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Continuing Innovations
Sustainability
UM has long been at the forefront of campus sustainability but several additional steps this year helped highlight our diverse efforts toward protecting the environment. UM became a charter signatory to the President's
Climate Commitment, launched this year by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education and others. The Commitment promises that the University will work to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions and to speed up our research and educational efforts to reduce human impact on the earth's climate. To this end a new Office
of Sustainability administered by the Division of Administrative Affairs was established to help improve operations and to better inform and educate our faculty, students and staff about the issues surrounding sustainability and global climate change.
Among dozens of measures designed to meet this goal, here are just a few: Our shuttle bus fleet uses biodiesel fuel made from used cooking oil and our residence halls housekeeping staff uses only green seal products—no dyes or harsh chemicals. UM has an environmentally friendly Facilities Master Plan that extends through the year 2020. Our combined heat and power facility uses environmentally friendly natural gas to produce electricity, steam and chilled water while saving enough energy to power 7,500 homes. It was awarded the 2005 Energy Star Award by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy. Facilities Management is striving to "green up" the energy used on campus beyond the 4.6% renewable energy already achieved. The new Ecohouse opens this fall, a living-learning community that gives students opportunities to study environmental challenges and live out their solutions. For the third time, Maryland is a participant in the 2007 Solar Decathlon, organized by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The goals of the UM LEAFHouse (Leading Everyone to an Abundant Future) are to educate the public about environmentally sound, sustainable construction and to promote the use of efficiency and solar technologies in achieving energy independence. UM scientists are working across disciplines on large scale environmental problems in the Center for Integrated Environmental Research and the Earth Systems Science Interdisciplinary Center, and on energy efficiency at the Maryland Energy Research Center. This October the University is sponsoring a national conference on the provision of climate information to businesses, policy makers, farmers, public health officials and other stake holders. The two-day workshop in partnership with NOAA, NASA, and the American Meteorological Society will foster dialogue between scientists and diverse user communities to define specific measures needed to enhance the use of climate observations, data management, and modeling.
Student Affairs has been at the fore of developing programs that educate the campus about sustainability and provide practical solutions to the challenges of contemporary urban living, especially on a campus. This year a ten-week campus-wide recycling campaign called Recyclemania, boosted our recycling from an average of 37,000 pounds per week to 56,000 pounds per week. The campus is now converting 800 gallons of waste cooking oil to biodiesel fuel for the shuttle buses, and waste food from the dinning halls is being composted at a rate of 9,000 pounds per week.
Sports events have become another way to practice sustainability. This year we collected a total of 15 tons of recyclable material from home football games throughout the season.
Student Affairs is also working with new technology, transportation services and resident
life to help students and UM community members build a sustainable campus. UM Shuttle ridership has increased by 23.5% over last year and the number of commuter parking permits issued fell by 6%. This was due in part to a new University Town Center Route, which had one of the highest riderships of any bus route. This year ridership reached a milestone of 2.0 million riders in a single year, up from 1.2 million per year just four years ago. To aid Shuttle Bus customers this year, new technology called "ShuttleTrac" was implemented, allowing Shuttle riders to access their bus' arrival time using a phone, the web, a hand held device or a busfinder terminal located at 30 Shuttle stops.
Quality of Life
The University adopted two employee-friendly
provisions this year. The first allows University faculty and staff to designate one qualified person, in addition to him/herself, to enjoy campus-based privileges. Privileges include use of the libraries, Health Center Services, Counseling Center Services, Campus Recreation Center, Center for Young Children, and the Golf Course. The move helps move the University closer to providing equity for employees with domestic partners.
In addition, UM tenure track faculty members can now request an extension of time for tenure review due to personal and professional circumstances. While tenure clock freezes have been granted for childbirth and adoption since 1996, this revision of the policy facilitates the granting of such extensions. It also acknowledges that other life circumstances—including personal illness or injury, care of dependents who may not be children, or death of a spouse or other significant relation—can substantially impede normal professional development. The policy liberalizes the definition of "family or closely affiliated persons." The new policy allows faculty to request up to two one-year extensions, each dependent on different events.
To continue to meet the high demand from students wishing to live in our campus residence halls, a Request
for Proposals will be issued in the fall for a new student housing private public partnership. The new residence hall will be located on the South side of the campus and will provide approximately 450 additional beds to undergraduate students. Planning for a Fall, 2009 or January, 2010 opening, this new residence hall will bring the total number of on-campus residence hall spaces up to 11,200 (46% of undergraduates), one of the largest residence hall programs in the country.
In response to the tragedy at Virginia Tech this year and UM's own internal review, the University has purchased the ALERT
security system and set up a text-messaging system to get information to the campus and surrounding areas via cell phone. Over 6,300 campus community members have enrolled already.
Run by the Office of Information Technology a new Terrapin
Technology Store opened its doors in November, 2006 in the Stamp Student Union. A one-stop technology shop for the University community, the store features Apple and Dell products at discounted prices for faculty, staff, and students. UM's Academic Computers for Terps, a collaboration with Dell and Apple computers, helped 1,700 students, faculty and staff purchase computers at a discount that saved the University community over $1.8 million dollars in the past year.
Local Partners and Friends
Maryland Day celebrated an international theme this year. The April open house attracted 77,000 visitors to the campus to enjoy a "global village" on Hornbake Plaza that included international cooking demonstrations and student performances all day long. The 9th annual event included a procession of hundreds of flags representing all nations of the world. Even with all the foot traffic on campus and the day's 400 events, UM remained environmentally friendly, composting all the organic refuse left on the mall by the festivities.
The Community Partners Program (CPP) completed its first grant cycle providing seed grant money to several local community based projects in conjunction with University partners. This year's spring recipients are conducting three diverse, community-based projects: outreach to Latino students considering college application; curriculum development for older residents using the internet to access health information; and creative writing with ESOL students at a local high school.
The Incentive Awards program continued to grow, receiving two major gifts this year from Wachovia Bank and the Prince George's County Council. The Incentive Awards Program provides full scholarships, academic support and personal mentoring for public school graduates who have demonstrated a capacity to overcome incredibly difficult personal and community obstacles. Begun in 2001, the program originally targeted graduates of Baltimore City Public Schools, but expanded this year to public school graduates in Prince George's County as well. The gifts from Wachovia and the Prince George's County Council helped get this new expansion off to a solid start. Incentive Awards scholars are expected to live on campus, participate in learning and leadership development activities, and stay connected to their high schools and communities as role models for future students.
Visitors to Campus
We were delighted to welcome Congressman Steny
Hoyer to campus as our honorable graduation speaker. A UM alumnus himself, Hoyer was named House Majority Leader this year and continues to inspire the campus with his devotion to public service at the local and national levels. Dr.
Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency and 2005 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, delivered a compelling Anwar Sadat Lecture for Peace to a packed house in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.
International
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