2008 CURC Annual Meeting Minutes
September 23, 2008
1. Introductions
Meeting attendees introduced themselves.
2. Update on CURC Steering Committee Work
Mary Jensen reviewed projects that the Steering Committee has been working on. She began by discussing the Coca Cola-sponsored scholarships to the conference. A subcommittee of the Steering Committee reviewed all application and 3 students were chosen to receive scholarships to the conference. She encouraged CURC members to become involved in this process in the future.
Jack Debell and Alec Cooley then reviewed the American Forest & Paper Association grant. This grant will provide $25,000 to support college and university paper recycling programs. This will be accomplished by schools applying to have a recycling expert visit their campus to give recommendations on implementing or improving their current paper recycling program. A call was put out for people who are experts on this topic who would be willing and able to visit other schools as well as for volunteers to help develop deliverables for this program (e.g. speaking points, a PowerPoint presentation, etc.).
Next, the Weyerhauser grant of $5,000 was discussed. This grant paid for 7 college and university recycling webinars which had an average of 30 attendees each. CURC was encouraged to let the Steering Committee know of any potential grantors to continue this series. Additionally, speakers for upcoming webinars are needed. Mary will send an email to RECYC-L and the CURC listserve with the proposed topics included. Rob Gogan reviewed the topics for 2008 and Alec stated that previous webinars are on the CURC website.
3. Recycling and Sustainability on Campus
Mary noted that many recycling coordinators now have dual roles in serving as their campus’ sustainability coordinator as well. She stated that the Steering Committee is working with AASHE and the STARS program. She also challenged the membership to figure out how to keep CURC and the NRC visible within the sustainability movement and how we can become experts to AASHE on recycling. Any interested in working on this topic are encouraged to let the Steering Committee know or to run for the Steering Committee in April.
4. Membership Recruitment
It was reported that CURC is working to ensure that our membership database is correct. A call was put out for volunteers to help create a member recruitment packet which will include a “Welcome to CURC” letter and an explanation of what CURC does. It was noted that CURC doesn’t talk enough on the listserves about the work we do.
5. RecycleMania
Rob began by stating that RecycleMania is growing by leaps and bounds. He extended gratitude for the support provided by the EPA WasteWise program and Coca Cola. As of the 2008 competition, 400 schools participated, representing 2 million students and 80 million pounds of recyclables. Stacy Wheeler then provided a review of RecycleMania including how schools are using the competition to begin new programs and as a teaching tool in classes and how RecycleMania is included in the Princeton Review’s green ratings. Additionally, schools participating in the President’s Climate Commitment receive credit for participation in the competition. Karyn Kaplan noted that other college rankings are including RecycleMania and encouraged members to let the Steering Committee know if they hear of other ways in which RecycleMania is being used.
6. Elections
Mary reported that CURC Steering Committee elections are held every April and she encouraged members to run. She also stated that she is stepping down as the Chair of the CURC Steering Committee and Mark Darling will be taking over in this capacity for 2008-2009.
7. Member Comments
The Recycling Coordinator for Johns Hopkins stated that he would like to see a roster of CURC-member schools by state to assist with networking.
The Recycling Coordinator from Miami University (Ohio) stated that more students need to be attending CURC events.
The Recycling Coordinator from the University of Kentucky thanked CURC for the Future Leaders Program which made the conference accessible to students by offering a discounted student registration rate.
The Recycling Coordinator from the University of Missouri stated that the zero waste webinar was great.