REVISED

University Environment Committee

Thursday, March 26, 2009 in Room 140 Rawl Annex, 3:30 pm

Presiding: Jill Twark

Regular members in attendance: T. Kelley, J. Twark, M. Montgomery, D. Lawrence, H. McKinnon, C. Hodson

Ex officio members in attendance: J. Gill, B. Koch, F. Deters, A. Lopez

Guests: Tom Pohlman

The meeting was called to order at 3:30 pm.

1. Review and Approval of Minutes from 2/26/09 meeting. The minutes were unanimously approved.

2. Energy/Master Plan update.

Bill Bagnell has rescheduled his visit to the UEC to April 23^rd.

Koch: The master planning process is getting underway

3. Concluding discussion of presentation given by Athletics at our February 26 UEC meeting.

The UEC hopes that Athletics will take our suggestions on sustainability building and grounds practices into account in planning this project.

4. Report from Tom Pohlman (EH&S Environment Manager) and Ariel Lopez on planning for Earth Day and other student initiatives.

Students are planning a “Go Green” week to coincide with Earth Day. There will be an interactive “Conserve Your Green” seminar on 4/20, led by Dean Smith, addressing the financial crisis and students’ financial planning. An Earth Day “Lights out Luau” on 4/22 will feature festivities and awareness-raising activities focusing on recycling, trayless dining halls, and other initiatives on campus.

Recyclemania is complete for this year. Results for ECU can be found on the Recyclemania website. Twark hopes Recyclemania can be student-led next year.

For next year, Lopez hopes to arrange a dorm recycling competition.

Kelley: Eco Pirates, advised by Ed Crotts, could be involved with this.

There was discussion of other campus sustainability initiatives.

Hodson: Low-flow faucets are being installed in the Brody building.

Koch: There is a new push for compact fluorescent bulbs where feasible, as well as LED demo projects on the hill and mall.

Montgomery: Is possible to co-mingle recyclables in recycling containers?

Gill: There is not enough staff to separate recyclables and ECU gets paid for recyclables, but not much.

5. Discussion of potential EC Scholars Service-Learning project on sustainability (revival of efforts begun by Sally Lawrence in Fall 2008).

Michael Brown, who is currently the supervisor for the EC Scholars, told Twark at a meeting on March 18^th that he supports EC Scholars performing their service-learning requirement by working on a campus sustainability project as long as a faculty member would be willing to supervise their activities. There was a $20K BB&T leadership grant awarded for this project, but the funds have been returned to BB&T and are no longer available. Kelley volunteered to lead EC Scholars on a sustainability project if there is student interest.

6. Discussion of content for UEC Annual Report.

The report needs to be drawn up and approved by the committee at our last meeting on 4/23/09 and submitted to the Faculty Senate by 5/1/09. Twark and Montgomery agreed to meet prior to the last UEC meeting and draft the report for presentation and discussion at our final meeting.

Accomplishments for this year:

· Revised committee charge

· Heritage trees resolution

· student initiatives

Goals for next year:

· EC Scholars involved in sustainability project

· UEC and faculty should be involved in the master planning process

· Faculty guests presenting on sustainability at UEC meetings

· Energy coordinators at other campuses—i.e. Ryan Powell from Duke—could present as guest speakers

· Continue working on local foods in dining hall

· Pursue adding an Aramark representative as an ex officio member of the UEC

7. Announcements:

A. Dr. Twark will represent the Friends of Greenville Greenways at the Youth Arts Festival on Saturday, April 4^th from 10am to 4pm. Please announce this event to anyone you know who has children.

B. Monday, March 30^th, 2pm, Dr. Twark will present on Greenways to Joyner Library in the administrative conference room.

C. The 5^th annual Greenway Fun Day will be held on Sunday, April 26^th from 2-4pm at Green Springs Park on 5^th St. Please announce this event to your friends, colleagues, neighbors, etc.