UMACS 2021 Conference
Thursday & Friday | September 23-24, 2021
A Virtual Event via Zoom

UMACS.png
UMACS 2021 Conference
Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Advancing Justice in Challenging Times

September 23-24, 2021
A live virtual event via Zoom

Hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

​Details


The Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability (UMACS) Conference attracts a variety of college and university students, campus sustainability professionals, faculty, and staff. The event provides cutting edge research and data from regional colleges and universities on sustainability policy and practice. Attendees have an opportunity for regional-wide networking and collaboration-building centered around campus and community sustainability.

The 2021 UMACS Conference theme, Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Advancing Justice in Challenging Times, aims to bring attention to the recent health, social justice, and environmental challenges facing our campuses and our communities. National dialogs on COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, and climate change, among others, give us the opportunity for personal and institutional reflection and for strengthening our campus commitments to a just and sustainable society.

​Registration Information


Registration fee:

  • $40 Faculty, Staff, and Professionals
  • $15 Students 
Registration is closed.  

For financial assistance inquiries, please contact umacs.conference@uwsp.edu.

​Important Dates


​April 2021 ​Call for proposals, papers, and award nominations opens. Registration opens.
July 23, 2021 ​Call for session proposals closes.  
July 23, 2021 ​General call for oral presentations closes.
​July 30, 2021 ​Notification of proposals and presentations to be included in the conference program.
August 20, 2021 ​Call for award nominations closes.
September 10, 2021 ​Call for virtual posters closes.
September 22, 2021
Conference registration closes.

​Plenary Speakers


Salas - Headshot.pngRenee N. Salas, MD, MPH, MS

Dr. Renee N. Salas is Affiliated Faculty and previous Burke Fellow at the Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI) and a Yerby Fellow at the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE) at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is also a practicing emergency medicine physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. 

Dr. Salas has served as the lead author of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change U.S. Brief since 2018 and founded and leads its Working Group of over 70 U.S. organizations, institutions, and centers working at the nexus of climate change and health. She was a Co-Director for the first Climate Crisis and Clinical Practice Symposium - in partnership with The New England Journal of Medicine - and spearheads the broader Initiative. She also serves on the planning committee for the National Academy of Medicine’s Climate Change and Human Health Initiative and has testified before Congress for the full House Committee on Oversight and Reform on how climate change is harming health. She engages in research on how climate change is impacting the healthcare system and developing evidence-based adaptation. She lectures and serves on committees at the nexus of climate and health nationally and internationally, advises and publishes in high impact journals, and her work and expertise are regularly featured in mainstream media outlets like the New York Times, NPR, Time, and the Associated Press. 

Her Doctor of Medicine is from the innovative five-year medical school program to train physician-investigators at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine with a Master of Science in Clinical Research from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Her Master of Public Health is from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health with a concentration in environmental health.


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August M. Ball, Founder & CEO, Cream City Conservation & Consulting, LLC

August Ball combined her passions for the environment, diversity, and equity when she founded Cream City Conservation and Consulting. After a decade of working in the environmental field, August noticed a theme: Lack of representation of people of color in leadership positions and a lack of knowledge on how to mitigate existing organizational cultures which lead to workforce homogeneity in the first place. August helps environmental and community-based organizations address diversity and land stewardship needs through the cultivation of inclusive culture and creation of equitable green career pipelines. Cream City Conservation and Consulting provides training and equity audits to help organizations tackle environmental racism and work toward equitable representation in decision-making positions. The Conservation Corps coordinates environmental programs for youth and young adults of color in the Milwaukee area.


Conference Information

 Conference Agenda

​Thursday, September 23

  7:45 - 8:00 AM
Welcoming Remarks - UWSP Chancellor Thomas Gibson

​  8:00 - 9:15 AM
Opening Plenary - Dr. Rene Salas, Harvard University, With Question and Answer

  9:40 -10:40 AM
​Oral Sessions

​Workshop
  11:00 AM - Noon

Oral Sessions
​Workshop
​  Noon - 1:20 PM

​Lunch & Virtual Exhibit Hall
​Sustaining Ourselves Mini-Retreat
​  1:40 - 2:40 PM

Oral Sessions
Workshop
​  3:00 - 4:00 PM
Oral Sessions
Workshop

​  4:20 - 5:20 PM

Posters - Meet the Authors
​Virtual Happy Hour
  5:40 - 6:40 PM
​Student Networking Session


​Friday, September 24

  7:45 - 8:00 AM
Day 2 Welcome

​  8:00 - 9:00 AM
Oral Sessions

Workshop
  9:20 - 10:20 AM

​Oral Sessions
​Workshop
 10:40 - 11:40 AM
Oral Sessions
​Workshop

​  Noon - 1:00 PM
Lunch & Virtual Exhibit Hall

​UMACS Membership Meeting
​  1:20 - 1:30 PM
UMACS Awards

  1:30 - 2:45 PM
Closing Plenary - August Ball, Cream City Conservancy
Roundtable Discussion


More information coming soon!  Please note that this schedule is tentative and subject to change.

Although this is a live conference, unless otherwise noted on conference website, sessions will be recorded and available for 3 months after the conference.

 Call for Virtual Posters

General Call for Virtual Posters 

In addition to session proposals, this year's UMACS Conference welcomes posters that touch on or integrate issues of health, social justice, or environmental challenges as these topics relate to the physical or intellectual campus setting. Individuals may submit posters for inclusion in the program apart from the proposed sessions above. These will be grouped with like posters in sessions organized by the conference committee.  


Poster Requirements

  • 100-character limit title.
  • 2000-character limit abstract.
  • Abstract should describe how your poster aligns with the conference theme of Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Advancing Justice in Challenging Times, if not otherwise evident from the title. 
  • Intended organizational track: Campus Operations, Academic Sustainability and Sustainability Research, Student Life, or Campus-Community Partnerships.
  • Presenter information: Name(s), Title(s), Organization(s). Please list presenting author first.
  • Poster may include up to two minutes of recorded audio/video.  Details on poster format and submission will be emailed.
  • Completed posters must be uploaded by Wednesday, September 15, 2021.
  • UMACS reserves the right to exclude any poster that does not meet the above criteria.

Virtual Poster Guidelines

  • Virtual Poster abstracts/descriptions must be submitted and approved by UMACS PRIOR to poster upload.  Poster acceptances are sent to the lead and/or presenting author via email.
  • Once accepted, posters and optional audio-visual content must be uploaded by Wednesday, September 15 to guarantee inclusion.
  • All poster presenters and/or lead authors must register for the UMACS conference, even if not attending the live poster session. 

Virtual Poster Technical Specifications

  • The Virtual Poster must be one page, as if you were viewing an actual printed poster.
  • Posters may be created using the software of your choosing, but must have the following dimensions:
    • Maximum of 48 inches (130 cm) by 36 inches (100 cm).
    • Posters may be portrait or landscape.
  • Audio-visual content (optional) may not exceed two minutes.
  • Each uploaded file cannot exceed 25 MB.
  • All posters must be submitted in one of the following two formats:
    • PREFERRED: A PDF file and a separate 2-minute (maximum) video link.  Linked video may be YouTube, Vimeo, or another shared public video platform.
    • A PDF file and a separate 2-minute (maximum) audio-visual file saved as a MPEG-4 video (.mp4) or .mp3 for audio only. 

How to Upload Your Poster

  • Send your poster files via email to UMACS.conference@uwsp.edu.
  • Indicate if you plan to be available via Zoom for the live poster session from 4:30-5:30 p.m. CST on Thursday, September 23.
  • Posters and optional audio-visual content must be received by Wednesday, September 15 to guarantee inclusion. 

Virtual Poster Design Recommendations

  • Font size: 28pt or larger for text.
  • Use a standard font that is easy to read.  Avoid decorative, italicized, script/cursive, and other "fancy" fonts.
  • Avoid background images and watermarks that may detract from the ability to read your poster. 
  • Include the following important information in your poster, including font size suggestions:
    • Title (80 font)
    • Author(s) (48 font)
    • Author Affiliation(s), City, State (36 font)
    • Logos (e.g., affiliation, funding source)
  • Make certain images are of sufficient resolution and do not appear blurry at 100% scale.
  • Use only static images and do not embed any videos or animation in your poster.

For questions relating to your poster submission, please email umacs.conference@uwsp.edu.

 ‭(Hidden)‬ Call for Award Nominations

Call for Award Nominations closes August 20, 2021.

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Please nominate someone for the 2021 UMACS Re(Cognition) Awards!

This award was created to honor the late Jim Farrell, professor of history, American studies, and environmental studies at St. Olaf College. Before his passing in 2013, Jim tirelessly advocated for advancing sustainability work in the Upper Midwest. Jim's love of wordplay serves as the inspiration for the name of this award, which is meant to recognize individuals who help us re-think and re-imagine what is possible as we seek to catalyze solutions to everyday issues - just as Jim did so well.

Recipients will display Jim's passion for enriching their campus sustainability efforts, inspiring others to consider the impact of their daily actions, and leading on-going change. Please consider nominating recipients worthy of re(cognition) in each of the following categories:

1. Educator
Nominees for this category are faculty who have made significant contributions to their campus sustainability efforts through outstanding instruction and mentorship. Worthy recipients incorporate sustainability and exemplify sustainable behaviors in their research, course content, and green teaching practices. With humility and dedication to lifelong learning, these faculty members acknowledge their ability to learn from their pupils through collaboration.

2. Administrator
Nominees for this category are administrators who have made significant contributions to their campus sustainability efforts through outstanding leadership. Worthy recipients have a vision for a more sustainable future to which they lead their community by example. They help us re-think our traditionally hierarchical relationships such that we become better collaborators. Through tireless advocacy, these individuals embody Jim's dedication to advancing sustainability.

3. Staff
Nominees for this category are staff who have made significant contributions to their campus sustainability efforts through exemplary work. Worthy recipients incorporate
sustainable practices and principles into their daily efforts. Through direct leadership or by example, these staff members inspire others to consider the complex environmental, social, and economic implications of their choices.  

4. Emerging Leader
Nominees for this category are students who demonstrate innovative and creative leadership in addressing sustainability issues on campus. Worthy recipients enhance sustainability efforts on campus or in their community through coursework, participation in student groups or service projects, extracurricular activity, volunteerism, or other avenues.  Through their drive to create positive change, these students inspire others to follow suit.

Instructions
Nominators will provide their contact information, affiliation, the capacity in which they know the nominee, the category to which they are being nominated, and contact information for the nominee. Nominators will answer three questions about the nominee:

  • How does this person incorporate sustainability into their work, teaching practices, leadership, or projects? 
  • How does this person inspire others to consider the environmental, social, and economical implications of their choices?
  • What significant contributions has this person made to their campus sustainability efforts?

The deadline for submission is Friday, August 20, 2021. The UMACS Steering Committee will review all nominations in August.

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 Sponsor Opportunities

The Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability (UMACS) conference attracts a variety of college and university students, campus sustainability professionals, faculty, and staff. The event provides cutting edge research and data from regional colleges and universities on sustainability policy and practice. Attendees have an opportunity for regional-wide networking and collaboration-building centered around campus and community sustainability. Close to 250 participants attended the 2019 conference, but we believe that a virtual platform in 2021 will open the door to a more accessible and affordable experience for all. We anticipate greater turnout, especially among students and the community this year!

 

2021 UMACS Conference
Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Advancing Justice in Challenging Times
 
Hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
September 23-24, 2021
A Virtual Conference via Zoom
 
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Please direct questions to umacs.conference@uwsp.edu

*Virtual exhibit booth content due no later than Friday, September 3, 2021. No exceptions will be made. For additional information please contact uwspce-conf@uwsp.edu.


The Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability Conference reserves the right to deny sponsorship, booth, and/or donations for any company, organization, or individual it deems unsuitable for the conference.

 ‭(Hidden)‬ Call for Session Proposals

Call for Session Proposals is closed.

This year's UMACS Conference theme is Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Advancing Justice in Challenging Times to reflect the recent health, social justice, and environmental challenges facing our campuses and our communities. While the conference is not specifically about COVID-19, Black Lives Matter or climate change, these national dialogs open the door for reflection and for strengthening our campus commitments to sustainability. UMACS welcomes session proposals that touch on or integrate issues of health, social justice, environmental challenges as these topics relate to the physical or intellectual campus setting.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL SESSIONS (OTHER THAN POSTERS) WILL BE LIVE, NOT PRE-RECORDED. Live sessions will be recorded for later viewing by conference registrants.

​IMPORTANT DATES ​

​April 2021​Call for proposals, papers, and award nominations open. Registration opens.
July 23, 2021​Call for session proposals closes.  
July 23, 2021​General call for oral presentations closes.
​July 30, 2021​Notification of proposals and presentations to be included in the conference program.
August 20, 2021​Call for award nominations closes.
September 10, 2021​Call for virtual posters closes.
September 22, 2021
​Conference registration Closes

   

SESSION PROPOSALS

Session Topical Areas

Sessions should focus on the advancement of environmental and health justice with particular emphasis on higher education and campus communities. Broader topics of wellness, racial equity, social justice, accessibility, and intersectionality are welcome so long as they tie into creating healthy and sustainable environments for campuses and the communities they serve.

Session Tracks

Proposals for session should clearly align with one of the four UMACS organizational tracks:

  • Campus Operations
  • Academic Sustainability and Sustainability Research
  • Student Life
  • Campus-Community Partnerships

Types of Proposals Requested

1.   ORAL PRESENTATION SESSION

  • Sessions are groups of presentations intended to provide attendees with in-depth information on practices, innovation, research and other key aspects of the field.
  • Three to four 12-minute oral presentations, each followed by 5-minute moderated Q&A.
  • 60 minutes

2.   PANEL DISCUSSION

  • Discussions begin with short presentations on conference theme by panelists followed by a moderated discussion with participants.
  • Three to five lightning talks, 5-minutes each, back-to-back, followed by a facilitated roundtable discussion.
  • 60 minutes

3.   WORKSHOP

  • Workshops allow presenters to share their knowledge, experience, or techniques with attendees through active learning and other creative, interactive formats.
  • Organizers must coordinate workshop participation and content and moderate the program.
  • 60 minutes in length unless otherwise arranged.

4.   POSTER SESSION

  • A topical grouping for five or more online posters with a recorded overview presentation not to exceed 5 minutes.
  • Individual posters may have audio content not to exceed 2 minutes.
  • Posters are available for viewing throughout the conference.

If you would like to organize a different type of session, an activity, a social event, or a virtual or in-person field trip, we are happy to accommodate. Please contact  umacs.conference@uwsp.edu.

Session Proposal Guidelines

The proposal submittal portal will require the following information:

  • Session Organizational Track [CAMPUS OPERATIONS, ACADEMIC SUSTAINABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY RESEARCH, STUDENT LIFE, CAMPUS-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS]
  • Session Type [ORAL PRESENTATION SESSION, PANEL DISCUSSION, WORKSHOP, POSTER, OTHER-DESCRIBE]
  • Title, not to exceed 100 characters including spaces
  • Summary of proposed session, not to exceed 2000 characters
  • Summary describes how the session aligns with the 2021 theme of Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Advancing Justice in Challenging Times
  • Name of facilitator(s)
  • Affiliation(s)
  • For oral and poster sessions:
    • List of presenters and/or panelist
    • Title of presentations (not to exceed 100 characters including spaces)
    • Presenters may submit their full abstracts along with the proposal or using the general call for papers and specifying the intended session

Review Process

All proposals are reviewed for inclusion by the UMACS Steering Committee and the UWSP Conference Planning Committee.

Proposals are evaluated on the following criteria:

  • The session or activity aligns with the 2021 theme of Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Advancing Justice in Challenging Times.
  • The session or activity is connected to one of the UMACS organizational tracks: Campus Operations, Academic Sustainability and Sustainability Research, Student Life, or Campus-Community Partnerships.
  • The session summary is clear and accurately reflects the proposed content.
  • The session will provide new information, knowledge, skills, and/or creative applications of know information. etc.

For questions relating to your proposal submission, please email umacs.conference@uwsp.edu.

Call for Session Proposals is closed.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL SESSIONS (OTHER THAN POSTERS) WILL BE LIVE, NOT PRE-RECORDED. Live sessions will be recorded for later viewing by conference registrants.

 ‭(Hidden)‬ Extra space

 ‭(Hidden)‬ Exhibitor Opportunities

​Thursday Session Descriptions

 7:45-9:15 a.m. Welcome and Opening Plenary - Action on the Climate Crisis for Health, Equity, and Hope - Dr. Renee N. Salas

Welcoming Remarks  


Presenters:
 Thomas Gibson, Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point

Opening Plenary with Q&A - Action on the Climate Crisis for Health, Equity, and Hope


Presenters:
 Renee Salas, Harvard University School of Public Health

Salas - Headshot.png


Opening Plenary

Action on the Climate Crisis for Health, Equity, and Hope

The climate crisis is a health emergency, and the impacts of climate change are here and now. Fossil fuel pollution, in the form of air pollution and carbon pollution driving the climate crisis, is harming the health of everyone - but some bear a greater burden.  Action on climate change is a prescription for improved health and equity, and we have the treatments we need to address this problem. We just need the collective and political will to act. A path forward for action will be laid out.  It is time for all of us to get to work, and our hope lies in acting together.


Renee N. Salas, MD, MPH, MS

Dr. Renee N. Salas is Affiliated Faculty and previous Burke Fellow at the Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI) and a Yerby Fellow at the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE) at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is also a practicing emergency medicine physician in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. 

Dr. Salas has served as the lead author of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change U.S. Brief since 2018 and founded and leads its Working Group of over 70 U.S. organizations, institutions, and centers working at the nexus of climate change and health. She was a Co-Director for the first Climate Crisis and Clinical Practice Symposium - in partnership with The New England Journal of Medicine - and spearheads the broader Initiative. She also serves on the planning committee for the National Academy of Medicine’s Climate Change and Human Health Initiative and has testified before Congress for the full House Committee on Oversight and Reform on how climate change is harming health. She engages in research on how climate change is impacting the healthcare system and developing evidence-based adaptation. She lectures and serves on committees at the nexus of climate and health nationally and internationally, advises and publishes in high impact journals, and her work and expertise are regularly featured in mainstream media outlets like the New York Times, NPR, Time, and the Associated Press. 

Her Doctor of Medicine is from the innovative five-year medical school program to train physician-investigators at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine with a Master of Science in Clinical Research from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Her Master of Public Health is from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health with a concentration in environmental health.

 9:40-10:40 a.m. Sessions and Workshops

Session A: COVID or Us?  Interpreting GHG Emission Reductions Amid a Pandemic While improving Energy Efficiency


Presenters: Anna Carlson, Bemidji State University, Jordan Lutz, Bemidji State University, and Alyssa Hauser, Bemidji State University

Description
Located in Northern Minnesota, Bemidji State University (BSU) operates within a dispersed, rural, and diverse community. With a longstanding commitment to carbon reduction, BSU has strategically partnered with the university's electric utility provider, Otter Tail Power Company, to improve energy efficiency since 2017. By participating in a Commercial Process Efficiency collaboration, BSU qualifies for rebate dollars tied to energy planning and nameplate demand reduction. The energy planning process includes members from Otter Tail, university staff (Facilities, IT, and Sustainability), and third-party engineers. Qualifying efficiency projects relate to upgrading lighting, HVAC systems, and other sources of electricity consumption. The collaboration also enabled completion of a geothermal feasibility study, identifying how campus could shift from existing natural gas boilers to ground-source heat pump systems in a piecemeal manner over the coming decades. Findings of the collaboration suggest BSU has the potential to cut CO2 emission by roughly 40% and achieve annual energy cost savings of over $450,000.  From the utility perspective, the Process Efficiency program both helps reduce the demand curve of a large commercial consumer and helps the utility meet annual electricity savings mandated by the state of Minnesota. Thus far, BSU has received nearly $600,000 in rebates from Otter Tail for this work. Though not a true green revolving fund, all rebate dollars are intentionally funneled into a cost center for investment in subsequent efficiency projects. The University expects to see reductions in energy consumption (~6%)) and average monthly energy bill (~7%). During this time, however, the university also experienced reductions in energy use on campus attributable to COVID-related closures. This presentation will explore efforts to parse out these variables while conducting an annual greenhouse gas emissions inventory. Presenters will speak to ongoing carbon reduction strategies post-pandemic, including possible geothermal retrofitting, as BSU attempts to build back better. Participants will also learn how they may leverage similar opportunities to achieve efficiency upgrades in collaboration with utility providers.

Session B: Resilient Communities: Libraries Respond to Climate Change


Presenters:
 Kristen Mastel, University of Minnesota, Olivia MacIsaac, Butler University, Marta Petermann, Hiawatha Public Library, Suzanne Teghtmeyer, Michigan State University, and Carol Sevin, Kansas State University

Description
Resilient Communities: Libraries Respond to Climate Change grants is a pilot program to help public and academic libraries engage their communities in programs and conversations that address the climate change crisis. Seventy-five libraries were provided funds for programming to engage the communities in climate-related discussions and activities. In this session, you will hear from five libraries that received funding and how they worked with their communities and beyond to support sustainability. 

Session C: Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Making Our Campuses Better for All


Part 1: Intercultural Sustainability Leaders (ISLe): Integrating Equity and Sustainability Through Discourse

Presenters: Clement Loo, University of Minnesota Morris, Troy Goodnough, University of Minnesota Morris, Jasmine Pryor, University of Minnesota Morris

Oral Presentation Description: UMN Morris is broadly recognized as a leader in the domain of sustainability within higher education. To maintain our position within the vanguard we are working to more robustly integrate sustainability and equity. One way we are doing this is through the Intercultural Sustainability Leaders program (ISLe). ISLe was developed through a partnership between the Office of Sustainability and the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Intercultural Programs at UMN Morris with the support of funding from the Institute of the Environment's inaugural round of DEI Grants. 

In our presentation we will discuss the objectives and the strategies employed within ISLe to broaden representation of Indigenous students and students of color within sustainability-oriented programs and to broaden the cultural perspectives informing efforts to improve campus sustainability at UMN Morris. 

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Part 2: Addressing Environmental Justice at Macalester: Creating an EJ Framework and Resource Calendar

Presenters: Matthew Najberg, Macalester College and Christine McCormick, Macalester College

Lightning Talk Description: Sustainability has been a focus of Macalester College since 1960. In recent years, the justice dimensions of sustainability have become a larger focus within the Sustainability Office's efforts. Environmental injustices have been affecting the health and well-being of communities of color for decades; striving for true sustainability requires centering the needs and voices of those most affected. Macalester's sustainability goals needed to be updated with an intersectional foundation that acknowledges and begins to dismantle structural racism and settler colonialism. Thus, we've created several initiatives to begin laying the foundation for a more just campus.

We began by creating an environmental justice framework and toolkit. The goal of this framework is to apply an environmental justice lens to the goals of the Sustainability Office, as well as the departments and processes closely related to those goals. The tool kit is a series of questions meant to be applied to future and current initiatives in order to evaluate whether or not they take environmental justice into account. 

We wanted the focus on environmental justice to expand beyond the Sustainability Office, and this inspired the creation of an environmental justice resource calendar. The calendar has monthly environmental justice topics including the basics of EJ, food justice, land sovereignty, and weekly resource recommendations in a variety of media forms. We also created a supplemental document with links to and descriptions of more resources. Our hope is that the calendar serves as a conversation starter both within and beyond the Macalester community because the first step to addressing environmental injustices is understanding them.

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Part 3: Finding Intersectional Solutions to Environmental Sustainability & Social Justice

Presenters: Nyasa Henderson Meany, Augsburg University and Monica McDaniel, Augsburg University

Oral Presentation Description: Nyasa Henderson Meany is an undergraduate student at Augsburg University. She is studying a major in Intersectional Environmentalism, and two minors in Environmental Studies and Political Science. The environment is very important to her; it's what she wants our leaders to prioritize. As a Black woman, issues around racial equity are equally important to her; it's what she wants our leaders to also prioritize. From her experience, social justice issues are at the forefront of environmental sustainability work. She is curious to learn how issues of social justice and environmental sustainability intersect. She can't wait to build more community and civic engagement to make Augsburg University, Minneapolis, and the Midwest a place where people of all backgrounds can find their place in social justice and environmental movements.

During the summer of 2021 and continuing into the 2021-2022 school year, Nyasa is conducting research with Monica McDaniel, the Sustainability Officer at Augsburg University, to identify issues at the intersection of environmental sustainability initiatives and social justice efforts. During this presentation, Nyasa will share some of the preliminary data coming out of her exploratory, action-based research study: Finding Intersectional Solutions to Environmental Sustainability and Social Justice. Thus far, she has conducted 14 individual interviews and demographic surveys to hear from leaders in social justice work and leaders in environmental sustainability work. She hopes to share the initial findings from this research in order to support both environmental sustainability leaders and social justice leaders to adapt actions that are at the intersections of both movements. Through this presentation, attendees will have an opportunity to learn about her research methods, get a peek at preliminary data, and have a chance to engage in conversation about the intersections and disconnects among these movements and initiatives.

Workshop: Joyful Climate Work: Finding Your Playful Path   


Presenters:
 Ryan Ihrke, College of Saint Scholastica and Casey Meehan, Western Technical College

Workshop Description: "If we want to make it safely and sanely through all the challenges coming our way, we're going to need to come out and play." -Bernie DeKoven

Those who are directly engaging with the challenges posed by the climate crisis have likely felt moments of anxiety, anger and despair; and those who are new to working towards sustainability can be overwhelmed and hesitant to engage at all. The danger in either case is that we are left feeling drained and numb.
How might we engage in this work that leaves our students, our community, and ourselves feeling renewed at a time when everything in this world seems to be going so wrong?  What if we took a more joyful approach rooted in playfulness?

Drawing on the work of writers, educators and researchers on the benefits of play and playfulness, this workshop provides an introduction to how joy and playfulness can serve as important and necessary tools needed to balance the negativity inherent to being aware and engaged with sustainability work. Participants will reflect with others on the opportunities and barriers to integrating playfulness into their sustainability work, and, through their participation, they will be reminded how to take a more joyful path in their personal and professional activities. This workshop is suited for anyone interested in exploring the possibility of feeling more renewed - and helping others feel more renewed--by their climate justice and sustainability work.

Wellness Moment: Social Dimension of Wellness


Presenters:
 Nicole Neuberger, Student at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Health Promotion and Wellness Major, Intended Graduation: May 2022

Social Wellness Moment Description: Wellness is a multidimensional concept that includes the Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, Career, Intellectual, Environmental, and Social dimensions of wellness. Social wellness is the ability to relate to and connect with other people in the world. The intellectual dimension encourages creative, stimulating mental activities. This session will explore one dimension of wellness and introduce participants to the concepts and explore activities to incorporate into their daily life.  

 11 a.m.-Noon Sessions and Workshops

Session A: Campus-Community Partnerships for Sustainability and Justice 


Part 1: Advancing Justice Through Community Collaborations


Presenters: Grace Coggio, University of Wisconsin-River Falls and Mark Klapatch-Mathias, University of Wisconsin-River Falls

Oral Presentation Description: This session explores the benefits of collaborating with the local community when advancing university sustainability efforts, particularly in areas of social justice and the environment. It will describe a variety of successful university/community collaborations that include capitalizing on faculty and community resources, overcoming restrictive "red tape," providing student engagement opportunities, and advocating for sustainability as both a campus and community priority. In addition, the session describes how these community-based collaborations were initiated and offers recommendations for further developing and sustaining the connections. Session participants will discover the potential of community collaboration for advancing university sustainability goals and will leave with tangible examples of how to develop community partnerships that address local challenges involving social justice and environmental health. 

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Part 2: Resilient Communities: Libraries Respond to Climate Change, a Michigan State University Case Study

Presenters: Eric Tans, Michigan State University and Laura Young, Michigan State University

Oral Presentation Description:   
In 2020, the Michigan State University (MSU) Libraries partnered with the MSU Sustainability Office, MSU Gender and Sexuality Campus Center, Greater Lansing Food Bank Garden Project, and the Refugee Development Center to receive a Resilient Communities: Libraries Respond to Climate Change grant from the American Libraries Association. For the grant, MSU Libraries hosted a series of virtual community events focusing on the nexus between climate change, food insecurity, refugees, and community resilience. Our partnerships enabled delivery of a diverse set of programs incorporating academic research, lived experience, and practical applicability focusing on building community resilience through gardening. Events included a film screening and panel discussion on community resilience, climate change, and refugees; a gardening workshop; a community storytelling session where participants shared personal stories about seeds and seed saving; and a film screening and moderated discussion on resilience among queer communities in the face of climate change. 

Through this grant, the MSU Libraries were also designated a Climate Resilience Hub by the organization Communities Responding to Extreme Weather (CREW). As a Hub, the MSU Libraries are committed to providing informational resources to the community on responding to climate change and preparing for extreme weather events. Climate Resilience Hubs also have the potential to expand their services to include direct community support during and immediately after disruptive events.
Gardening promotes individual, community, and ecological health as people eat locally grown food and come to understand more about their local environment through physical work. Similarly, access to food is a justice issue and gardening empowers individuals and communities to produce healthy food and in turn increase resilience in challenging times. This presentation provides a case study supporting healthy people and advancing justice.

Session B: Sustainability Success Stories in Academic Programs


Part 1: Bemidji State: Niizhoo Gwayakochigewin Program

Presenters: Elise Sikes, Bemidji State university and Erika Bailey-Johnson, Bemidji State University

Oral Presentation Description:  This presentation will discuss the history of the Niizhoo-gwayakochigewin program and the specifics of the program (Goals, who works with the program, the Indigenous Sustainability Studies (ISS) major and minor program). I will talk about how accomplishing the goals of the program will help the community to understand more about the importance of sustainability and how sustainability can shift to be more targeting to the local environment. I will also discuss how these goals will teach the community about the history of the Ojibwe and how Bemidji residents can be more knowledgeable about Ojibwe way of life. The Niizhoo-gwayakochigewin program also facilitates internships. This year there are 6 interns each doing different work here in Northern Minnesota. 

The ISS program teaches students about what Indigenous people have known since time immemorial. The core goals of the ISS program include being able to find creative solutions to environmental problems from an Indigenous and Western science lens, understanding institutional racism and oppression found in education and analyze that impact, and being able to discuss the balanced spiritual-cultural foundation of the original people of the Americas via Creation stories and Indigenous Natural Laws. Historically, Indigenous knowledge has been oppressed. This program will uplift Indigenous knowledge not only in the community, but in others as well because many students participating in the ISS program live outside of Bemidji. These students can take their knowledge with them and teach others what they have learned. 

Currently, the Director of Sustainability at BSU, Erika Bailey-Johnson, is working is working with the University to make an Indigenous course requirement that would need to be met in order to fulfill BSU's Liberal Education requirement. 

This program aligns with the theme of this year's UMACS conference because education is power, and learning the history is the only way to change things for the future. 
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Part 2: University-Government Collaboration for Climate Justice through Applied-Learning Partnerships

Presenter: Maria Dahmus, University of St. Thomas

Oral Presentation Description:  Communities locally and globally are re-imagining and implementing systems that restore interconnected human and environmental well-being.  University-government collaborative partnerships can be a crucial part of this effort.  This presentation explores how university-government collaboration can advance climate justice while empowering students to be listeners, leaders, and partners in these efforts through applied, course-based learning.  Specifically, I will share about a collaborative partnership between the University of St. Thomas Sustainable Communities Partnership and the Metropolitan Council, the regional planning and policy making body in the Twin Cities Metropolitan area in Minnesota.  This mutually beneficial collaboration creates the opportunity for students across disciplines to apply what they are learning in class to the lived experience of climate change in the Twin Cities.  I will discuss the collaborative development of the partnership, partner and student project experiences and outcomes, including arts-based engagement.  Finally, I will conclude with key take-aways from this case for community-university collaboration for climate justice.

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Part 3: Sustainability Storytelling

Presenters: Valentine Cadieux, Hamline University, Lydia Meier, Hamline University, and Amanda Libby, Hamline University

Oral Presentation Description: This proposal outlines our presentation on the sustainability storytelling project. This explains what sustainability storytelling is, how to perform a sustainability storytelling interview, and the importance of collecting these interviews.

For the past year, the Hamline Sustainability program has been conducting sustainability storytelling interviews. These conversations explore the definitions and limits of sustainability with students, staff, and faculty. Participants are able to share how their background and field of study relate to a sustainability framework often restricted to its environmental origins. 
 
By identifying the cross sections and malleability of the term "sustainability," differing fields can find common ground in preparing for an uncertain future. These conversations also encourage interviewees to inform their own fields of study how they can adopt sustainability into their own work.
 
The audience for this presentation is those who are interested in expanding the term "sustainability" outside of its conventional environmental context. This presentation explains what sustainability storytelling is in our experience, how to perform a sustainability storytelling interview, and the importance and takeaways of these interviews. The presentation also includes a short video and optional activity where the audience can prepare for conducting a sustainability storytelling interview.
 
Sustainability Storytelling aligns with the 2021 UMACS theme by sharing stories that would not have otherwise been heard. By highlighting different ideas and perspectives, universities are able to amplify unheard voices that have been active in sustainability work. These stories also give a sense of hope and motivation; Existing projects can be shared for others to adopt and model a future that is sustainable for everyone.

Workshop: Building the Future We Desire: Challenging Ourselves to Grapple with Historical Injustices


Presenters: Mary Hannemann, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, University of Minnesota-Crookston, Dr. Katy E. Chapman, Associate Professor and Sustainability Director, University of Minnesota-Crookston, and Ben Yawakie, Climate Justice Organizer at NDN Collective

Workshop Description: As we expand our understanding of the generational harm done to the Indigenous people of the land we now call the United States of America, land acknowledgements can become empty promises unless we commit to diving deeper and doing more. In this workshop, we will share our experiences and invite others into conversation and reflection on what more might be possible. 

This session challenges us to grapple with historical injustices in our institutions' foundations on indigenous lands. The workshop came about from our experiences with the Student Engagement Leadership Forum on Sustainability (SELFsustain), which is a five-campus collaborative retreat that rotates between University of Minnesota campuses. In April 2021, UM-Crookston hosted an online series on indigenous identity, community and sustainability. Students, faculty, staff, administrators and community members from six college campuses came together to listen, learn, and discuss. Participants were challenged to reckon with the tragic history of genocide within our state and the foundation of the University of Minnesota using profits from indigenous lands. Discussion and reflection followed on land acknowledgement, land justice, and our own relationship with community and environmental stewardship. 

As organizers of this event, we continue to grapple with how this learning can be transformative and ongoing. Participants will be invited to dive into their own institutional history and connections to native lands.  Resources will be shared during the session to do your own homework and continue on the journey of uncovering our shared history in the United States and higher education. We hope participants will be prepared to join a thoughtful small group conversation on our own role in understanding and taking action on historic and current injustices.   


Wellness Moment: Physical Dimension of Wellness


Presenters:
 Haven Simonich, Student at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Health Promotion and Wellness Major, Intended Graduation: May 2022

Physical Wellness Moment Description: Wellness is a multidimensional concept that includes the Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, Career, Intellectual, Environmental, and Social dimensions of wellness. The physical dimension recognizes the need for regular physical activity.  Physical development promotes learning about diet and nutrition while discouraging the use of tobacco, drugs, and excessive alcohol consumption. This session will explore one dimension of wellness and introduce participants to the concepts and explore activities to incorporate into their daily life.  

 12:20-1:20 pm. Mini-Retreat

Mini-Retreat: Restoring Ourselves


Facilitator: Alexandra Miller, Carleton College

Mini-Retreat Description: 
This year has been particularly hard on folks on top of already existing stressors and climate anxiety that rests on our shoulders. During this interactive workshop, we will turn inward for an hour of meditation, relationship building, reflection, and goal setting. 

 1:40-2:40 p.m. Sessions and Workshops

Session A: Building Strong Campus Sustainability Leaders & Systems

Part 1: Evaluating a Sustainability Committee to Enhance Collaboration

Presenters: Elizabeth Leibel, University of South Dakota and Anna Moore, University of South Dakota

Oral Presentation Description: This presentation will describe the process of using surveys and interviews to evaluate and recommend changes to the University of South Dakota's sustainability committee for increased campus wide collaboration and impact. The Presidents' Joint Committee on Sustainability is a coalition made up of faculty, staff and students from a variety of departments on campus. The committee began in 2015 with goals of enhancing sustainability curriculum, assessing campus sustainability practices and creating an implementation plan for future projects. Although there has been some progress made, as of 2021 the process of implementing sustainability at USD has been slow. This project reviewed the original goals and structure of the Presidents' Joint Committee on Sustainability, resulting in a plan that utilizes the committee members strengths, and clarifies the purpose of the committee and its role on campus. 

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Part 2: Sustainability Ambassadors: Transforming All Employees and Students into Sustainability Coordinators

Presenter: Jennifer McLaughlin, South Dakota State University 

Oral Presentation Description:  Among other things, 2020 showed how humans must work together to solve global issues. Many of our campuses have sustainability staff, but our jobs cannot be done with out the support and interest of others on campus. By educating employees and students on sustainability, we show how their work contributes to sustainability and inspire them to integrate it into their careers. Understanding and commitment across each of our campuses will create a strong foundation as we navigate towards to more sustainable future.  

Session B: Greening Our Campuses I: Student Initiatives


Part 1: Maintaining a Campus Bike Share Program for the Long Term

Presenters: Benjamin Ng, Bemidji State University and Logan Berlin, Bemidji State University

Oral Presentation Description: Located in Northern Minnesota, Bemidji State University (BSU) operates within a dispersed, rural, and diverse community. Following a three-year pilot program in which Nice Ride attempted to establish a self-sustaining bike share model for our semi-rural community, BSU's Sustainability Office inherited the bicycle fleet. Student staff of the university have maintained the fleet of approximately 120 Vanmoof brand bicycles. Now branded after the school's mascot, Bucky the Beaver, the Bucky's Bikes program provides long-term rentals for students, faculty, and staff. In the absence of viable public transportation opportunities in our relatively rural community, the Bucky's Bikes program particularly benefits international students and those who choose to spend their academic year without a vehicle. Partially subsidized by a student-funded Green Fee, the program staffs up to three students to maintain the bikes mechanically and provide rental services to their peers. We will discuss challenges inherent in staffing a long-term program with student staff who inevitably leave the institution.  

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Part 2: Living Wall at Bemidji State University

Presenter: Madeline Jurisch, Bemidji State University 

Lightning Talk Description:  
A living wall is a structure that holds houseplants vertically on a wall in a compact area.  A living wall brings a lot of benefits just by having plants indoors like lowering stress levels, increasing productivity, and, ultimately, making a happier workplace. Living walls also purify the air and reduce ambient noise. According to a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology in 2014, having plants in the workplace improves productivity by 15%. In a study published by the Journal of Physiological Anthropology in 2015, being around plants reduces stress. Bemidji State University uses a sustainability model that includes wellness for all, so having the living wall would promote sustainability in many ways. Another big benefit of a living wall in our climate is having green space in the winters.  Bemidji winters are cold, long and windy, so having living green spaces would most likely help with seasonal depression. In this presentation, learn about the research, economics, and process of considering a living wall for Bemidji State University. 
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Part 3: The Minnesota Cross-Campus EcoChallenge: Successes and Lessons Learned

Presenters: Caroline Hall, University of St. Thomas and Ariana Porcello, University of St. Thomas

Oral Presentation Description: Last spring, amidst ongoing disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, students from fourteen schools across Minnesota joined forces to organize the first-ever Cross-Campus EcoChallenge. The EcoChallenge is a national challenge run through a web-based platform in which participants log sustainable actions in categories including food, waste, transportation, community, building resiliency, etc. Through the MN Student Sustainability Network, over 725 individuals from Minnesotan colleges and universities joined the challenge to complete in teams comprised of students, employees, alumni, and other community members. The two-week long challenge provided a fun and social way for students across campuses in the state to take meaningful action, learn about sustainability, and make a positive difference. In this presentation, we will discuss the successes, challenges, and lessons learned from hosting the 2021 Campus EcoChallenge. 

Participants in the Campus EcoChallenge complete actions in a range of categories including waste, food, health, building resiliency, community, and simplicity. The wide variety of categories encourages participants to think about sustainability in broad terms, from the individual level to the community level and beyond. The EcoChallenge categories incorporate equity, justice, and resiliency into sustainability, all necessary components for solving the climate crisis and other social justice challenges alike. 

Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to think of new, creative ways to build community and enact change. The virtual and collaborative nature of the EcoChallenge allowed hundreds of students across the state of Minnesota to stay connected and engage in sustainability efforts despite the ongoing pandemic.

Workshop: Framing Sustainability Work to Bring People Together


Presenter: Meghann Jarchow, University of South Dakota

Workshop Description: Sustainability can be understood as a field that seeks to address environmental challenges from plastics in the oceans to deforestation in the Amazon to our linear economy.  In practice, people often perceive sustainability as shaming people for their individual actions such as driving too much, not recycling, or eating too much meat.  In the US, sustainability is viewed as a progressive movement associated with the political left, which further removes sustainability from broader acceptance.  Yet many of us aspire to broaden sustainability's framing to be more solutions oriented, inclusive, and active in our efforts to seek to learn from other ways of knowing.  This workshop session will begin with a presentation of different frameworks, fields of knowledge, and worldviews (e.g., ecofeminism, many Indigenous worldviews, creation care, ecopsychology) that also seek to move toward a future with a flourishing natural environment and increasing human wellbeing.  We will then discuss opportunities "and challenges“ to engaging more intentionally beyond narrower understandings of sustainability.  Finally, we will discuss the implications of how we frame sustainability in our teachings and as we are implementing sustainability on our campuses.

Wellness Moment: Emotional Dimension of Wellness


Presenters:
 Haven Simonich, Student at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Health Promotion and Wellness Major, Intended Graduation: May 2022

Emotional Wellness Moment Description: Wellness is a multidimensional concept that includes the Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, Career, Intellectual, Environmental, and Social dimensions of wellness. The emotional dimension recognizes awareness and acceptance and healthy expression of one's feelings such a happiness, hope, love, joy, sadness, anger, fear, and/or stress. This session will explore one dimension of wellness and introduce participants to the concepts and explore activities to incorporate into their daily life.  

 3:00-4:00 p.m. Sessions and Workshops

Session A: Fighting for Food-Secure Campuses


Part 1: A One Health Approach Uniting a Community Clinic and Campus Food-Shelf to Reduce Food Insecurity


Presenters: Ambria Crusan, St. Catherine University, Jennifer Tacheny, St. Catherine University, and Clara Godoy-Henderson

Oral Presentation Description:  A One Health approach to address food insecurity among two distinct campus populations, college students and patients at a campus-based community health clinic serving Latine adults, advances the 2021 theme of Healthy Planet, Healthy People through food and health justice efforts. Our interdisciplinary One Health model is an integrated system that promotes a vibrant ecosystem considering the health of people, plants, and animals. The collaboration includes St. Catherine University (St. Kate's) staff, faculty, and students, and the university founders, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet (CSJ). Organic community gardens located on and near campus property, pollinated by campus-based beehives, contribute local organic produce to the St. Kate's/CSJ food shelf, serving college students and patients attending the campus-based health clinic, increasing food security and nutritional health for both populations. Nearly 500 pounds of produce were harvested in 2020, approximately 50 percent of which was donated to the food shelf. Pounds of food distributed increased by 50% during the pandemic, even during campus closure. In 2020, an average of 130 individuals were served per month: 73% from St. Kate's, 27% from the clinic. The use of a college campus is ideal given the green space available, availability of student volunteers and interns, and health faculty expertise, which helps meet the needs of food insecurity. Another unique feature is the integration of a community health clinic on campus, which promotes food and health justice. This One Health approach describes the intersectionality of a food shelf, school- and community-based gardens, a pollinator project, and human health among college students and the patients attending the campus-based community health clinic in addressing food justice. The One Health system modeled is a step towards community vibrancy to demonstrate how others can be a part of the larger One Health movement. 

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Part 2: Takin' the L to the Farm: Service, Sustainability, and Social Justice on Chicago's South Side

Presenter: Michael Bryson, Roosevelt University 

Oral Presentation Description:  This presentation focuses on a unique and enduring campus-community partnership in Chicago in which students from Roosevelt University explore the intersections among urban sustainability, food production, and community/environmental health through an ongoing service project at Eden Place Farm and Nature Center on the city's South Side.

Roosevelt's SUST 350 Service & Sustainability course, part of its Sustainability Studies (SUST) undergraduate program, uses experiential learning pedagogy to connect classroom investigations of sustainability's many dimensions -- particularly in urban ecosystems -- with service work in the community. Students in SUST 350 meet initially at the university, then spend subsequent weeks working off-campus at a designated community partner organization. 

Since 2014, our off-campus community partner for SUST 350 has been Eden Place Farm and Nature Center, located in the Fuller Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side and accessible from our downtown Chicago campus via public transit. Fuller Park is a low-income African-American community that like many such places in urban America has a paucity of green space, high levels of pollution, chronic underemployment, and a dearth of healthy food sources -- all of which are detrimental to human health. But the neighborhood also possesses a remarkable capacity for resilience that Eden Place has served to cultivate as an nature oasis and community resource/gathering place since the late 1990s. 

Using narrative and image, this presentation will tell the story of Eden Place and this unique service learning project; relate how the evolving campus-community partnership between it and Roosevelt has enriched students' understanding of social and environmental justice; and reflect on the potential of such partnerships to foster environmental and human health. 
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Part 3: Understanding Student (in)Food Security in Colleges and Universities

Presenter: Sidney Brandhorst, Arizona State University

Oral Presentation Description: While college and university students have affectionately been profiled for their ramen-based diets, the impact that suboptimal food security has on those pursuing higher education has increasingly gained attention. Still, there is much to understand about U.S. college students, who are potentially caught between adult (11.5%) and child (15.2%) levels of food insecurity. One comprehensive review of college students in the U.S. reports university student food insecurity ranging from 10-75%. In our evaluation of food security at a large midwestern university, we identify similarities and differences among undergraduate and graduate students. Our results make clear that university students should not be treated as one homogenous group in food security studies as there are important differences between undergraduate and graduate student food experiences. Understanding food security for various subpopulations at colleges and universities has the potential to paint a more accurate picture of food security for students, a perspective which would support more specific and effective solutions. Our findings also confirm the adverse impact food insecurity can have on academic and health outcomes, further underpinning the importance of understanding specific subpopulations who may be disadvantaged by their food security status. 

Session B: The Road to Zero-Waste Campuses


Part 1: Reducing Campus Waste; Ten Years of a Campus FreeStore

Presenters: Erika Bailey-Johnson, Bemidji State University and Simone Intriago, Bemidji State University

Oral Presentation Description:  During these challenging times, it is imperative to pay attention to the earth while helping each other out, this is why the Sustainability Office at Bemidji State University offers a campus FreeStore. The purpose of the store is to collect donations of no longer used yet still usable items, particularly through a “Donate, Don’t Dumpster” campaign at the end of each academic semester. Currently, enrolled students are then able to take items they find in the FreeStore at no cost – which helps students with economic hardship and diverts thousands of items (clothing, kitchenware, shoes, office supplies, etc.) from the landfill and prevented unnecessary expenses from purchasing anew.  The idea for the FreeStore came from David Siddiqui, a student at the University of California Berkeley in 2009, who would bike all over campus picking up used items that would otherwise be thrown away. With the help of the Sustainability Office staff, Hobson Memorial Student Union, and the Excellence in Leadership Center, we created a space for Bemidji State University to have a reuse center. 

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Part 2: Community Engagement and Plan Development for Community Composting in Vermillion, South Dakota

Presenter: Jacinda Maassen, University of South Dakota 

Oral Presentation Description:  Diverting organic waste and food scraps from the landfill reduces negative environmental and health impacts that are a result of their decomposition under inadequate management. Food residues can instead be turned into a nutrient rich material, namely compost, through community composting programs. Different steps have been suggested for developing successful community composting programs, such as gaging community interest. The main purpose of this study was to engage the community to determine their interest and the steps necessary to develop a community composting program in Vermillion, South Dakota. An online survey was developed to gage community interest, perceptions of, and suitable locations for community composting. The results from the survey suggest that the Vermillion community is interested in developing a community composting program. Additional engagement with community members and businesses as well as a public forum provided further insight into the development of two plans for community composting in Vermillion.

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Part 3: Dirty Training: Macalester College Educates First Years on Environmental Justice and Waste Reduction

Presenters: Sally Herman, Macalester College Sustainability Office, Matthea Najberg, Macalester College Sustainability Office, and Christine McCormick, Macalester College Sustainability Office

Oral Presentation Description:  Dirty Training is a peer education effort for waste reduction. In their first weeks at Macalester, all first years are offered a training lead by students that goes over the "why" of waste reduction, with a focus on the unjust and disproportionate effects of landfills, incinerators, and trash on vulnerable populations. Dirty Training then covers the "how" of waste reduction, connecting students to options like our campus Free Swap as an alternative to buying things new and throwing them out, and describing waste sorting basics at Macalester.

We know that first year students come from many different backgrounds and that waste sorting options vary greatly around the country and world. Dirty Training is a way to get everyone on the same page about Macalester's three bin system of compost, recycling, and trash, as well as our plastic bag collection, and dropoffs for e-waste. However, it is also an opportunity to instill ideals of breaking the cycle of production and consumption altogether,  the best way to be zero waste is to refuse products to begin with, and also lessen environmental impacts of production. 

In recent years, Dirty Training has been refocused to emphasize environmental justice, and we have examined who will bear the burden of Macalester's waste when it gets thrown away and taken to incinerators in Mankato and Red Wing, MN. We have also begun to use the presentations as an educational opportunity to talk about environmental justice more broadly. The goal is to help students understand that in the fight for environmental and climate justice, individual actions like waste sorting are just one small piece of the solution. We are adapting the presentation to talk about not just waste-sorting logistics, but also the need to push for wider scale movements that challenge big polluters like oil companies from the outset.

Workshop: Live from the Marquette University Innovation Kitchen: Powered by Plants; Nourished with Purpose


Presenter: Chris Gray, Regional Culinary Director, Sodexo and Gary Schrubbe CEC, Culinary Director, Marquette Dining Services & District Chef, Sodexo

Workshop Description: A Cooking Demo: Adopting a more plant-based diet is the single biggest way to reduce your environmental impact on the planet, according to a recent study on the global impacts of food production. Offering students plant-forward, climate-friendly menu options is a win-win for diners and the environment as half of consumers aged 18-34 want the ability to substitute animal protein with plant-based alternatives. To meet the growing demand for plant-based menu options Sodexo has partnered with leaders that are helping us bring plant-based and plant-forward options to our consumers.  

Session details:
  • Join Chris Gray, Regional Culinary Director, Sodexo and Gary Schrubbe CEC, Culinary Director, Marquette Dining Services & District Chef as they demonstrate plant based cooking techniques, featuring recipes developed in partnership with WWF "Knorr's ~Future 50'" and Humane Society U.S.
  • Including lessons learned from our partnership with WRI's Better Buying Lab on how campuses can drive uptake of plant based dining among their students and other customers.
  • Take home plant based recipe book for participants.

Wellness Moment: Career Dimension of Wellness


Presenters:
 Nicole Neuberger, Student at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Health Promotion and Wellness Major, Intended Graduation: May 2022

Career Wellness Moment Description: Wellness is a multidimensional concept that includes the Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, Career, Intellectual, Environmental, and Social dimensions of wellness. The career dimension recognizes personal satisfaction and enrichment in life through work. This session will explore one dimension of wellness and introduce participants to the concepts and explore activities to incorporate into their daily life.  

 4:20-5:20 p.m. Virtual Poster Session & Happy Hour

​Virtual Poster Session: Meet the Authors

Virtual Happy Hour

 5:40-6:40 p.m. Student Sustainability Networks

​Student Sustainability Networks

Make cross-campus connections and communications!

​Friday Session Descriptions

 7:45-8:00 a.m. Opening Remarks

​Announcements and Summary of Friday's Events

 8-9:00 a.m. Sessions and Workshops

Session A: Leveraging a Green Fee for a Healthier and More Just Future


Presenters: Ericka Bailey-Johnson, Bemidji State University, Jordan Lutz, Bemidji State University, and Alyssa Hauser, Bemidji State University

Description: The Sustainability Office at Bemidji State University was created in 2008 when students chose to levy a fee to advance sustainability on campus and throughout the broader community.  At the time, the $5 per semester fee primarily supported the salary of the university's first Sustainability Director.  Today, the $7.50 fee is leveraged to generate a wide variety of sustainable initiatives across campus and supports the work of student employees and two full-time staff.  Participants will learn about BSU's experience establishing the Green Fee and how its flexibility enables staff of the Sustainability Office to pursue projects in support of a healthier and more just future.

Session B: Student Research - Sustainability In-and-Beyond the Classroom


Part 1: Exploring South Dakota State Science Standards and National Science Standards in Sustainability

Presenter: Megan Moore, University of South Dakota

Oral Presentation Description:  Occupying a pivotal societal role, educators endeavor to ensure learner mastery of multiple diverse learning standards.  These standards include STEM-based sustainability education.  To improve the efficacy of learning activities, educators must understand what students' learning objectives are and what deficits exist in their current understanding:  educators need to know what their students don't know.  Related to students' weak understanding of sustainability, a challenge for sustainability education is that educators may only have a vague understanding of the field.  Furthermore, educators often struggle to craft lesson plans with meaningful standards-based learning activities. The purpose of this research is to reveal how sustainability is addressed in high school science standards in South Dakota and at the national level.  Results of this research may then be compared to sustainability standards used in USD sustainability classrooms.  Preliminary analysis suggests that STEM-based sustainability education standards address the ecological impacts of humans.  However, they don't go far enough in exploring how humans can live sustainably within the ecosystem.  Understanding what students' previous learning in sustainability can help direct the pedagogy and practice of science education in sustainability and environmental studies.   It is the aim of this research to understand what students know at their high school graduation.  With this understanding, academic programs can more appropriately assist learners in attaining a holistic understanding of sustainability and its application in society, economics, or ecology.
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Part 2: Comparing Sustainability Curricula

Presenter: Morgan Hungerford, University of South Dakota 

Oral Presentation Description: Sustainability is a relatively new concept and academic field of study. Therefore, there is variability in how it is taught. Frequently sustainability is taught as body of knowledge or frameworks designed to solve sustainability issues. It is important to find a reasonable combination of knowledge and problem solving in a sustainability curriculum in order to best prepare students in the field. The goal of my research is to explore how faculty members at USD perceive how sustainability is taught at USD and to compare how the undergraduate and graduate sustainability curricula align with faculty members' perceptions. To evaluate faculty perceptions, I am analyzing responses from a survey sent to all Sustainability faculty members. A majority of the Sustainability faculty members commented that both knowledge and frameworks are important. The responses suggested that USD may have more of a body of knowledge-based curriculum currently, but incorporating more of a framework should be a goal. Around 90% of the responses mentioned how unique sustainability is based on the interdisciplinary nature. The versatility of sustainability makes it that much more important that students leave with knowledge and problem-solving frameworks to make a difference in their profession. Equipping students with these skills begins with the curriculum.  
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Part 3: Biodiversity in Residential Yards in Vermillion, South Dakota

Presenter: Rina Thapa, University of South Dakota

Oral Presentation Description:  Urban biodiversity is important because it can contribute to the health and wellbeing of residents and it connects people to nature. Residential yards occupy a considerable proportion of green space in urban areas, which can be an extensive resource for enhancing biodiversity.  The purpose of this research was to survey Vermillion, SD residents to quantify and map the plant and animal diversity in their yards and to evaluate their perceptions of the value of wildlife in their yards.

Workshop: Is Your Carbon Footprint BS?


Presenters: Jonna Korpi, University of Minnesota-Duluth and Carley Rice, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Workshop Description: Your carbon footprint -- does it even matter? This is a "train-the-trainer" style workshop with all resources provided for you to bring back to your campus and use for student/campus engagement. This workshop aims to provide you with the tools to discuss carbon footprints, examine individual action vs. systemic change, and share tools that will help folks find their place within the Climate Action nexus. Workshop content and materials adapted from the podcast "How To Save A Planet" featuring Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Alex Blumberg.

Wellness Moment: Intellectual Dimension of Wellness


Presenters:
 TBA, Student at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Health Promotion and Wellness Major

Intellectual Wellness Moment Description: Wellness is a multidimensional concept that includes the Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, Career, Intellectual, Environmental, and Social dimensions of wellness. The intellectual dimension encourages creative, stimulating mental activities. This session will explore one dimension of wellness and introduce participants to the concepts and explore activities to incorporate into their daily life.  

 9:20-10:20 a.m. Sessions and Workshops

Session A: Free to Freecycle: Successful Campus Move-Out & Exchange Initiatives


Part 1: A Moveout Program: How Sustainability Involves Everyone

Presenter: Caitlin Reimers, University of South Dakota

Oral Presentation Description:  This presentation will describe the establishment University of South Dakota's first, student-led move-out program, the lessons learned, and where we will go moving forward. It will address the challenges and successes of building awareness and communities with a sustainable mindset on campuses and within the towns that harbor them. It demonstrates that environmental projects can be executed by people who do not necessarily have a background in a sustainability field, but that sustainability programs need a community to be successful.

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Part 2: From Lightly-Used Donations to Mutual Aid: The Evolution of Macalester Free Swap

Presenters: Christine McCormick, Macalester College and Matthea Najberg, Macalester College 

Oral Presentation Description:  The Free Swap is a student-led program at Macalester College. It is a gently-used item and clothing exchange on campus where students, faculty and staff can take anything they want or need and donate items they no longer need or use. This initiative seeks to minimize consumption and waste of store-bought items by providing gently-used alternatives, and promotes equity on campus for students who want or need these items. 
  
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Part 3: Don't Dump! Donate! How a Move-Out Donation Program Reduces Waste and Helps the Community

Presenter: Jennifer McLaughlin, South Dakota State University

Oral Presentation Description:  It happens each year on every college campus - students pack up their belongings and move out of the dorms. In that process tons of waste are generated including unused notebooks, unopened food, and that broom mom insisted the student bring to college. Furthermore, landfills are notorious for their methane gas emissions as well as their placement in regards to social equity. Thus, as sustainability advocates, we strive to minimize our campus' reliance on them.  In 2018, SDSU launched Don't Dump! Donate!, a move-out collection event. By partnering with local nonprofits, usable goods that students no longer want are collected and put back into our campus and community assisting our underserved populations. The SDSU program operates with minimal staff and budget; however, it has been able to divert thousands of pounds from the landfill. In this session, the presenter will share how the event was organized, including working with the nonprofits and utilizing volunteers.  

Session B: Harnessing Unexpected Campus Partners as Part of Your Education: Lessons from Sustainability Interns


Presenter: Kate Shearer, Director Corporate Social Responsibility, Sodexo

Oral Presentation Description: 

Session Info
  • Showcasing the range of experiential outcomes our Sustainability Internship provides students.
  • Student interns share their experiences and tips for how to pursue similar opportunities. 
  • Hear how the immersive, real-world experience impacted their education and career and benefitted campus sustainability outcomes.
Connection to Theme
In addition to learning the food service business, our sustainability and agriculture interns gain valuable hands on immersive experiences that connect their education to real world outcomes. These interns join and shape a collaborative community supported by unparalleled resources in corporate citizenship in pursuit of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Sodexo has more than 260 interns in 125 campuses in 40 states each school year.  Our interns help inform our on-site team with guidance in sustainable service ware, waste reduction, food recovery, hyperlocal sourcing, sustainable food tracking, and even local agriculture. 

Intended audience: Students, Faculty, and Administrators

Workshop: Acknowledging the Inextricable Link Between Wellness and Sustainability


Presenters: Erika Bailey-Johnson, Bemidji State University, Monica McDaniel, Augsburg University, Allyson Green, St. Catherine University, Jordan Lutz, Bemidji State University, and Devin Breeggemann, Bemidji State University

Workshop Description: Understanding sustainability as balancing concern for environmental, economic, and societal wellbeing helps frame efforts to advance justice through decision-making.  Yet, this traditional framework can focus too much attention on common aspects of sustainability efforts like recycling and efficient lighting.  The triple bottom line also fails to explicitly acknowledge how decisions impact individual health and wellbeing.  Exploring more deeply the connections between a healthy planet and our own health has led the presenters to envision a different model for sustainability – one in which individual wellness is upheld with equal consideration alongside social and economic well-being.  The resulting Wellness Model nests social, economic, and individual wellness considerations within the context of the broader environment.  In doing so, the Wellness Model acknowledges the transcendent importance of the resources upon which everything else depends.  Participants will explore why we can no longer think of environmental wellbeing as equal to social and economic wellbeing while also considering ways to incorporate individual wellbeing into daily life. 

Wellness Moment: Environmental Dimension of Wellness


Presenters:
 Brooke Thurber, Student at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Bachelor of Science, Health Promotion and Wellness Major, Intended Graduation: May 2022

Environmental Wellness Moment Description: Wellness is a multidimensional concept that includes the Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, Career, Intellectual, Environmental, and Social dimensions of wellness. The environmental dimension is the extent to which one cares for the earth by protecting its resources. This session will explore one dimension of wellness and introduce participants to the concepts and explore activities to incorporate into their daily life.  

 10:40-11:40 a.m. Sessions and Workshops

Session A: Greening Our Campuses II: From Energy Efficiency to GHG Emissions


Part 1: Understanding Commuting Behavior and Incentivizing Change at Anoka-Ramsey Community College

Presenters: Victoria Downey, Anoka-Ramsey Community College, Lisa Becker, Anoka-Ramsey Community College, Jane Ruliffson, Anoka-Ramsey Community College, Jennifer Kraipowich, Anoka-Ramsey Community College, and Brent Paulson, Minnesota GreenCorps

Oral Presentation Description:  Anoka-Ramsey Community College (ARCC) conducted its Greenhouse Gas Analysis during the 2020-2021 academic year with the help of Minnesota GreenCorps Member Brent Paulson.  As part of this analysis, an online Transportation Survey was conducted that received over 630 responses from faculty, staff and students.  Additionally, student enrollment data was utilized in order to understand the average length of commute and overall transportation-related emissions.  Results indicate that commuting comprises approximately 51% of ARCC's annual GHG emissions, and that 84% of participants commute alone.  Analysis of the data indicate that the greatest incentives for reducing solo automobile transportation include premium parking for carpooling, safe pedestrian and biking routes, and financial incentives including free bus passes. Based on these findings, a series of programs are being implemented this academic year: free bus passes for students; premium carpool parking spaces; a carpool matching program; and discussions with Metro-Transit regarding bus stop locations and routes. The ARCC Transportation Survey was valuable in order to understand the profile of our campus commuters, and is applicable to other institutions.  

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Part 2: Building Design for a Changing Climate

Presenters: Fnu Gesangyanghi, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Tracey Holloway, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Daniel Vimont, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Oral Presentation Description:  Energy systems are sized on a building’s heating and cooling load, which are determined in part by local climate data. Engineers currently use historical climate data when producing design conditions for design of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. However, these systems are challenged under the changing climate. To evaluate the impacts of climate change on building design, the Office of Sustainability at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has funded applied research using climate projections, instead of historical observations, in calculating building design conditions. We addressed how climate change affects HVAC design conditions, comparing a late-21st century (2081-2100), high emission scenario (RCP 8.5) to the design conditions calculated from historical data (1986-2010). For Madison, Wisconsin, we find a reduction in winter heating design capacity and an increase in summer cooling design capacity. In fact, by the end of the 21st century, cooling demand (represented by cooling degree days) in Madison, Wisconsin will increase and be similar to Montgomery, Alabama.  
  
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Part 3: IRC Section 179D + Energy Efficient Campus Buildings = $$$

Presenter: William Volker, Efficiency Energy, LLC

Oral Presentation Description: The Energy Efficient Commercial Building Property Deduction (Internal Revenue Code Section 179D) is an incentive for new and 
retrofitted lighting/HVAC/envelope building systems and a Special Rule for Government Owned Buildings allows public universities to assign 179D Deductions for negotiated savings from the vendor(s) that designed the system(s).  This is an unanticipated and often unutilized revenue source that can provide a windfall from previous projects retroactively up to three years and is now permanent so can be integrated to offset cost in future construction and renovation projects.  

The presentation will educate participants on the documentation and performance requirements to qualify for the program and its utilization in conjunction with/in addition to other financial incentives such as custom and prescriptive utility rebate programs. In keeping with the theme this is not only an additional funding opportunity to help stretch dollars further in post-Covid budgets but in the interest of advancing justice we will also highlight the public's interest in properly accounting for these values that have been inappropriately subverted from taxpayer funded projects previously.  
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Session B: Climate Action & Resilience Efforts Through Campus-Community Partnerships


Presenter: Jordan Lutz, Bemidji State University, Troy Goodnough, University of Minnesota Morris, Chris Watkins, City of Morris, Minnesota, Alexandra Miller, Carleton College, Jonna Korpi, University of Minnesota-Duluth, Mindy Granley, City of Duluth, Minnesota, Anna Carlson, Bemidji State University, Andrew Miller, Bemidji State University, and Elizabeth Turner, Precipitate Consulting 

Oral Presentation Description: Advancing climate justice at the local level requires collaborative partnerships.  Institutions of higher education continue pursuing carbon mitigation and adaptation under Second Nature's commitment structure but do so in the broader context of the communities in which they operate.  Similarly, more and more municipalities are beginning to establish intentional climate action and resilience efforts.  Hear from a panel of individuals representing higher education, municipal governments, and third-party consultants about their efforts to bring about collaborative change in four distinct Minnesota cities.

Workshop: How to Integrate the Open Energy Dashboard Into Your Campus Sustainability Efforts


Presenter: Steven Huss-Lederman, Open Energy Dashboard

Workshop Description: 
Academic institutions desire to understand resource usage for a spectrum of areas including students, courses, facilities, research and PR/outreach. The Open Energy Dashboard (OpenEnergyDashboard.org) is an ongoing project providing a free, easy to use and feature rich dashboard that can collect, analyze and display resource usage. OED's features include: multiple interactive graphics to display usage; easy customization by a non-IT person; display on any web browser; aggregation of arbitrary resources showing a building or cluster such as residential or athletic;  help features; data export; multilingual support. OED is provided by an organization dedicated to helping sustainability by providing a free, supported and high-quality dashboard.

This workshop will present the features of OED in the context of its usage in higher education for sustainability coordinators, faculty and/or facilities people. Each feature will be explained within the framework of how it can be used for various academic pursuits including interactive demonstrations where participants will try the features, discuss potential usage at their institution and seek advice on using OED to support a wide range of applications including energy competitions in residence halls, display of usage across any part of campus for internal or external display and integration into course and research settings. There will be a demonstration of how to easily set up and maintain a campus site.

While OED freely supports all sites, in recognition of UMACS as my home region, I will provide a minimum of 20 free hours of consultation to the institution of anyone who attends the workshop and wishes to integrate OED into their campus. The OED project believes that by working together we can address sustainability issues through education and engagement that focuses on the real world needs of campuses to reduce our footprint on the world. This promotes a healthy planet in challenging economic times.

Wellness Moment: Spiritual Dimension of Wellness


Presenters:
 Brooke Thurber, Student at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Bachelor of Science, Physical Education and Health Promotion and Wellness Major, Intended Graduation: May 2022

Social Wellness Moment Description: Wellness is a multidimensional concept that includes the Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, Career, Intellectual, Environmental, and Social dimensions of wellness.  The spiritual dimension recognizes one's search for meaning and purpose in human existence. This session will explore one dimension of wellness and introduce participants to the concepts and explore activities to incorporate into their daily life.  

 Noon-1:00 p.m. UMACS Member Meeting


UMACS Member Meeting
The Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability (umacs.org) is your regional sustainability organization! We work to connect colleges and people across the Upper Midwest with each other. This meeting is your opportunity to hear more about UMACS as an organization, learn more about our work, connect with other people in our region, and find out how you can be a part of our community. 

Virtual Exhibit Hall
Enjoy lunch while you visit our generous sponsors!

 1:15-1:30 p.m. UMACS Awards Ceremony

This award was created to honor the late Jim Farrell, professor of history, American studies, and environmental studies at St. Olaf College. Before his passing in 2013, Jim tirelessly advocated for advancing sustainability work in the Upper Midwest. Jim's love of wordplay serves as the inspiration for the name of this award, which is meant to recognize individuals who help us re-think and re-imagine what is possible as we seek to catalyze solutions to everyday issues - just as Jim did so well.


Recipients will display Jim's passion for enriching their campus sustainability efforts, inspiring others to consider the impact of their daily actions, and leading on-going change. Please consider nominating recipients worthy of re(cognition) in each of the following categories:

1. Educator
Nominees for this category are faculty who have made significant contributions to their campus sustainability efforts through outstanding instruction and mentorship. Worthy recipients incorporate sustainability and exemplify sustainable behaviors in their research, course content, and green teaching practices. With humility and dedication to lifelong learning, these faculty members acknowledge their ability to learn from their pupils through collaboration.

2. Administrator
Nominees for this category are administrators who have made significant contributions to their campus sustainability efforts through outstanding leadership. Worthy recipients have a vision for a more sustainable future to which they lead their community by example. They help us re-think our traditionally hierarchical relationships such that we become better collaborators. Through tireless advocacy, these individuals embody Jim's dedication to advancing sustainability.

3. Staff
Nominees for this category are staff who have made significant contributions to their campus sustainability efforts through exemplary work. Worthy recipients incorporate
sustainable practices and principles into their daily efforts. Through direct leadership or by example, these staff members inspire others to consider the complex environmental, social, and economic implications of their choices.  

4. Emerging Leader
Nominees for this category are students who demonstrate innovative and creative leadership in addressing sustainability issues on campus. Worthy recipients enhance sustainability efforts on campus or in their community through coursework, participation in student groups or service projects, extracurricular activity, volunteerism, or other avenues.  Through their drive to create positive change, these students inspire others to follow suit.

Instructions
Nominators will provide their contact information, affiliation, the capacity in which they know the nominee, the category to which they are being nominated, and contact information for the nominee. Nominators will answer three questions about the nominee:

  • How does this person incorporate sustainability into their work, teaching practices, leadership, or projects? 
  • How does this person inspire others to consider the environmental, social, and economical implications of their choices?
  • What significant contributions has this person made to their campus sustainability efforts?

 1:30-2:15 p.m. Closing Plenary - Racial Equity: Compounded Impacts, Intersectional Solutions - August M. Ball

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Closing Plenary

Racial Equity: Compounded Impacts, Intersectional Solutions

This talk will summarize why leading equity work with race is critical and how policy, practice & perspective shape our societal outcomes. August M. Ball will highlight what we can do, with respect to the very spaces we occupy and the identities we hold, to advance racial equity through intersectional solutions.




August M. Ball, Founder & CEO, Cream City Conservation & Consulting, LLC

August Ball combined her passions for the environment, diversity, and equity when she founded Cream City Conservation and Consulting. After a decade of working in the environmental field, August noticed a theme: Lack of representation of people of color in leadership positions and a lack of knowledge on how to mitigate existing organizational cultures which lead to workforce homogeneity in the first place. August helps environmental and community-based organizations address diversity and land stewardship needs through the cultivation of inclusive culture and creation of equitable green career pipelines. Cream City Conservation and Consulting provides training and equity audits to help organizations tackle environmental racism and work toward equitable representation in decision-making positions. The Conservation Corps coordinates environmental programs for youth and young adults of color in the Milwaukee area.

 2:15-3:00 p.m. Roundtable and Closing Remarks

​Roundtable Discussion with August Ball
Founder & CEO, Cream City Conservation & Consulting, LLC

Closing Remarks

 ‭(Hidden)‬ Easy Panels Sample Panel

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   We thank our sponsors for their support!

​Ally

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​Supporter




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​Minimum Computer Standards



Participants are responsible for ensuring they have the minimum computer standards for participating in the virtual conference via Zoom. Zoom works best with Chrome or Firefox. UW-Stevens Point and UMACS are not responsible for participant technological issues, including but not limited to, inadequate bandwidth and/or registrant equipment malfunction.  

Click here to download Zoom Client for Meetings. Need help using Zoom?  Click here for our Zoom Tutorial help page.  

Contact Information


Continuing Education's on-campus office hours are limited to Tuesday and Thursday, 12:30-4:30 p.m., as staff continues to work remotely during the pandemic. For assistance with registration, email Customer Service at uwspceweb@uwsp.edu. Email uwspce-conf@uwsp.edu for program information, concerns, or questions.

 Cancellation Policy


Full refunds granted upon receipt of written request received by September 17, 2021 to uwspce-conf@uwsp.edu. No refunds will be granted on or after September 18, 2021. Substitutions may be made at anytime, but no shows will be responsible for the full conference fee.  
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Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance.