Finding a replacement tantamount to former Director Craig Forster will be nearly impossible, said the U’s Office of Sustainability staff and administrators, but until then, students, faculty and staff have pulled together to fill in the gaps.
Forster, who was the first director of the Office of Sustainability, passed away during Thanksgiving Break while hiking in Zion National Park.
Mike Perez, associate vice president of facilities management, is looking for an interim director for the office. Perez is in the process of assessing potential candidates and said he hopes to make the final selection public in the near future.
“As soon as possible, seriously,” because the office has been scrambling to not lose footing on projects, he said.
The interim director, who will most likely be an existing U faculty member, would administer the office until a new director is found and assist during the transition process, especially if the next director comes from another university or another state.
“The interim will help make (the new director) aware of the idiosyncrasies of the environment and the U’s current programs,” Perez said.
After the office has an interim, Perez will begin the search to find Forster’s permanent replacement.
He said when the time comes to sift through the applications, he hopes to find someone with some of Forster’s qualities.
“Craig not only was passionate about sustainability, but also the broadness with which he understood the environment, societal impacts, living and learning (was unique),” Perez said. “Then he communicated (those ideas) very well to the U constituents and beyond. How one replaces that will obviously be a challenge.”
However, because Perez’s focus is on selecting an interim, he is not sure how the search for a new director will be conducted.
Dallas Hamilton, a senior in environmental studies and an intern in the office who worked closely with Forster during Fall Semester, said a work ethic parallel with Forster’s will be difficult to find. “He was always involved with his work,” he said.
Hamilton said he remembers a sustainability and higher education conference in North Carolina when Forster got up throughout the night to check his e-mail and work on different projects.
“The man was a workhorse. I’ve really seen a strong community building as a result of Craig’s passing,” he said.
Marie Martin said she and Jen Colby, who are coordinators in the office and the only full-time employees, are not willing to let Forster’s numerous projects slip through the cracks.
“(The projects) are not going to stop. They’re going to be shifting,” Martin said.
Hamilton said environmental student groups, Perez and the urban planning department, where Forster was a faculty member, have contributed to the office to bridge the gap left by Forster’s passing.
“As far as student groups, we’ve been getting involved in the office and each other’s projects to make sure everything stays together,” Hamilton said.