Are you helping to lead sustainability efforts on your campus?

Join the 2025 UMACS Coffee Chats for Sustainability Leaders series! We meet on the fourth Wednesday of each month from 9:00-10:00 am CST. These facilitated meetings are an opportunity to share best practices, resources and struggles with your regional peers.

Help choose Coffee Chat topics by voting on proposed ones here! Sign up for the topics of interest and/or value to you, and invite others from your campus to join the discussion.

 2026 Coffee Chats for Sustainability Leaders

Upcoming Coffee Chats: 
Weds, February 11  9:00-10:00 CST
Are students coming to you for advising and support of their activism? How are you responding to these requests? What advice are you providing? Please note that this session is only for staff, faculty and community partners. ​

Register For February 11th

Weds, March 25 9:00-10:00 CST
The Carnegie Elective Classification for Sustainability: Is your campus considering applying? Join us to learn from four UMACS member campuses that participated in the pilot (UW Eau Claire, University of South Dakota, Carleton College the University of Nebraska-Lincoln) about their experiences and to learn more about the new classification from Marisol Morales, Executive Director of the Carnegie Elective Classifications and Amy Halvorson, Sustainability Director at the University of Colorado Boulder (host campus for the Sustainability Classification).

Register For March 25th

Past 2025 Topics:
December: Integrating Applied Learning Projects
November: Campus Farm Programs and Student Learning 
October: Best Practices for Supervising and Advising Students
July: The Promise and Peril of the AI Revolution
June: Wellness Model for Sustainability
May: Reflecting on Wins
April: Big Ideas & Tools to Support Midwest Climate Resilience 
March: Goal Setting - How Do You Determine What You Should Be Doing?
February: Co-Curricular Transcripts & Digital Badging 

2024 Discussion Topics

January: Sustainability Officer Networking Session
February: Procurement and Sustainable Purchasing ​
March:  Partnerships with Grounds and Landscaping Staff to Advance Sustainability
April: Strategies for Effectively Engaging Students, Staff and Faculty
May: Zero Waste: How are We Living Up to Our Goals?
June: "Water Cooler" Time
July:  Carbon Footprinting Tools 
August: Book Discussion with Edward Humes
​Pulitzer Prize Winner Edward Humes will join us to talk about his new book! Learn more here. 
September: Community of Practice Networking Session
October: What is the "Key Competencies in Sustainability Framework"? 
November: Reusable Container Programs
December: Experiential Education Programs