Madhu Khanna, Director of iSEE, responded to the Engagement iCAP Team on 12/12/22: 

Dear Engagement Team,

Thank you for submitting the Engagement002 Take Action Weblink recommendation. We agree that clarifying the Campus Sustainability page on the iSEE website to prioritize “taking action” is an important initiative.

While we fully support increasing visibility of sustainability best practices and involvement opportunities, we ask that the Engagement team provides an outlined vision of your suggestions on how to consolidate information on the Campus Sustainability Page. Additionally, please provide examples of what type of actions you would like to see by clicking a “take action” link.

Thank you again for your hard work and we look forward to reviewing your website suggestions!

Sincerely,

Madhu Khanna

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See transmittal and iWG assessment of Engagement002 Take Action Weblink here.
See original submittal of Engagement002 Take Action Weblink recommendation here.  

The Engagement iCAP Team submitted the attached Engagement005 DIA and Green Sports Alliance recommendation to the iWG on 12/8/22. The recommendation states as follows:

The 2020 Illinois Climate Action Plan calls for the university to increase the visibility of campus sustainability efforts by joining the Green Sports Alliance through the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics by summer 2021. While the DIA has not formally joined the Green Sports Alliance, Facilities & Services became a member of the GSA in June 2021, and GSA presented at the October 2021 Illinois Green Infrastructure & Erosion Control Conference. Other Big Ten Institutions involved in the GSA are Indiana University, Michigan State University, Pennsylvania State University, The Ohio State University, The University of Iowa, The University of Michigan, and The University of Minnesota(Swanson 2022).

University of Illinois Athletics is a role model for college sports. Formally enrolling in the Green Sports Alliance will bridge the gap between organizations/colleges on campus, as well as leading sustainable efforts along with other Big 10 Schools.

The LW003 Certified Green Building Certification was declined and returned to the team on April 16, 2022 with the following message. 

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Hello Land and Water iCAP Team,

Thank you for your continued efforts toward making our campus more sustainable and advocating for the iCAP 2020 objectives for Land and Water!  The attached recommendation (LW003 Certified Green Building Certification) has been declined by the iCAP Working Group (iWG).  The iWG reviewed this recommendation in the April 2021 and May 2021 meetings and determined it would be better to consider an awards program, preferably for individual efforts rather than buildings. 

As your team suggested, I’ll share this information with the Engagement iCAP Team, so they can consider a related recommendation for an awards program.

Thanks,
Morgan

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See the submittal of LW003 Certified Green Building Certification here. 

The iCAP Working Group met on 10-10-22 and discussed the Engagement002 recommendation, campus sustainability month activities, and the clean energy plan. The meeting minutes are attached. 

F&S Safety and Compliance renewed annual membership with Green Sports Alliance (GSA) on 10/17/22. Membership runs through November 30, 2023. 

The Engagement iCAP Team submitted Engagement002 iCAP Portal Redesign recommendation, outlined as follows:

"Hire a graphic/web design student intern to develop a simple and more organized website to increase university community engagement on the iCAP Portal."

The recommendation is attached. 

The following email was sent to the iCAP Teams:

Hello iCAP Teams,

Thank you again for serving on these important campus sustainability committees, and for your commitment to helping the university achieve the objectives in the Illinois Climate Action Plan.  As promised in the charge letters you received, we are attaching the Key Priorities Document here.  The attached document includes a section for each iCAP Team, with two parts in each section: Priority areas and in progress iCAP Portal projects.

1. Priority Areas

In order to help our campus move from STARS Gold to STARS Platinum, we have identified priority areas where our university can potentially improve. iSEE’s summer intern Tyler evaluated the latest UIUC STARS report and identified example case studies from STARS Platinum schools.  Tyler’s report is online at “Report on Improving UIUC STARS Score.” The priority areas also include topics for potential recommendations that have been brought up in previous discussions with the campus sustainability teams.  One example of this is the current efforts to reduce plastic waste on campus.

Many prior iCAP team members have expressed a desire for guidance on appropriate topics for recommendations, so we are providing this guidance to assist your team with focus areas for development of recommendations.  We encourage you to investigate these ideas with gusto; reach out to people at other schools to learn more about the ideas and contact people on our campus who would have a stake in the project (“stakeholders”) to understand how it could fit into our campus. You should also review the recommendation template to see the information that needs to be completed when you submit a recommendation to the iCAP Working Group. 

1. In progress iCAP Portal projects

The iCAP Portal has over 900 projects and contains information about our campus sustainability efforts, going back as far as 2003. The information is primarily entered by members of the iCAP Teams, the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC), and a few volunteers.  We are requesting your assistance to get updates on some of the projects that are listed as “In Progress.”  For each of the projects listed in the attached file, please answer the following questions:

• Who is the current contact person? The project records on the iCAP Portal may provide past contacts, and your team members may have relevant information.
• Is the project completed? If not, what is the current status of the effort?
• What changes are needed on the iCAP Portal project page content? Pictures would be particularly nice to be able to share on the Portal.

We are very excited about this coming year, and we want to support you in any way necessary.  Please reach out to any of us at any time.

Thank you,

Morgan, Jen, and Meredith