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  1. Intro Meeting: Campus Locations for Indigenous Plants Demonstration

    Associated Project(s): 
    Indigenous Underplanting Demonstration

    Following are Sarthak Prasad's notes from the introductory meeting on 7/16/2025.

    Attended By: Eliana Brown, Layne Knoche, Andrea Wagner, Madelyn Craft, Ashley Belle, Justin Vozzo, Sarthak Prasad, Stirling Lemme

    • Introductions happened
    • Lumpkin Family Foundation
      • Greater C-U project
    • Demo area on campus showing benefit of having native plants under established trees especially around ROW
      • Carbon sequestration
      • Some additional support of mature trees
    • On the ground implementation
    • Community Outreach
    • Tree Management stepping stone
      • Making changes around the south quad area
      • Developing areas - underplanting similar to RORG
      • There is evidence in improving tree health with these plantings
    • Even as a small area as a demo area

     

    • What support are you they expecting?
      • Similar to RORG
        • Ryan and his crew for mulch
        • Support for coordination with the specific trees
        • Coordinating work orders
        • Additioanl treatments to the trees if necessary
        • To establish it - we would need of Ryan's group to kill the grass (herbicide application - maybe 2)
        • Application in August and September (1 month apart)
        • Areas that are not sidewalk bound - F&S uses a edge trencher
      • Check with county master gardener - arborists,
      • Low maintenance plantings
        • So that it is easy for implementation
    • Providing materials to the people in the community

     Location

     Stay away from the main stretch on the quad

    • What is the scale?
      • One tree - 200 sq ft garden?
      • South Quad?
    • The foundation may be supportive of a larger scale project if there is sufficient/appropriate maintenance support available
      • We don’t want a difficult maintenance
      • Smaller spaces preferred
    • Kirby Ave - South side strip between First and Oak
      • Very high visibility
      • Very high traffic
      • Salt
      • So there may be a chance that this area might fail -
      • Outside of scope - too big of an area
    • Different native species around different trees in the same area-
      • Several small pockets of areas

     

    • Architecture Building area - opposite to the Main Library - Preferred (First preference)
      • Gregory Dr
      • We want to have people from the community to be able to see and access this area - this area is a bit restrictive
    • Trees around Krannert Center (Second preference)
      • Really great for Community
    • West side of Armory
      • Construction upcoming - so don’t use this area 

     

    Timeline

    • Letter of intent due at the end of this month
    • Letter of support
      • No need for the location
    • Grants start -
      • October would be the start planning
        • For a year
        • Opportunity for multiple years - if you do a good job
      • We need the location for the application

     

    • Application deadline  - September 5
    • When do we plant?
      • Planning over the winter -
      • Spring 2026 (May) or Fall 2026 (September) planting
    • When do we get the ARC approval?
      • August meeting

     

    Funding

    • Average grant allocation - $25k and max is $50k.
      • Would campus kick in some money?
        • SSC money

    Maintenance

    • MOU

     

    To-do

    • Letter of Support - due at the application process

  2. Weekly Digest

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All,

    To my mind, a bit of a slow week. Sold some bikes and prepped more for B-a-B/sale bikes.

    This week I’ll be bringing staff in extra hours to help build more bikes for the inevitable Beginning Of Semester rush. We’re still hovering around 20 for sale now but are building a good inventory of fully-prepped B-a-Bs for when we sell out of our refurbed bikes. We are paring down our inventory of old/bad wheels that are taking up valuable space and creating safety hazards, which will make way for our more valuable and useful parts/bikes.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 16
    Sales: $499
    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $200
    Memberships: 6 for $180

    Tires/tubes: 12 for $78

    Jacob Benjamin
    Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center
     

  4. iCAP Portal Admin Meeting - July 11, 2025

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability iCAP Portal

    Agenda

    • Michael's updates
      • Stripped out HTML from ALL project update teasers (homepage, Project pages, Theme pages, Place pages, Collection pages, Key Objective pages)
      • Added expand/collapse to Recommendations listing on Project pages for listings with 4+ items
      • Here are a couple options for differentiating subject lines for iCAP Portal suggestions:
        • Use submission ID, e.g. "iCAP Portal Suggestion (ID #181)" <-- Decided to use ID
        • Use Subject / Project Name field, e.g. "iCAP Portal Suggestion: Campus-wide Solar Panel Installation"

    Discussion

    • [Quinn] Project pages for directing users to the many available data sources on the iCAP portal (e.g. Public Data for Independent Research)
      • Discussed pros & cons of Basic Page vs. Project vs. another approach
      • This could be part of a larger Getting Started section to provide guidance to new visitors
      • Decided to leave this page as a Project for now; may revisit in the future
    • For next meeting:
      • Discuss metric naming convention (see Discussion about Metrics - May 19, 2025)
      • Finalize plans for removing national research programs from Projects listing
      • Discuss 2025 Objectives dashboard (add in September, start displaying in October) - see "Adding Key Objectives" private file under Sustainability iCAP Portal project
      • New iCAP Team (Sustainable Buildings) being formed - discuss what that looks like on the iCAP Portal

    TODOs

    • ✅ Replace map link on homepage with link to "Resources for Independent Research" or "We've got data!"
    • ✅ Update suggestion email subject line
    • ✅ Find out if we can add administrative field to mark who responded to a Suggestion

  5. Green Sports Alliance Launches Strategy Playbook to Embed Sustainability into the Business of Sports

    Associated Project(s): 
    Tailgate Recycling

    Read the full article on the PR Newswire website

     

    “Today, the Green Sports Alliance proudly announces the release of its latest comprehensive resource: the Strategy Playbook, a groundbreaking guide designed to help sports and entertainment organizations embed sustainability into core business strategy.

     

    “Strategy Playbook offers actionable insights for teams at every level—from collegiate to professional leagues. It includes case studies from Golden State Warriors, Denver Zoo, Hard Rock Stadium, Moody Center, Gillette Stadium, University of Illinois, Penn State University, Cincinnati Zoo, Cincinnati Reds, Florida Panthers, Chicago Cubs, FIFA, Austin FC, Saint Paul Arena Company, Ashton Gate Stadium, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, and the Minnesota Twins.”

    Screenshot #1 of articleScreenshot #2 of article

  8. Signs, Electricity, and Locks Complete for Shipping Containers

    Associated Project(s): 
    Shipping Containers for Bicycle Storage
    Collection and Donation of Abandoned Bicycles

    This morning, Sarthak, Emily, and Max visited the seven shipping containers to check their progress, attach a padlock to each shipping container door, and put an identifying sticker on each shipping container. Each shipping container now also has electricity and lights installed as well as a sign on the outside, numbering 1-7. Attached are photos of the lights and signs.

    Attached Files: 

  15. Bicycle Ambassador & Bike Buddy Program Research Updates

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bicycle Ambassador Program
    Learn How to Ride a Bicycle and Bike Rodeo

    On June 27th, Emily sent out emails to 14 different organizations that have a bike ambassador, a bike buddy, or a similar program to learn more about bike ambassador and bike buddy programs. The email includes a description of the two goals relating to creating bike ambassador and bike buddy programs stated in the 2024 Campus Bicycle Plan. The email also included a 40 question questionnaire, which is linked as a pdf.

    These organizations include the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, the public works department in the county where Pennsylvania State University is located, Rutgers University New-Brunswick, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of California Irvine, University of Iowa, University of California Los Angeles, University of Edinburgh, University of Maryland, University of Oregon, the City of Madison, Wisconsin, Indiana University, and a local biking group in Portland, Oregon (BikeLoud PDX). While 25 universities were researched, not all universities have a bike ambassador program, a bike buddy program, or a similar program and so local organizations that have such programs in these areas were also contacted. Responses are requested from the 14 organizations by July 25th.

    On June 30th, Sarthak forwarded the questionnaire to the Campus Bike Programmer Network.

    Attached Files: 

  16. Weekly Digest

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Pretty uneventful week on the whole. Highlight was an 11-year-old coming in with his mom to fix up his beat-up bike. At 11 he had great tool instincts and was excited about getting his hands dirty. Good times!

    Our “For Sale” bike numbers are steadily in the low double digits, but next month we’ll focus on building more, in hopes of staying ahead of the crush of returning students.

    This evening is the Bike Project member’s meeting, which I will attend.

    The numbers:

    Visitors:
    Sales: $970.75
    Bikes (refurb): 3 for $590
    Memberships: 7 for $210
    Tires/tubes: 3 for $20

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center
     

  18. Research In Progress for Bike Ambassador, Bike Buddy, and Commuter Programs

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bicycle Ambassador Program
    Learn How to Ride a Bicycle and Bike Rodeo
    Commuter Program: Bus, Bike, and Hike

    Emily is working on researching Bicycle Ambassador, Bike Buddy, and Commuter Programs at Big 10 and other universities to eventually implement these programs at UIUC. While the Bicycle Ambassador program was last active around 2014, restarting this program is a priority under the Encouragement area of intervention in the 2024 Campus Bicycle Plan. Similarly, the Bike Buddy program, which would encourage more bicycle trips on campus, especially for newer and less experienced cyclists, is also a priority under the Encouragement area of intervention. Emily is also continuing research on the Commuter program, which is a part of the Evaluation & Planning area of intervention in the 2024 Campus Bicycle Plan.

  19. Weekly Digest

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All,
    The heat is upon us! The high temps have kept us less busy than we might have otherwise been. Still had some folks in and had a Build-a-Bike completed—which is always especially rewarding. Our new door has been working swimmingly, as folks have been able to enter/exit without wrestling with the door and their bike at the same time.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 15
    Sales: $525.50
    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $200
    Bikes (B-a-B): 1 for $50
    Tires/tubes: 14 for $93

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center

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