Three major themes emerged from the results of a campus sustainability survey and three public forums. According to a report summarizing these activities, the themes are: promoting sustainability could help to drive future enrollment; improved communication is necessary to share some of the steps Northern is taking to reduce its carbon footprint; and NMU could more effectively sustain its related initiatives through the formation of a permanent, campus-wide sustainability committee.

The survey and forums were the result of a collaboration between two NMU students and two faculty members. Sarah Mittlefehldt of the Earth, Environmental and Geographical Sciences faculty, who co-chaired the initiative with Jessica Thompson of Communication and Performance Studies faculty, said that the growth in the environmental studies and sustainability major from fall 2015 to fall 2016 is indicative of the potential impact on enrollment if Northern actively promoted itself as a “green” university.

“Our results our consistent with broader national trends, which show that students are demanding more opportunities to get involved in sustainability initiatives,” stated a letter from the task force to President Fritz Erickson and the NMU Board of Trustees. “According to a 2011 report by The Princeton Review, 69 percent of college applicants reported that a university’s commitment to environmental issues contributed to their decision to attend the school.”

Based on survey support for a more centralized and coordinated approach to sustainability, the task force has proposed the creation of a sustainability committee.

“We have all these different efforts across campus working on different things,” said NMU student Andrew Adamski at a public forum. “There’s no formal way to connect everything and get behind the larger picture of making campus a sustainable model for the U.P., upper Midwest and beyond. If we can have a concerted effort—maybe this committee could be something like that—to coordinate and connect what’s going on, that would make a difference.”

Students Rachel Headings and Ella Skrocki drafted the survey as part of a directed study for the winter 2016 semester. According to the results, a majority of respondents are aware of sustainability efforts on campus and believe it is part of the organizational culture, but students expressed a strong desire to learn more and have opportunities to gain professional experience in sustainability efforts.

Here is a summary of other survey findings:

1. When asked about programs or initiatives they would like to see implemented on campus, responses were: greater energy efficiency (63 percent); creating platforms to promote communication and awareness about sustainability (50 percent); composting on campus (45 percent); incorporating more local food into dining services and/or growing more food on campus (44 percent); reducing waste (43 percent); and integrating sustainability into the curriculum (38 percent).

2. Members of different groups had different priorities. Waste reduction was particularly important to staff, while only 11 percent of students mentioned that improved recycling systems would be a priority.  

3. Most respondents agreed with two 2007-08 AQIP Action Project recommendations: to establish a permanent sustainability committee on campus whose priorities should be improving channels of communication, integrating sustainability into the curriculum’ and addressing energy, food and waste issues on campus; and appointing a sustainability “czar” to coordinate the university’s initiatives, though the task force acknowledged NMU may not be in a financial position to create a new administrative office at this time.

Students Headings and Skrocki also analyzed case studies of 33 universities that offer sustainability programs to determine Northern’s position in the broader landscape of higher education. Their analysis looked at mission statement, current programs/initiatives and student involvement opportunities.

“Northern is striving to become a leader in sustainability,” the summary stated. “This goal is clearly outlined in the NMU strategic plan. Additionally, involvement opportunities through four different student organizations, research projects and volunteer activity in the permaculture garden allow students to gain experience with sustainability in an academic service learning environment. There is always room for improvement and the case studies [from other institutions] can serve as model programs that could be applied to our campus.”

President Erickson authorized the creation of the Sustainability Advisory Council that will report directly to him. Members of the Sustainability Advisory Council received funding from the Project Innovation Fund to begin working this fall to inventory existing sustainability efforts across campus and to create targets for the future.