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Macalester appoints sustainability manager
New sustainability manager will help college be more eco-friendly
By: Amy Lieberman, Editor in Chief
Issue date: 2/8/08 Section: News
It looks like the grass might soon be getting greener on this side, too.
In mid-January, Macalester hired its first sustainability manager, Suzanne Savanick Hansen, in hopes of coordinating different environmental sustainability efforts across campus.
"Enough things are starting to happen, and they are scattered on all different people's desks. We got to the point that we needed to have this," Vice President of Administration and Finance David Wheaton said.
Macalester is only one of the several colleges, including Dartmouth and Bowdoin, to recently appoint sustainability managers. Wheaton said that the University of Minnesota is also considering including the position on its faculty roster.
Wheaton said that one of Hansen's responsibilities are simply to "make connections with people," which she has already begun by teaching the Environmental Studies senior seminar with assistant professor Chris Wells. The senior seminar will assess the college's level of greenhouse emissions.
The seminar's project fits within the goals of the American College and University President's Climate Commitment, which Rosenberg and 414 other college and university presidents signed last year.
Hansen said that she will also be working to "make Macalester more of a leader in sustainable efforts.
"I'm trying to figure out where we came from, what projects we already have going on and what we will want to do. We have real needs. I want to get a sustainable website up, as a way to link all of these projects going on."
In November, the Sustainable Endowments Institute gave Macalester a "B" on its college sustainability 2008 report card, an increase from the "C" Macalester received on its 2007 report card. Macalester scored lowest in the "Green Building" and the "Transportation" categories, which might change with the pending completion of the environmentally friendly Macalester Athletic and Recreation Center and the Institute for Global Citizenship, as well as the college's plan to subsidize student bus passes.
In mid-January, Macalester hired its first sustainability manager, Suzanne Savanick Hansen, in hopes of coordinating different environmental sustainability efforts across campus.
"Enough things are starting to happen, and they are scattered on all different people's desks. We got to the point that we needed to have this," Vice President of Administration and Finance David Wheaton said.
Macalester is only one of the several colleges, including Dartmouth and Bowdoin, to recently appoint sustainability managers. Wheaton said that the University of Minnesota is also considering including the position on its faculty roster.
Wheaton said that one of Hansen's responsibilities are simply to "make connections with people," which she has already begun by teaching the Environmental Studies senior seminar with assistant professor Chris Wells. The senior seminar will assess the college's level of greenhouse emissions.
The seminar's project fits within the goals of the American College and University President's Climate Commitment, which Rosenberg and 414 other college and university presidents signed last year.
Hansen said that she will also be working to "make Macalester more of a leader in sustainable efforts.
"I'm trying to figure out where we came from, what projects we already have going on and what we will want to do. We have real needs. I want to get a sustainable website up, as a way to link all of these projects going on."
In November, the Sustainable Endowments Institute gave Macalester a "B" on its college sustainability 2008 report card, an increase from the "C" Macalester received on its 2007 report card. Macalester scored lowest in the "Green Building" and the "Transportation" categories, which might change with the pending completion of the environmentally friendly Macalester Athletic and Recreation Center and the Institute for Global Citizenship, as well as the college's plan to subsidize student bus passes.
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