Please see attached the response to the Engagement003 Sustainability Ambassador Program recommendation from Dr. Madhu Khanna.

See the Engagement003 Sustainability Ambassador Program assessment.

For future updates, please refer to the NRES 285: iCAP Sustainability Ambassadors project.

On 4/20/2023, the Engagement003 Sustainability Ambassador Program recommendation was transmitted to Dr. Madhu Khanna, Director of iSEE, with the following email. The iWG assessment is attached.

Hello Dr. Khanna,

The Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) Working Group (iWG) reviewed the Engagement003 Sustainability Ambassador Program recommendation from the Engagement iCAP Team to establish a Sustainability Ambassador Program. The iWG discussed this and recommends that iSEE should work with University Housing and with Private Certified Housing to roll this program out and encourage student participation through residential coordinators/contacts.  iSEE should also roll this out through the Student Sustainability Leadership Council (SSLC), the Illini Union Board (IUB), and the Illinois Student Government (ISG).  Please see the details included in the attached iWG assessment and Engagement iCAP Team recommendation.  

The Formal iCAP Procedures includes a section on campus unit responsibilities upon receipt of a recommendation, and we respectfully request your initial response to this recommendation by May 12, if possible.  If you have any questions regarding this recommendation, we are happy to arrange a call. 

Sincerely,

Morgan

=====================================

MORGAN B. WHITE and

Dr. JENNIFER FRATERRIGO
Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP)

iCAP Working Group co-chairs

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
sustainability@illinois.edu  
https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/

See the Engagement003 Sustainability Ambassador Program recommendation here.

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

======================

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 Engagement002 iCAP Portal Redesign was renamed to Engagement002 Take Action Weblink. On 11/11/22, the recommendation was transmitted to Madhu Khanna, Director of iSEE, with the following email. The iWG assessment is attached. 

=============

Hello Dr. Khanna,

The Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) Working Group (iWG) reviewed recommendation Engagement002 from the Engagement iCAP Team about the iCAP Portal. The iWG discussed this and rather than changes to the database repository site of the iCAP Portal, the iWG recommends that iSEE’s communications team, in collaboration with the iCAP teams, take the steps recorded in the attached word document and listed here:

1) For immediate action - Highlight a Student Action button to access the related “Action” page.  Make it consistent throughout the various websites, so the students/users know it is the same link.

2) Look carefully at the iSEE campus sustainability page/site to streamline it and make it a lot more accessible for students, so they know how to take action and understand the progress we’ve made in this area.

3) Develop an image-based site for campus sustainability engagement, with appropriate campus professionals and a student focus group that includes students with visual background and students with sustainability knowledge. Include time-based suggestions (if you have five minutes, if you have 30 minutes, if you have an hour, if you have an hour each week, etc.). Include suggestions for iSEE website, iCAP Portal, and related sites, as well as development of new landing page website.

4) Reassess and renew the message and graphics of the iCAP web-presence on a regular basis (at least every five years).

The Formal iCAP Procedures includes a section on campus unit responsibilities upon receipt of a recommendation, and we respectfully request your initial response to this recommendation by November 30, if possible.  If you have any questions regarding this recommendation, we are happy to discuss this with you further.

Sincerely,

Morgan, Jen, and Meredith

============

See submittal of Engagement002 iCAP Portal Redesign --> Engagement002 Take Action Weblink recommendation here.
See attached iWG assessment. 

The Engagement iCAP Team had their final meeting of the semester on Friday, April 29. The team met with Shachar Meron, senior lecturer in the Department of Advertising, to discuss iSEE's partnership with the ADV 498 Capstone Course. The iCAP Portal & iSEE Jobs Dashboard were also discussed. Meeting minutes are attached.

The Engagement Team met on Friday, February 4 to discuss the three main recommendations underway: the iCAP Portal website, the Sustainability Champions committee, and the Social Media Marketing sustainability campaign. Meeting minutes are attached.

Bill Stewart, Professor in Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism and member of the General Education Board, responded to Ximing Cai with the following email on 12/3/21:

Hi Ximing,

I’m following up about the Sustainability Gen Ed Working Group that was formed this year.  The Provost has directed the gen ed board to form a working group with the following charge:  Sustainability General Education: A student group is continuing work to develop a proposal to create a Sustainability General Education requirement. This working group will meet with the student group and provide updates to the full board about the status of the proposal as well as feedback about the implications of a new requirement for evaluation of courses.  I’m serving as chair, with the following members of the working group:  Geoffrey Challen, Leon Decosta Dash, Stephen R Downie, James Robert Miller, and Sterling Raskie. 

We’ve met twice now, with the first meeting focused on discussing our charge along with the history of sustainability education on campus.  We invited Jessica Nicholson along with others from her team to our second meeting to provide an update on the proposal and the intended next steps.  We plan to take back the activity to the gen ed board, and garner feedback from them.  Notes from our recent meeting are attached.

Just keeping you in the loop here.

Best,
Bill

================

For future updates, please see the Sustainability Gen-Ed Requirement project page. 
See iWG assessment and transmittal of Engagement001 General Education Board Sustainability Sub-Group.
See original recommendation and submittal of Engagement001 General Education Board SUstainability Sub-Group here. 

The Engagement iCAP Team met on Tuesday, November 9 to ideate recommendations on each of the team's four themes: awareness & purpose, technology & visibility, culture & practicality,  and inclusivity & relationships. The committee broke out into groups to generate lists of recommendations the team intends to pursue. Meeting minutes attached.