Message from the Chancellor

Chancellor's Note

April, 2008
John A. White

In February of 2007, the University of Arkansas became the first institution of higher education in the state, and among the first 100 in the country, to sign the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.

This committed us to develop an action plan to make our campus climate neutral by 2009; to implement at least two specific programs for reducing greenhouse gases while this plan is created; and to make the action plan and all progress reports accessible to the public.

In this issue of Research Frontiers, you will learn more about the wide-ranging research projects being done on campus to make sustainability globally viable. It is equally imperative that we support sustainability on an institutional level. That said, signing the commitment was the easy part. Honoring it will be much more difficult, though we're off to a terrific start.

Achieving climate neutrality on campus will require all the students, faculty and staff do their share. Nevertheless, a disproportionate part of the heavy lifting will devolve to the facilities management team. Fortunately, the Presidents Commitment only accelerates, rather than initiates, a process that began in the early '90s with campus tree planting and recycling programs. Mike Johnson, associate vice chancellor for facilities management, is overseeing the implementation of dozens of new, ongoing or planned projects that include recycling at football games, move-in day recycling at residence halls and acquiring a fleet of campus vehicles that use alternative fuels or electricity.

To help implement the Presidents Commitment, we also have hired our first executive assistant for sustainability in the facilities management department, Nick Brown, who already has created a pollution prevention program for the university that currently is under review.

Someone who has been making the case that sustainability also is an economic imperative is Jon Johnson, executive director of the university's recently established Applied Sustainability Center, and a professor in the Sam M. Walton College of Business. With an initial $1.5 million donation from Wal-Mart, the center's mandate is to unite academic experts and business leaders to develop sustainable business practices and implement them in the retail and consumer-goods industries.

On campus, the center will consult with the facilities management team to create green solutions, train and educate staff and students about sustainability, partner with student and non-governmental organizations and eventually coordinate with faculty to incorporate sustainability concepts into their curricula.

We're making great strides toward achieving climate neutrality by 2009. To learn more about the Presidents Commitment and ongoing campus initiatives in which you can become involved, please go to http://sustainability.uark.edu/ online. It's going to take all of us, doing our share, to turn commitment exinto accomplishment.

Happy reading,

John A. White
Chancellor