Dr. Evan DeLucia, Director of iSEE, responded to Meredith Moore with the following email: 

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Good morning, Meredith

I’ve had a chance to review the iWG recommendations and discuss them with iSEE leadership. Both recommendations, the Environmental Leadership Program and Student Sustainability Ambassadors are creative, will provide students with new opportunities to engage in sustainability learning, and will have a positive impact on our iCAP goals.

The iWG should be aware that we are launching test modules as part of the leadership program this fall semester. iSEE has hired a coordinator to develop several learning modules, likely full day programs, on topics such as ‘environmental communications’ and ‘effective interviewing strategies’. We will use these modules to recruit faculty into the program, build partnerships, evaluate financial expenses, and evaluate student interest. If all goes well, these modules will serve as the components of full program. Once we have a better sense of the curriculum, we can also initiate fund raising activities.

The ambassadors program has real promise to advance campus’ iCAP goals and to more fully engage students in sustainability activities. That said, iSEE is not prepared to launch this program at this time. Not for lack of merit, but rather for lack of bandwidth. To properly launch the leadership program mentioned above is a significant undertaking and we want to make sure we do it well. While iSEE is not prepared to launch this program at this time, we will take an initial step to explore its viability by discussing the proposed course offering with NRES.

Please extend my thanks to the iWG and the SWATeams for their dedication to making Illinois more sustainable.

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See transmittal of Edu001 Environmental Leadership Program to iSEE here.

See iWG assessment of Edu001 Environmental Leadership Program here.

See SWATeam recommendation and submittal of Edu001 Environmental Leadership Program here. 

The Edu005 Sustainable Scholars Program recommendation was returned to the Education SWATeam on 6/9/2020. 

Morgan White writes, "Thank you for submitting the attached Edu005: Sustainability Scholars Program recommendation to the iCAP Working Group! The iWG agrees that, conceptually, this is a good proposal, and we are appreciative of the time and effort of the team to develop this recommendation. A few questions arose out of the iWG meeting on April 27, and we would like them addressed in order to fully evaluate this recommendation.

• How does the proposed Sustainability Scholars Program compare to the existing James Scholar Program?
• What are the requirements to participate in the program? Who would qualify?
• Who do you suggest would implement and oversee the program?

Providing additional information to supplement this recommendation will help clarify details necessary for future discussions for implementation. Thank you for your effort!"

See the submittal of the Edu005 Sustainable Scholars Program. The original recommendation is attached. 

Following the completion of the iWG assessment for ZW001 Student Sustainability Ambassador Program, the recommendation was transmitted to Evan DeLucia, Director of iSEE, on June 9, 2020.

See the iWG assessment ZW001 Student Sustainability Ambassador Program attached. 
See the SWATeam recommendation ZW001 Student Sustainability Ambassador Program.

Following the completion of iWG assessment for Trans013 UI Ride Survey, the recommendation was transmitted to Mohamed Attalla, Executive Director of Facilities and Services, on June 3, 2020.

See the iWG assessment Trans013 UI Ride Survey attached. 
See the SWATeam recommendation Trans013 UI Ride Survey.

The iWG met on May 18, 2020 to review the status of the iCAP 2020 and discuss the updated list of objectives. The meeting presentation is attached below.

The Education SWATeam made the following recommendation on 4/2/2020: 

Develop a Sustainable Scholars Program (SSP), on the model of the existing popular and prestigious James Scholar program. Student recipients would enter the program as freshmen, choose a pathway of sustainability-themed courses across campus comparable to a minor, be eligible for priority registration times, and undertake extra honors-level assignments in these courses mentored by their professors-instructors. Oversight of the program to be provided by the Associate Director for Education at iSEE.

Attached is the SWATeam recommendation Edu005 Sustainable Scholars Program with comments from the Education SWATeam.

The Education SWATeam made the following recommendation on 4/2/2020: 

The Sustainability Career Fair working group has the following tiered recommendations, which would grow the general program over three years, with event implementation beginning in the Spring of FY21:

• Year 1: The Career Center would coordinate with various University colleges’ career fairs in Spring of FY21 to create an integrated Sustainability identity within existing career fairs. Initially, this would primarily target Environmental Sciences and Sustainability majors and minors, but eventually would include a broader base of colleges as we build awareness. In order to quantify the need for developing a Sustainability career fair, we recommend creating assessments in the Fall of FY21. These would determine the job market demand for Sustainability professionals along with establishing desired credentials for job applicants. A second assessment would target students with a Sustainability career focus to better understand their career goals and desired career path (government policy work at the local and State, and Federal level, applied science and coordination work within government, Not-For-Profits, corporations, start-ups, or higher education).
• Year 2: The Career Center would continue promoting and coordinating a consistent Sustainability identity within individual colleges’ career fairs while adding a modest career fair of interested companies and partners in conjunction with the Fall 2021 ISEE Congress. We recommend starting one paid internship through the Career Center, partnering with ISEE, the LAS Life + Career Design Lab and ACES Career Services to help organize and promote the event. Other student volunteers would assist with planning and day-of event management.
• Year 3: Grow the Sustainability Career Fair program to include the Year 1 and Year 2 events, and adding a larger stand-alone, comprehensive Campus-wide Sustainability Career Fair in February 2023, involving multiple University colleges (ACES, LAS, Grainger, Gies, FAA, etc.).

Attached is the SWATeam recommendation Edu003 Sustainability Career Fair with comments from the Education SWATeam.

The Education SWATeam made the following recommendation on 4/2/2020: 

Develop an Environmental Leadership Program (ELP), for undergraduates and Masters’ students. ELP will comprise two week-long intensives, one in Fall and a Washington DC trip during Spring Break, exposing students to environmental governance at local, state, and federal tiers. Also includes pre-professional training, and speaker seminars during the academic year.

Attached is the SWATeam recommendation Edu001 Environmental Leadership Program with comments from the Eductation SWATeam.

The Energy SWATeam made the following recommendation on 4/3/2020: 

We recommend $10M per year (scalable) of funding for the next 5 years to implement critical projects that work in concert with energy performance contracts (EPC) and/or energy focused capital projects. EPC contracts are fulfilled by specialized, accredited firms known as energy service companies. The university uses EPCs to manage complex projects targeting facilities with high energy use, such as laboratories, maximizing energy efficiency and addressing sizable volumes of deferred maintenance issues along the way. The campus backlog on deferred maintenance is approaching $1 billion.

Attached is the SWATeam recommendation Energy004 Energy Conservation Funding with comments from the Energy SWATeam.