Southern Miss Creates Office of Sustainability

The University of Southern Mississippi is moving full speed ahead on its commitment to becoming more environmentally responsible and is establishing an Office of Sustainability to spearhead those efforts.

The newly created office will be a part of the Division of Business and Finance, reporting to Russ Willis, human resources director. "Our goal is to have a sustainability officer in place by mid-July to begin work on getting the office up and running," said Willis.

Although the university has had some recycling efforts ongoing for a number of years, President Martha Saunders propelled the larger sustainability effort into motion when she signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment in April.

In essence, the commitment calls for participants to counteract climate change by taking steps to make campuses climate neutral. Southern Miss must also complete a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory within one year and develop a plan for carbon neutrality by the second year.

"The development of this office is key to meeting the university's climate commitment.  I am really happy with the enthusiastic way the campus has embraced this project," said Saunders. We aim for Southern Miss to become the model of sustainable thought and practice within our state and region."

The university also is implementing several other sustainability initiatives that will be directed by the new office.

• University Climate Commitment Council - This 16-member campus group has been created to direct all sustainability activities so that the university remains in compliance with the ACUPCC commitment as well as to serve as a liaison with campus and community constituencies. Its membership includes faculty, staff and students. 

• SouthernGreen Recycling - A recycling pilot program will launch in 13 campus offices this summer with plans to expand campus-wide. Plans include placing 4,500 seven-gallon cans across campus in every office, class and residence hall. This way, employees will be able to recycle plastics, metals and paper products at their deskside.

• EcoEagle - This proposed initiative will focus on incorporating educational elements into the curriculum as well as implementing other activities for students and employees.

Departments and faculty members within the College of Science and Technology already offer a variety of academic courses that incorporate sustainability issues.

"Universities should lead by example in becoming a center for the dissemination of environmental information and developing lifestyles consonant with environmentally responsible stewardship," said Dr. Clifton Dixon, professor of geography and chair of the Department of Geography and Geology. "Faculty and their classes must, whenever practical, involve stewardship issues in the curriculum; we hold the knowledge our next generation needs to keep everyone aware of their eco-responsibilities."

In addition, Southern Miss is designing a new residence hall for the Hattiesburg campus that will be the first planned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified residence hall in Mississippi. The LEED Green Building Rating System™ is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. The LEED certification is an initiative of the U.S. Green Building Council. Learn more at http://www.usgbc.org.

One of the areas identified through the university's strategic planning process is that of creating a culture of healthy minds and bodies. "This sustainability effort is a huge step toward implementing environmentally friendly practices on campus," said Saunders.