IU task force on sustainability to develop program

After releasing a report Monday, the IU Task Force on Campus Sustainability will begin developing a program to make the IU campus more environmentally friendly.\n“The period of review allowed us to incorporate constructive feedback from a wide range of University stakeholders,” task force co-chair Michael Hamburger said in a press release.\nThe report defines campus sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”\nIU Vice President of Administration Terry Clapacs organized a 16-member task force last March to offer administrative direction for the sustainability report. The task force’s main job is to evaluate and improve resource use, recycling, energy use, environmental quality, land use, transportation, food and education on campus to be more environmentally friendly.\nThe report was the result of nine months of work by more than 100 IU faculty, staff and students who examined sustainability issues in academic, administrative and operational programs, according to the press release. Twenty undergraduate and graduate student interns conducted research and collected information that contributed to the report.\nHamburger told the Indiana Daily Student in a Nov. 30, 2007 article that he was pleasantly surprised to see a high number of students apply for these internships within a week after the positions were advertised.\n“More than 200 students applied,” Hamburger said. “This is something students are energized by.”\nAlthough the report was initially drafted last November, the final report includes suggestions and concerns from individual members of the University, including the Bloomington Faculty Council, Bloomington Professional Council and the IU Student Assocation.\nThe report suggests that IU should make a “formal, public commitment” in support of sustainability by establishing an IU Bloomington Office of Sustainability and by signing one or more public statements on sustainability or climate change currently being endorsed by U.S. colleges and universities, according to the press release.\nPaul Sullivan, deputy vice president for administration, said in the release that the work of the task force lays an excellent foundation for a national-caliber sustainability program at IU.\n“It does a good job of highlighting what we have accomplished thus far, setting specific goals, and identifying the challenges that lie ahead,” Sullivan said in the release.\nThe report is available online at www.indiana.edu/~sustain.