UNI has several sustainability projects that have successfully added value to campus. We want to continue building a more sustainable campus by adding incentive and value to green practices, and by engaging students in these events.
Sustainability Plan
RecycleMania Tournament
Our biggest sustainability initiative is to engage campus in an eight-week tournament called RecycleMania. This is a nationwide tournament that puts colleges in competition with each other to see who has the best recycling practices. Half of the Missouri Valley Conference (Indiana State, Evansville, Loyola, Southern Illinois, & Missouri State)and three Iowa schools (University of Iowa, Coe College, & Wartburg College) already participate in this competition.
There two main categories for UNI to participate in: competition and benchmark. The current recycling initiatives implemented and approved by our Office of Sustainability shows that UNI has the processes in place to compete nationally. We just need to enter the competition.
The benefits of this tournament will further enhance our cross-campus recycling, build awareness of practical sustainable practices for every-day life, and showcase our accomplishments on a national level, all while having a friendly and fun competition.
The Bike Share Program
In its first year, the Bike Share Program has seen successful results with all 40 bikes being rented out for the semester. We want to continue publicizing this program and explaining to students the biking opportunities they have in the community, like Cedar Falls’ 80 miles of recreational trails.
Developing an online system to track bikes will clarify availability and demand for the program. The system would allow forms to be completed online to simplify the renting process. 40 bikes is nowhere close to meeting the needs of all students, but understanding the demand for the program will help the university and student government assess resources for expanding the number of bikes.
We would also like the bikes to be made easily identifiable across campus. This could be done by painting them with our purple and gold colors, adding tire fenders or a basket, or labeling the bikes with the UNI logo and name. This would help raise students’ awareness of the bike share program and for our visitors.
This program will require student leadership and input to further improve its success. We suggest having that leadership fall to the NISG Campus Relations Committee Chair, a required position within student government. We understand the importance and workload of the Campus Relations Committee, but placing the bike share program within this committee will help maintain continuity that is not often seen with the lower cabinet Director of Sustainability. We are open to improving lower cabinet positions into internships. This will hopefully increase interest in these positions and maintain involvement through the entire appointed term. The Director of Sustainability will be our first position to look into modifying for an internship program.
The Northern Iowan
Accessibility is key to student involvement on campus. The Northern Iowan provides articles and columns focused on student interest and opportunities. We want to see the Northern Iowan become more accessible to students by connecting them to the paper’s online presence. The current website for the Northern Iowan is modern, engaging, and compatible for mobile devices. By adding a link through the MyUNI App, students will have quick access to content and stories written by fellow students. We project this modification in outreach will increase readership and engagement with our 124 year old campus newspaper.
In terms of reviewing future efficiency, this is to start a conversation with the Northern Iowan editorial staff. Nearly $90,000 of student funds are invested in this paper and we want to understand how NISG can help with the goals of the editorial staff.
