Hiers Appointed University Safety Officer

Provost John Swallow has announced that Kevin Hiers, director of environmental stewardship, will assume a number of additional responsibilities as safety officer for the University of the South.

As safety officer, Hiers will oversee the University’s ability to address emergencies, specifically through the volunteer fire department, the development and maintenance of regular training on employee and volunteer activities in incident situations, and the installation and maintenance of building and communication systems. In this capacity his title will be chief of emergency services.

Hiers will also serve as chair of the Sewanee Volunteer Fire Department Advisory Board. That board serves a number of functions, including providing for proficient fire service to Sewanee and the surrounding area and planning for the future of the force and of fire protection in Sewanee.

“This position is a wonderful chance to serve the community in a new capacity that takes advantage of my background in emergency response with the Air Force,” said Hiers. “I look forward to adding value where I can and helping to maintain the tremendous legacy of Jerry Smith, as well as the impressive systems that the University has for emergencies of all types.”

Hiers will take up several of the duties that Gerald Smith, Ayres Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies, has long exercised for the benefit of the University and Sewanee residents. The appointment will be fully effective 

July 1, 2016; Hiers and Smith will work closely in transitioning duties. Hiers, a 1996 graduate of Sewanee, was named director of environmental stewardship in August 2014. As the chief administrator for the use of land beyond residential, commercial and campus areas, Hiers organizes the growing scientific activity on the land beyond the center of the University’s campus.

Sesno to Discuss Politics, Election Results & Media

Award-winning journalist Frank Sesno, now the director of George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, will visit the Sewanee campus Thursday, Nov. 6. He will give a talk, “Reflections on the 2014 Elections,” at 2 p.m. in Convocation Hall, and is expected to cover both politics and the media. During his visit, Sesno will also meet with students and with Sewanee’s representatives in the Planet Forward Consortium.

With more than 30 years experience reporting from around the world, Sesno is well-known as anchor, White House correspondent and talk show host with CNN; he is also a nationally renowned moderator who has engaged some of the world’s leading personalities.

Sesno joined CNN in 1984 and for seven years was White House correspondent before moving to the anchor chair. From 1996 until 2001, he served as the network’s Washington, D.C., bureau chief.

Sesno created and hosts <PlanetForward.org>, a user-driven Web and television project that brings students and experts together to examine innovations in sustainability and global food security. 

At GW’s School of Media and Public Affairs, Sesno leads nearly two dozen faculty members who research and teach journalism, political communication and the impact of digital media in international affairs. He teaches classes on journalism ethics, sustainability reporting and “the art of the interview.”

Sewanee Names Director of Environmental Stewardship

Committed to the ongoing development of the Domain as a national center for environmental learning, the University has appointed Kevin Hiers, C’96, director of environmental stewardship.

As the chief administrator for the use of land beyond residential, commercial and campus areas, Hiers will organize the growing scientific activity on the land beyond the center of campus. He will also, through planning and partnerships with other institutions, encourage and facilitate new projects that study the Domain for the public good.

University Provost John Swallow sees this new position as the next step in realizing the Domain’s exceptional potential. 

“For generations, the Domain has offered opportunities for the first-hand study of the environment that are available at no other liberal arts college,” he said. “The environmental richness and the sheer proximity of the land enable our students, mentored by faculty members, to develop deep skills that distinguish them from their peers, whether at scientific conferences or in the job market. The potential to develop further research opportunities on the Domain and to be recognized widely for the nature of those opportunities is significant for the University’s future. By creating this new position, the University is investing in further national distinction.”

Hiers will work as part of a recently formed Office of Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability that brings together several staff members toward common objectives. Professor Jon Evans, assistant provost for environmental stewardship and sustainability, said he is delighted by the addition of Hiers to the team. 

“Kevin Hiers’ expertise, long experience and connections to professionals in the region and across the country are truly extraordinary,” Evans said. “As the Domain gains greater regional and national recognition, he will be able to plan and administer the Domain so that faculty and students from Sewanee and beyond can make even greater advances in science and for the public good.” 

Rounding out the group are Nate Wilson, Domain manager, who will assist Hiers in his efforts, and Marvin Pate, director of sustainability integration.

Before returning to Sewanee, Hiers was acting chief of the Wildland Fire Center, established in 2012 at Florida’s Eglin Air Force Base as part of the Air Force Civil Engineer Center. In that capacity, Hiers was responsible for overseeing all Air Force wildfire and prescribed burning activities on nine million acres of installations and ranges across the United States. Hiers developed and directed the ecological monitoring program at Eglin and also secured more than $7 million in funding for collaborative ecological research involving academic partners. Prior to Eglin, he worked as a research ecologist for the Jones Ecological Research Center in Newton, Georgia. Hiers has published more than 40 scientific articles on ecological forestry, restoration of longleaf pine ecosystems, fire effects on wildlife habitat, fire behavior, and forest ecology.

Faculty and students in archaeology, biology, forestry, geology, history, and religion have found the Domain a valuable resource for research projects. 

University Launches Competition for Green Projects

The University’s Office of Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability is launching a Green Revolving Fund (GRF) competition to finance energy and water efficiency, renewable energy and other sustainability projects that generate cost savings. Proposals for GRF projects are now being accepted from across the community.

Cost savings from the projects will be tracked and used to replenish the fund for subsequent rounds of green investments, establishing a sustainable funding cycle while cutting operating costs and reducing environmental impact. Sewanee’s initial GRF is seeded by a $50,000 grant from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, and matched by $100,000 from other gifts to the University. GRF projects include lighting upgrades, mechanical replacements, automatic controls, insulation, low-flow fixtures and building envelope upgrades.

The GRF program is taking applications from the campus community (faculty, staff, students and community members). Deadline for this round of funding is March 11. The first phase of this program is limited to University facilities and campus. Projects should be submitted by completing an online GRF project submission form. 

Those projects that appear most competitive in each funding round will be more fully evaluated, engineered and described as GRF Project Proposals, a joint effort by the applicant and the Office of Sustainability. The criteria that will be used to evaluate projects include:

• Payback duration (projects with a payback of six years or less)

• Capital cost (projects that cost $15,000 or less)

• Specific environmental benefits, such as resource conservation or greenhouse gas reduction

• Potential for community engagement and collaboration

• Educational benefits

The Green Revolving Fund is an important component of the University’s Sustainability Master Plan’s commitment to reach carbon neutrality as an institution. This program will be the basis for substantial conservation investments over the coming decades. Energy conservation is one of the three key cornerstones of the plan, along with renewable energy and carbon offsets. For more information, including the submission form, go to <http://about.sewanee.edu/sustain>.