Environmental Center Task Force

  1. Office & Department Directory
  2. President's Office
  3. Environmental Center Task Force

Dear Laurentian community,

The time is now for St. Lawrence University to stake our claim as an institution committed to the environment. I am writing to announce the formation of an environmental center task force, charged with transforming our emerging concept for the center into an actionable plan that will enable the launch of the center in 2023.

Our program will take advantage of our unique campus location nestled between the Adirondack Mountains and the St. Lawrence River, and will leverage Canaras on Upper Saranac Lake and our compound in Nairobi. It will rely on the engagement of our faculty and staff, who are experts in a wide range of environmental topics—from sustainability to the use of natural resources to renewable energy to outdoor leadership—and our alumni, who are deeply engaged with topics ranging from environmental policy, advocacy, and alternative energies. The environmental center will serve our students who demonstrate a deep concern for the long-term health of the environment that sustains us. The emergent vision includes opportunities for students studying any academic program to engage with topics of interest related to the environment, conservation, sustainability, and climate change.

Most importantly, our environmental center will create an opportunity for distinction in the crowded marketplace of liberal arts colleges. At the institutional level, we anticipate it will provide a return on investment through increased enrollment, retention and student engagement, enhanced institutional profile, and increased fundraising.

Over the past few months, University constituents (trustees, approximately 100 faculty and staff, as well as interested students) have had the opportunity to engage with the emergent concept of a St. Lawrence Center for the Environment. During these sessions, attendees participated in small and large group discussions about the concept to help further shape the ideas.

It is now time to convene a task force to move the idea of an environmental center from concept to reality. The task force is charged with making recommendations to the President regarding the following:

  • Finalizing the concept for the center;
  • Developing a mission and vision statement for the center to lead to that success;
  • Identifying a plan for the phasing of the center’s development to focus on critical components first;
  • Establishing criteria and metrics for measuring the success of the Center;
  • Recommending the formal name of the center;
  • Identifying operational aspects of the center and their proposed costs (e.g., how grant funds offered by the center might work; how faculty and staff experts might affiliate with the center; how facilities & operations/sustainability coordinator will collaborate with the center; the kinds of internships the center may offer; how a student fellows program might enhance the center) ;
  • Finalizing the position description for the Executive Director of the center and working with the President to launch the search;
  •  Investigating options for the location of the center;
  • Developing a list of possible members of the external advisory panel; 
  • Working with University Communications to develop a plan for telling the story of the Center to raise its profile within and outside of the University.

The task force will be in operation through the first three months of the inaugural Executive Director’s tenure at St. Lawrence, after which the task force will dissolve, and the planned external advisory panel will be functional.

The goal is to have the Executive Director in place and the center launched by July 1, 2023.

Environmental Center Taskforce Membership

  • Kathleen Colson '79, trustee and co-chair 
  • Alison Del Rossi, co-chair, dean-elect, and professor of economics
  • Erika Barthelmess, professor of biology and director of Nature Up North
  • Maverick Cummings, assistant director of residence life  
  • Neil Forkey, associate professor and chair of Canadian studies and coordinator of Native American studies
  • Florence Hines, vp for enrollment management, dean of admissions and financial aid
  • LeAnn Holland, assistant professor of education and graduate program coordinator
  • Michael Iversen, assistant director for sustainability and energy management 
  • Jacob McCoola, director of outdoor studies and Adirondack semester 
  • Nick Penniman '92, trustee 
  • Paul Redfern, vp for university communications and institutional strategy 
  • Jon Rosales, professor of environmental studies 
  • Kathleen Welch '81, trustee 
  • Eric Williams-Bergen, director of digital initiatives 
  • Students, TBD

I am excited about the potential of this new initiative to help to ensure St. Lawrence continues to thrive as a relevant, competitive, and strong university for centuries to come.

Sincerely,

Kate Morris