Vision

The Environmental Sustainability Advance Team will support evidence-based decisions about how to advance environmental sustainability in the areas of academics, operations, and community engagement. 

Mission

The team will take an inquiry-based approach to consider the future of environmental sustainability at Nicolet College:  

• How might we create formal organizational structures for policies, people and resources that will elevate and advance environmental sustainability work at the College?
• How might we incentivize and support a culture of employee-driven ideas and initiatives related to environmental sustainability?  
• How might we become an environmental sustainability leader in our District and the wider Wisconsin Technical College System? 
• How might we measure our progress? 

College Core Abilities

Nicolet College has identified a set of core abilities central to the future success of our students.  Core abilities are incorporated into educational programs to enhance student development.  Similarly, our employees are expected to develop and demonstrate these abilities and behaviors in their daily work and their interactions with others. Core Ability #3 Live Ethically where success in ethical living requires a committed pursuit of professional and personal development to navigate change over time is a direct relationship to environmental sustainability. 

College Values

• We believe in the worth and dignity of the individual, and we therefore commit to treating each person with kindness and respect.
• We honor individual freedom of inquiry and individual and group contributions to governance.
• We value education as a lifelong process.
• We value our students, and we strive to empower them to realize their educational goals.
• We value our staff and Board, and we strive to support each other in our common efforts to contribute fully to the success of Nicolet and each other.
• We value our communities, and we strive to enrich them by being responsive to their needs through partnerships.

Environmental Sustainability Goals

• Identify College strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats by surveying current relevant policies and practices in academics, operations, and community engagement.
• Compare our current efforts against 3 peer institutions in the WTCS.
• Synthesize relevant research findings on environmental sustainability in higher education institutes.
• Recommend a framework or tool used to measure an organization’s excellence in environmental sustainability that can be used to benchmark and track progress at the College. 

2024-2025 Co-Chairs

Pete Vanney
Thomas Wilding

2024 – 2025 Committee Members

Dawn Millard
Brandon Luedtke

Meetings are in-person on the Rhinelander Campus and via MS Teams. 

Committee Members Roles & Responsibilities:

• All members attend all monthly meetings at a mutually agreed upon time
• Meetings will be held virtually & in-person at Nicolet College 
• Come prepared for meetings
• Keep discussion related to the advance team’s mission and goals
• Follow through on commitments made and activities assigned at meetings
• Regularly communicate responsibilities with supervisor and confirm balance with job duties