A student-led effort to encourage environmentally friendly efforts on campus has prompted administrators to create a new office of campus sustainability.
Members of the student group Sustainable Environments and Ecological Design created a proposal for the office because they said current conservation projects are fragmented and need improvement.
Leaders of the group, however, were surprised at how quickly administrators accepted the idea.
"We did not expect to make changes this fast," said Lindsay Clark, a student who co-founded SEED. "It just seems like people have been waiting for this to happen."
Dave Pershing, senior vice president for academic affairs, said plans for the new office are mostly preliminary at this point, but he expects the office will be established in July.
Students will pay a portion of the cost of hiring additional employees for the office with their tuition next fall. Pershing said the office will hire a coordinator and administrative assistant to work with individual areas of campus on their sustainability efforts.
Pershing said the purpose of the office will be to both develop new ways to minimize the U's environmental impact as well as encourage student participation in its efforts.
Administrators said they have felt pressured in recent years to do more to make the U eco-friendly.
"Everybody thinks it's a good idea, but nobody has got their foot on the throttle," said Paul Brinkman, associate vice president for budget and planning.
But Clark said she worries students will be left out of the process as administrators take over the project.
She said SEED hasn't heard much from the administration about how the new office will be organized since submitting the proposal.
"It's just a matter of convincing them that the best way to do it is to include students," Clark said.
Pershing said he intends for students and faculty to be highly involved and give input through the office's steering committee. He said there has been little contact between SEED and the administration because no specifics have been decided.
Clark said she thinks the office will help to publicize measures the U is already taking to become more sustainable.
"We're doing a lot more than people know about," Clark said.
