Environmental Council
The Environmental Council (EC) was formed in the Fall of 2006 and is comprised of students, faculty and staff from both the University and Westbrook College campuses. The Environmental Council has evolved out of what was formally known as the UNE School-Wide Environmental Awareness System (SEAS), and the pioneering efforts of faculty and students in the Department of Environmental Studies. The Vice President of Academic Affairs (VPAA) oversees the EC's activities. Currently, the council is a presidential-level committee but the VPAA office is responsible for providing regular updates and reports to the President and Board of Trustees regarding its work.
The purpose of the Environmental Council is to help the VPAA assess UNE's progress in 'greening' the campus. The EC is a focal point for increasing awareness and understanding of environmental issues both on campus and in the extended community. It is also charged with recommending initiatives and mechanisms that might support these and similar goals. Thus, the EC acts in both an advisory and an advocacy capacity. Members of the EC and others who have worked hard over the years to make the Environmental Council a reality on campus want to see the Council effectively integrated into the institution's decision-making process in order to promote wise resource use on campus and greater awareness of environmental challenges facing society. The Council, along with other members of the UNE community, sees the tract of land where the University Campus resides as one of the few remaining ecologically intact natural habitats in south coastal Maine. Promoting the careful stewardship of that land is a high priority for the EC.
During its first year of existence, the EC instituted a “Project Initiation Process” designed to create a transparent and competitive means for evaluating proposed environmental actions on either and/or both of UNE’s campuses. One of the EC's roles will be to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of proposed projects prior to forwarding them to the VPAA to request funding or receive presidential, senior-level, University Council, and/or Board of Trustee support. The EC has attempted to develop a process that is fair and open so that it attracts environmental proposals from all members of the UNE Community. The EC looks forward to receiving such proposals (download Project Initiation Form (pdf)) from interested parties in the immediate future.
The University has preserved 190 acres of university land, including 38 vernal pools, with conservation easements in perpetuity. This conserved area continues to serve as a natural laboratory for UNE researchers and science and environmental studies classes, as well as benefitting the community as a whole.
Meetings are held monthly via video conference in either the Ross Conference Center or St. Francis in Biddeford and 239 Blewett or Hersey 204 in Portland from 12 - 1:00 p.m. Please contact a co-chair to attend.
Spring 2012
Feb. 2, 23
March 29
April 26
May 10
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