Faculty Council discussing possible ad hoc committee on sustainability
CU Faculty Council is discussing the possibility of establishing a new ad hoc committee focusing on environmental sustainability across the four campuses.
David Paradis and Carol Cogswell, co-chairs of the CU Boulder Faculty Assembly’s (BFA) Climate Science and Education Committee, spoke on the topic during the Feb. 27 Faculty Council meeting, held via Zoom.
In recent years, the BFA committee has promoted public speaking events and other outreach by faculty to promote sustainability at the campus and in the community beyond. In the course of their work, committee members learned of similar efforts at other campuses.
“There’s a lot to learn from one another,” said David Paradis, co-chair of the CU Boulder Faculty Assembly’s Climate Science and Education Committee.
Discussion included mentions of recently launched newsletters on the topic at CU Anschutz and UCCS, and student-backed sustainability efforts at UCCS and CU Boulder.
Faculty Council members decided a potential ad hoc committee on sustainability would be worth pursuing as a way of promoting interaction and information sharing between the campuses. Faculty Council Chair Alastair Norcross asked Paradis and Cogswell to draft a resolution proposing the action for consideration at the next Faculty Council meeting, scheduled for April 3.
In other business at last week’s Faculty Council meeting, Cindy O’Bryant, immediate past chair, said the Bylaws Committee is continuing its work to update existing bylaws affected by changes to the Faculty Senate Constitution that took effect at the beginning of this year. Changes pertaining to Faculty Council are expected to be brought before the council in April.
Faculty Council Secretary Vicki Grove noted that this year’s officer elections will be the first following the recent adoption of new structure. The council will elect a new chair, chair-elect and secretary at the April 24 meeting. A call for nominations will go out in March.
Norcross said planning continues for an in-person Faculty Council retreat, tentatively scheduled for April 11.
The next regular Faculty Council meeting is scheduled for noon to 3 p.m. April 3.