Center for Sustainability seeks award nominees
Group wants to honor students, faculty, staff for environmental efforts
The KU Center for Sustainability is looking for nominees for its first Sustainability Leadership Awards. The awards will be presented Oct. 24 as part of Campus Sustainability Day.
By Dylan Sands
Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007
Recycle and be recognized. A new award will honor those at the University of Kansas who promote environmental, economic and social responsibility.
The KU Center for Sustainability is currently seeking nominations for the Sustainability Leadership Awards. They are accepting nominations for individuals in three categories: students, faculty and staff.
“We want to use this award as a way to recognize these people and highlight some great efforts being made on campus,” said Jeff Severin, director of the KU Center for Sustainability.
Severin said nominees in the student category could be those who have made a wide variety of efforts to uphold conservation values.
“If they’ve shown leadership in campus issues or in the community, or even if they’ve done a class project that could have an impact on environmental issues, they should be nominated,” he said.
Severin also said that faculty members should be nominated for a wide range of accomplishments, especially if their research can be applied on a global scale.
“If faculty members have made an impact on students in such a way that they empower students to take action, they should be recognized,” he said.
A category for University staff members will also recognize employees who have done anything to encourage waste reduction or energy conservation.
This is the first year that such an award will be presented at KU. The winners will be announced during events on Oct. 24 as part of Campus Sustainability Day. Stacey White, director of academic programs at the KU Center for Sustainability, said that she was excited to see what kind of actions the nominations would recognize.
“We define making a difference quite broadly,” she said. “Everyone from students who sponsor environmental legislation to staff members who carpool could be nominated. There will probably be a learning process when we find out what others think sustainability means.”
Campus Sustainability Day is a nationwide event, but White said the center wanted to focus more on accomplishments at Kansas rather than those of other universities. On that day, various presentations and discussions will take place surrounding the University’s efforts toward conservation. KU Dining will give a presentation on their goals for improving their sustainability, and professors will discuss their research in biofuels and other projects.
“It will be a potpourri of presentations and discussions that will help those interested in these issues to find a place to plug in,” White said.
White said the center had received 20 nominations so far. She said she was surprised to have received so many nominations since this was the first year for the awards.
“I think it’s great we have 20 already for something right out of the chute,” she said.
Nomination forms can be found at www.sustainability.ku.edu/awards.shtml. Forms should be sent to sustainability@ku.edu by 5 p.m. on Oct. 10.
— Edited by Luke Morris
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