A group of students and faculty will be working to help administrators learn what L.E.E.D. means next semester, if their plans go right.
The Environmental Leadership Committee met on Monday, Nov. 5. The committee is made up of leaders from environmental groups in the area and on campus.
Some of the groups that were represented were the Environment Studies Student Association (ESSA), the Environmental Law Society and the Sierra Club. There were also two representatives from the Student Government Association (SGA) and one representative from Campus Facilities.
Brandon Hearn, senior and secretary of the ESSA, organized the meeting.
"There are little fragmented groups everywhere, we all need to come together," Hearn said. "A lot of different groups want to do something on campus, but don't know how."
Hearn was also concerned about what happens on campus after he graduates.
"I know I'm a student and I won't be here much longer and I just want to get the ball rolling on something," Hearn said.
Claus Wawrzinek, the Chair for the Thomas Hart Benton Club in the Sierra Club, agreed with Hearn.
"There are some things we can do as individuals and there are some things we can do as a group and we need to explore these options," Wawrzinek said.
One major goal the group has is to set up a sustainability conference on campus to invite the administration to.
Sean McClain, SGA president, said the administration tried to stop the SGA from building the proposed new student union as he wanted it.
"The administration discouraged us from doing a L.E.E.D. certified building," McClain said. "They said it was a waste of time and money."
Kay Johnson, campus facilities, also wants to educate the administration.
"We could, all of our groups, as a collective, invite the administration to come to a half-day conference [to discuss sustainability]," Johnson said.
She also wants the administration to begin thinking about making all of the UMKC campus more sustainable.
"We could petition the administration to undertake energy efficiency on campus," Johnson said.
Johnson was excited by the idea of sustainability.
"Can you imagine having zero waste on campus? It's possible," Johnson said.
The group discussed how to organize itself to have some sort of authority on campus.
Attendees suggested becoming a sub-committee under the SGA or staying as an independent group, but having the presidents of each group represented signing off on decisions.
McClain discussed the pros and cons of becoming a sub-committee. The group wouldn't be able to ask the Student Activity Fee Committee for money.
"You can just form an organization and ask the SGA for money," McClain said.
One student asked what kind of restrictions the group would have as a sub-committee.
"You would have to follow our constitution, but that wouldn't really restrict you," McClain said.
McClain also suggested taking proposals for sustainability on campus to the Chair of the Board of Curators.
"He's a big liberal and I imagine an environmentalist as well," McClain said.
Tara Kloeppel, executive vice president of the SGA, suggested the group not become a sub-committee.
"I think it would be better if we weren't a sub-committee of the SGA. In case you guys don't read the U-News, there is a lot of negative connotation with the SGA," Kloeppel said. "Every time we do something with the administration, there are conspiracy theories."
Johnson also wants the administration to make the decision to become a member of the Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
One person who attended the meeting is unhappy about the formation of the Environmental Leadership Committee.
Caroline Davies is director and academic advisor in the environmental studies program. She sent out an e-mail Sunday, Nov. 11, which chastised Hearn for creating the group.
"There is no unique mission for creating another environmental group," Davies wrote.
Davies also wrote the idea for a sustainability workshop is one she thought of.
"Please do not usurp this project from the group already working on it," Davies wrote.
Davies believes Hearn is creating the Environmental Leadership Committee to compete with the ESSA.
"The pizza for your meeting was paid for by funds for the ESSA. It is a bit disingenuous to ask a group to pay for food for a meeting when you plan to create a competing organization and use our projects," Davies wrote.
Hearn has a different idea of what his group will do.
"It's just to get sustainability issues collaboratively done on campus between different student groups," Hearn said. "A lot of times the groups are really fragmented … it's my idea to hopefully … get collaboration between different groups."
There will be a cross campus sustainability meeting put on by a different group at 2 p.m. Nov. 13. The meeting will held in the Brookside room of the Administrative Center.
jburche@unews.com
