President Names Lutz WCU's Sustainability Coordinator

Dr. Greg Weisenstein has named Tim Lutz as the University’s first Sustainability Coordinator.

The move reflects a growing national awareness of the need for sustainability education as well as students’ interest in sustainability. In fact, the Princeton Review, which began giving environmental scores to colleges in 2007, reports that 26 percent of students indicated that information about a college’s commitment to the environment would “very much” impact their choice of college. It also follows through on the University’s commitment to sustainability in the Plan for Excellence.

“Sustainability is about more than just recycling – it’s like a three-legged stool,” Lutz says, “standing on economic, social and environmental issues.” Sustainability problems arise when the expectations of economic and social systems don’t match the capacity of natural systems to meet them. He thinks every aspect of the University – from its everyday operations to its educational activities – should recognize such problems and seek to solve them.

An associate professor, Lutz teaches an interdisciplinary general education course, Humans and the Environment, that helped his interests in sustainability grow. He says that general education courses are a great place to start sustainability education because they help students develop their perspective on life, their problem-solving and citizenship skills, and their capacity for life-long learning.

This semester, Lutz will begin to evaluate West Chester’s current sustainability status and capacity for change; conduct research into sustainability education and the curriculum; and investigate other universities as possible sustainability models.

He will lead the Sustainability Advisory Council (formerly the Environmental Council) in developing a sustainability communications and action plan and begin working on a budget. He is also charged with developing relationships with surrounding communities on issues of sustainability.

Lutz earned his undergraduate degree at Wesleyan University and his doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania. He joined the faculty in 1998.