Share this Story
President Miller Selected as Chair of the Climate Leadership Network Steering Committee
He will also serve on the Board of Directors of Second Nature
Featured News | February 7, 2018
President Scott D. Miller recently attended the annual Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit in Tempe, Arizona. The Summit is sponsored annually by Boston-based and attracts top scholars in the field. During the Summit, he was selected as chair of The Climate Leadership Network (formerly American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment) Steering Committee. His two-year term will begin July 1, and as chair, he will also serve on the Board of Directors of Second Nature.
President Miller has been actively involved with Second Nature and its programs for over a decade. In 2006, as President of Wesley College, he was one of a small group of college presidents nationwide who met in Washington, D.C., for the initial meeting of the then-named American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment (). In fall 2015, the ACUPCC underwent a significant rebranding by Second Nature that created new standards for climate leadership in higher education. The Presidents’ Climate Leadership Commitments are a signature program of Second Nature and include a Carbon Commitment (focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions), a Resilience Commitment (focused on climate adaptation and building community capacity), and a Climate Commitment that integrates both. The Climate Leadership Network comprises more than 600 colleges and universities in every state and the District of Columbia who have committed to take action on climate and prepare students through research and education to solve the challenges of the 21st century.
Virginia Wesleyan has benefited from the relationship with Second Nature in a wide variety of ways. Second Nature is reshaping institutions and communities while training the future political, business, and scientific leaders who will help solve climate change. As a signatory of the Climate Commitment and with the support of Second Nature, Virginia Wesleyan is currently developing a comprehensive Climate Action Plan. This initiative is supported by VWU faculty, staff, and students appointed to President Miller’s .
“The Climate Leadership Commitments are more than just a declaration or statement; they are a catalyst for rigorous and robust action on our campus and in our community,” said Miller. “ My appointment to chair is especially gratifying in an academic year in which we opened the state-of-the-art Greer Environmental Sciences Center and the Batten Honors College—with a focus on environmental studies, leadership and globalization.”