The Office of Sustainability is one step closer to selecting a coordinator and committee for the unused sustainability fee.
Last spring, the Associated Students of the University of Utah and the U Board of Trustees approved a $2.50 per-semester fee to fund student-driven sustainability projects on campus. Until now, the people who would oversee the fee weren’t in place to do anything with it.
More than 80 applicants for the sustainability coordinator position were whittled down to nine candidates last week. Of the nine, three have been chosen to advance to another round of interviews, said Myron Willson, director of the Office of Sustainability. The committee will resume next week to continue interviews for the coordinator position.
The program needs a coordinator to advise students about how to model and present their sustainability projects for the approval of the allocation committee, which administers the fee. The allocation committee, composed of representatives from the colleges of architecture, humanities and health sciences, as well as plant operations and student advocates, is charged with making the final decision as to who will be the coordinator, Willson said.
The committee is still missing two seats. Jen Colby, sustainability coordinator at the Office of Sustainability, said the office was waiting on confirmation of two people who have been nominated to the committee but have not yet said if they will serve.
“We didn’t want to put the list out there until everyone has confirmed,” Colby said.
ASUU President Tayler Clough has nominated Julie Harper, a junior in environmental studies, and graduate student Justin Reuter to serve on the committee, said Dave Burt, director of the ASUU Sustainability Board.
Colby said a full list of committee members will be available on the Office of Sustainability’s website as soon as membership is confirmed. The office will know for sure early next week, she said.
In order to present their ideas for approval, students will consult the coordinator and bring their ideas to the ASUU Sustainability Board. The board will then act as middleman and bring the ideas to the committee for approval.
The soonest the coordinator could start is right before Thanksgiving, but realistically, it will probably be Dec. 1, Willson said. All potential candidates are employed elsewhere and will have to give notice to their employers before beginning at the U, Willson said.
He said ideal candidates for the coordinator position would have a passion for sustainability issues and experience running a student program and working in a campus environment.
“Typically, we’ve had to compromise,” Willson said. But all nine of the candidates interviewed met all the criteria, he said.
When students return in January from Winter Break, the new coordinator will be in charge of a major outreach effort to the student body to present his or her projects to the committee, Willson said.
“In a typical year, there will be a fall and spring application process,” Willson said about project submissions. The committee will make project selections in February or early March 2010.