(Disclaimer up front - I am trying to catch up so this post is going to be a tad on the long side.)
(Hopeful assertion - I hope to avoid such posts in the future by writing more often and summarizing with a meta-post periodically)
Communication and Coordination: Since the beginning of the semester, I have met with two groups that have not historically met with the Director on a regular basis: 1) the Student Representatives; and 2) chairs of the home departments of our governance and affiliate faculty. This post and my hopeful assertion above are the result of my meeting with the students. I plan to meet with each of these groups on a regular basis in the future.
Undergraduate major: The issue of how to credential UW-Madison undergraduates wrt the environment is again on the agenda. CALS is anxious to move ahead with an Environmental Science major. A small group of Nelson Institute folks got together to discuss how best to work with CALS on this initiative and as a result of that meeting Molly Jahn will join the upcoming Governance Faculty meeting to discuss the CALS proposal.
Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (WICCI): This partnership with the WI Dept of Natural Resources is moving forward. An ad hoc group has designed a structure that includes a Science Council that oversees working groups, an Advisory Committee that provides guidance regarding problem articulation and an Outreach and Operations unit (Nelson Institute) that provides logistical support.
The Science Council, with representation from across the state, met for the first time in late September. The group is enthusiastic and plans to meet monthly as the program gets off the ground. It is my hope that we will be able to seed fund some working groups soon and we have submitted a Baldwin preproposal toward that end.
Business, Environment and Social Responsibility: Ideas continue to develop around this theme. There is growing activity in the Business School and we will hold a Forum featuring Stu Hart and a distinguished panel of commentators on 2 Nov 2007 at the Monona Terrace. Panelists will include Stephen Viederman, past-president of the Jesse Smith-Noyes Foundation, Josh Farley from the Gund Institute, and Bruce Kahn from Smith Barney.
The Search: Rumor has it that the search for a permanent Director is proceeding apace. I have heard that a strong pool was formed and that a medium list may be close to formed. It is likely to still be a while before the process becomes more public.
Annual Report: The Nelson Institute’s 2006-07 Annual Report is completed and we are in the process of distributing it.
Lt. Gov. Lawton: Tia Nelson, Steve Pomplun and I met with the Lt. Governor recently and were very well received. We discussed state climate initiatives and briefed her on the relationship between WICCI and the Governor’s Global Warming Task Force. (WICCI, climate impact on humans; GWTF, human impact on climate).
Reccreditation Project: The Nelson Institute is strongly represented on this important project. Nancy Mathews is leading the overall effort and Jon Foley is co-chair with Jeremy Suri of the “Shaping the Global Agenda” theme. I am also member of the committee for that theme. The Dean’s Retreat yesterday focused on that effort and there is a lot of excitement around the study themes and anticipation of the strategic plan that will follow from the effort.
Community Environmental Forum: Our third semester of this External Relations activity is off to a strong start. The focus this semester is on community sustainability efforts and is being led by Tom Eggert.
What did I forget?