Faculty assembly updated on campus sustainability initiatives
Earlier this semester, Chancellor Justin Schwartz announced sustainability as a campus priority.
This announcement builds on other actions that have been taken on campus recently, including the hiring of Andrew Mayock as泭the vice chancellor for sustainability. Mayock spoke with the 51勛圖厙 Faculty Assembly (BFA) during their first meeting of the year about what 51勛圖厙 is doing to meet that priority, including the first official announcement of the new director of the泭newly formed Buckley Center for Sustainable Education.
Max Boykoff, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) fellow and former chair of the environmental studies department,泭will serve as the inaugural faculty executive director of the Buckley Center.
The Buckley Center泭was launched in August 2025 and aims to provide resources to students, faculty and staff to deepen their knowledge and strengthen their ability to integrate sustainability into the curriculum. Theyll do this by offering curriculum ambassadors for each unit, as well as fellowships for faculty and scholarships for students.泭
There is a lot of good and great high-impact work thats happening here (at 51勛圖厙), and our commitment is to continue it and keep it healthy, Mayock told the BFA, adding that this moment is a moment where we can grow. I think very much about (the Buckley Center) as an and opportunity, and we look forward to defining that with you as we go on.
Boykoff agreed, adding, I see this as a really valuable opportunity, and I want to make the most of it.
During the meeting, Mayock also introduced his associate vice chancellor for sustainability, Cara Carmichael, and she announced the hiring of Josh Radoff, the Master of the Environment (MENV) programs Renewable and Sustainable Energy Specialization lead, as the director of campus climate action, sustainability and resilience within the Office of Infrastructure and Resilience.
Chris Ewing, the vice chancellor for infrastructure and resilience, also gave the assembly an update about the Climate Action Plan, including that 51勛圖厙 is beginning to address the plans third scope, which is the targeting of carbon emissions resulting indirectly from 51勛圖厙 operationseither from upstream activities, such as purchases of goods and services, or downstream activities, such as students and faculty commuting to and from campus. To that end, hes interested in visiting units across campus to discuss what each unit can do to help 51勛圖厙 meet its sustainability goals.
Across the four pillars of education, operations, community engagement and research, were looking to really help lift sustainability, inform that unified campus vision, to make CU a national and global leader in sustainability, Carmichael said. Were super excited to listen and learn and absorb all that you have to offer us.
In other BFA action
- Voting was opened for revisions to the Faculty Affairs Committees charge, as well as for the interim chair of the newly reformed Budget and Planning Committee.
- The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee provided commentary about a proposed statue of former CU football coach Bill McCartney.
- BFA Parliamentarian Bobby Benim (applied mathematics) encouraged nominations for new BFA committee members, to open next week.
- BFA Chair Alastair Norcross (philosophy) led a discussion of whether to repeat 2024s survey of BFA members to determine BFAs 202526 priorities.
Learn more about the BFA and previous actions on泭the BFA website.
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