Assembly Resolution

April 10, 2009

GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL STUDENT ORGANIZATION (GPSO)

RESOLUTION ON THE PRESIDENTS' CLIMATE COMMITMENT

WHEREAS, Indiana University-Bloomington currently recognizes through its creation of a Campus Task Force on Sustainability that establishing and implementing sustainable practices at Indiana University is crucial to bringing IU-B into the burgeoning "national and international movement to address global-scale environmental issues in the academic arena" (quoted from the Indiana University Task Force on Sustainability 2008 Campus Sustainability Report); and

WHEREAS, Indiana University-Bloomington already recognizes a need for an institutional commitment to campus sustainability inasmuch as it has created and funded the position of Director of Sustainability, currently filled by William B. Brown, for the purpose of organizing a campus sustainability program under the joint direction of Provost and Executive Vice President Karen Hanson and Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer J. Terry Clapacs; and

WHEREAS, Indiana University currently lags behind its peer institutions in making a formal institutional commitment to campus sustainability in the areas of Academics Initiatives, Energy, Environmental Quality & Land Use, Resource Use & Recycling, Transportation, the Built Environment and Food, seven areas addressed by the IU Task Force on Sustainability, underwritten by a broad representation of IU-Bloomington college administrators, professors, staff and students; and

WHEREAS, this highly visible gap between articulated sustainability goals (as outlined by the Task Force Mission Statement) and Indiana University-Bloomington's official policy and current practices threatens IU-B's reputation as a competitive institution that supports state-of-the-art research in cutting-edge fields and creative engagement of problems impacting the globe at large and Indiana University in particular; and

WHEREAS, IU-B's continued abstention from an official commitment to campus sustainability, including a formal, public statement of institutional dedication to reducing Indiana University's greenhouse gas emissions, will result in the loss of long-term financial savings on energy costs and moreover will minimize the attraction of excellent students and faculty, new sources of funding, as well as community and alumni support to IU-B; and

WHEREAS, signing and abiding by an institutional commitment such as the American College and University Presidents' Commitment (recommended by the IU Task Force on Sustainability) would significantly increase Indiana University-Bloomington's appeal to high-caliber students and faculty, valuable new sources of income, and the support of both the Bloomington community and Indiana University alumni, as well as stabilize and significantly reduce energy costs for IU-B in the long-term; and

WHEREAS, this body does recognize the need for such an institutional commitment on the part of Indiana University-Bloomington, so as to ensure IU-B's continued presence among leading institutions of higher education both in America and internationally, and so as to encourage competitive involvement of IU-B graduate and undergraduate students in emerging fields related to sustainable development;

BE IT RESOLVED, that the GPSO Assembly recommends that the Indiana University-Bloomington administration, through the representation of IU-B President Michael McRobbie, sign and meet the requirements of the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment, in light of its endorsement by the IU Task Force on Sustainability, and thereby make official the administration's intention to enable Indiana University-Bloomington to go climate neutral within the timeframe adopted by said document.

PASSED AND ADOPTED by the GPSO Assembly this 10th day of April 2009.

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GPSO President