forward.

Lower Parking Lot “Ponding Erosion” Issues: Cliff mentioned South St. Louis County SWCD is interested in working on the gully below it and creating an easement.

  -Cliff has incorporated related survey work into a class

Sidewalk Salting:  Kristi spoke with Don Selner with the City of Duluth about alternatives to salt.  They are experimenting with a potassium acetate solution, which is a by-product of beet production, at city hall which eliminates the need for salt.  This is a pre-treat solution which is applied with a watering can and can last for more than a week and works at very low temperatures.  Don offered to give us a gallon of the solution to try.  He pays $8.75/gallon.

  -Cathy brought up the danger issue of slippery sidewalks for her staff in the mornings, as they have been heavily salting the sidewalks themselves every morning and every night.

  -Kristi passed on Don’s contact info to Gary after the meeting; Gary will follow up.

Motions

No motions were made at this meeting.

Next meeting

The next meeting will be Friday February 12, from 9:00 to 11:00, location TBD.

Meeting Minute 9/25/09

Members present:  Kevin Futhey, Carol Johnson, Theresa Hornstein, Deanne Roquet, Melissa Doolittle, Cliff Koski, Richard Haney, Jeri Schwerin, Cathy Carlson, Britt Johnson, Glenn Merrick, Gary Adams, Shannon Fries.

Announcements

Deanne announced that Heather Grillo will Chair the Earth Day Subcommittee.

Jeri Schwerin announced that the 1^st Earth Club meeting will be Monday 9/28/09 at 4:00pm.

Deanne announced that Rody Bowers Hughes was in charge of the PTK students & their sustainability efforts.

Deanne announced she will go to the meeting with MN WasteWise.

Cathy announced that the student kitchen workers are back next week and two are enrolled in college.

Deanne wondered about sustainability success stories writing project, Jeri said she would contact Janis about the idea.

Committee Reports

Kevin Futhey (recycling committee) said that Tom Tonkin will be taking charge of the committee and will keep the Styrofoam recycling going, and Kevin also said that the Kitchen/Grease recycling will take place again this year.

Glenn and Deanne spoke about having student participation in Glenn’s committee to work on projects like, Disk Golf Course erosion, posting signs along the hiking trail and other projects.  Glenn also spoke with Gary about how to include Facilities in the projects.  

Old Business

Sustainability in the Curriculum: Carol discussed a need for an “idea” session.  College outcomes have been revised to contain a sustainability component.  It has not been added to FYE because FYE already has many objectives.

Recycled Paper: Deanne suggested getting a class involved in researching recycled paper, via class project.  There is a need for training and support in setting printer defaults to double-sided. 

Sustainability in Purchasing Policy: Cathy and Kevin will invite new purchasing agent, David, to the next EC meeting.

Styrofoam Shredding: Tom Tonkin will take charge of this.

Environmental Council Membership: Shannon Fries will be serving as a temporary secretary for the council until Britt’s replacement has been hired.

Climate Plan: Cliff discussed a need to make a plan for the ACUPCC.  Wade indicated he would meet with Mark and Gary to discuss this.  The council discussed contacting UofM students to assist with the Climate Plan.

Cafeteria Coffee Cups: Cathy reported no reusable cups have been purchased from the cafeteria.  However, several people are bringing their own reusable cups and receiving a discount.  Carol will send out an email to advertise the reusable coffee cup savings.

Conference Room Coffee Cups: Emily will pick up the coffee cups for the Presidential conference room from Tanya in the Art Department.

New Business

Grants: Carol discussed the need for an EC subcommittee for grants, now that LSC no longer has a grant writer. 

Recognition: Deanne suggested that EC get formal recognition from the Administrative Offices.  Have an annual report and an energy policy.

Environmental Council Goals: Deanne discussed a need for the Environmental Council to set goals.   Goals will be posted to the blog. 

Environmental Specialist Position: The council discussed the Environmental Specialist position, and a need for clarification of job description before a search begins for new employee.   Britt said that on her PD, nothing was mentioned concerning EC.

Motions

No motions were made at this meeting.

Next Meeting

The next environmental council meeting will take place Friday, October 9, 2009 from 9:30 to 11:30am in Gary’s office.

Meeting Minutes 9/11/09

Members present:  Cathy Carlson, Kevin Futhey, Wade Gordon, Theresa Hornstein, Dave Israel, Britt Johnson, Carol Johnson, Cliff Koski, Deanne Roquet, Jeri Schwerin.

Announcements

Wade announced LSC was not a recipient of the Minnesota GreenCorps grant.  56 host sites applied, 7 were accepted.  Due to an overwhelming response, more funding may be available in the near future.

Wade announced LSC will soon be a full member of AASHE, once a few PO issues are resolved.

Wade announced the new purchaser’s job description will contain a sustainability component.

Committee Reports

No committee reports were provided at this meeting.

Old Business

Sustainability in the Curriculum: Carol discussed a need for an “idea” session.  College outcomes have been revised to contain a sustainability component.  It has not been added to FYE because FYE already has many objectives.

Recycled Paper: Deanne suggested getting a class involved in researching recycled paper, via class project.  There is a need for training and support in setting printer defaults to double-sided.  Carol will contact IT regarding this matter.

Sustainability in Purchasing Policy: Deanne communicated an email conversation with Mark Winson regarding sustainability in purchasing.  Mark recommended including someone from plant maintenance (Kevin?) and the new purchasing agent when setting up the policy.

Styrofoam Shredding: At this time styrofoam is being collected, but not shredded.  Kevin, Britt, Tom Tonkin, Roger Johnson, and Mike Koppy will be meeting to discuss future plans of the project.

Environmental Council Membership: Gary Adams, Jim Drake, and Heather Grillo have removed themselves from the Environmental Council.  The council suggested asking Heather to remain on the council as an Earth Day subcommittee member.  Britt will contact Heather.  Wade will work to recruit students, possibly through the student senate.  During the meeting Kevin spoke with Dan Pioro to request an IT representative on the Environmental Council.  The council would also like representation from the ERTC.

Climate Plan: Cliff discussed a need to make a plan for the ACUPCC.  Wade indicated he would meet with Mark and Gary to discuss this.  The council discussed contacting UofM students to assist with the Climate Plan.

Cafeteria Coffee Cups: Cathy reported no reusable cups have been purchased from the cafeteria.  However, several people are bringing their own reusable cups and receiving a discount.  Carol will send out an email to advertise the reusable coffee cup savings.

Conference Room Coffee Cups: Emily will pick up the coffee cups for the Presidential conference room from Tanya in the Art Department.

New Business

Grants: Carol discussed the need for an EC subcommittee for grants, now that LSC no longer has a grant writer.  For now, please forward grant opportunities to Britt and she will place them on the EC blog.

MPCA Environmental Report Card: Deanne was trained on the MPCA Environmental Report Card on State of MN.  This training was sponsored by the College of St. Kate’s.  Deanne explained that the report card led to some interesting realizations about knowledge, attitude, and behavior.  She will be presenting this information to the IE Committee.  This may be helpful in plotting a path towards sustainability in the LSC curriculum.

Environmental Council Goals: Deanne discussed a need for the Environmental Council to set goals.  This will be placed on the agenda for the next meeting.  Goals will be posted to the blog.  Cathy suggested an “ongoing” list of goals.  As goals are met, new goals go up.

Press Release: Wade informed the council that the ACUPCC would like to do a press release regarding LSC’s completion of the greenhouse gas emissions inventory.

Diane Morin’s Position: Diane’s position is not being replaced.  Kay Earnst will be covering Diane’s responsibilities.  Carol is meeting with Kay to discuss past/current/future sustainability efforts.

Adult Environmental Programming: Deanne discussed a need for local agencies to coordinate programming in order to streamline messages and improve turn-out.  Nadine Meyer organizes programming for the DNR and the Aquarium.

Environmental Specialist Position: The council discussed the Environmental Specialist position, and a need for clarification of job description.

Cafeteria Dishes: Cathy reported several dishes are missing from the cafeteria.  Kevin reported maintenance frequently finds dishes around campus.  Carol mentioned an idea brought up at a duty day breakout session of charging a deposit for tableware to prevent loss.  Cathy explained this would involve too much administrative cost.

Atrium Plants: Roger Johnson’s Atrium Revitalization committee is working to improve the plants in the atrium.  Theresa said there are plants in the circle drive that should be taken in for the winter.  Cathy Carlson will give the message to an employee who is on the Atrium Revitalization committee.

Motions

No motions were made at this meeting.

Next Meeting

The next environmental council meeting will take place Friday, September 25, 2009 from 9:30 to 11:30am in Gary’s office.