A national sustainability rating system has awarded The University of Arkansas “silver” status for its campus sustainability efforts.
The rating came from the Association for the Advancement for Sustainability in Higher Education’s (AASHE) Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) as a part of an evaluation process requested by the U of A Office for Sustainability.
AASHE STARS measures sustainability performance at more than 300 academic institutions nationwide. Factors such as student enrollment, sustainability research, organic landscaping practices, and sustainability-related curriculum are a few of the many components that contribute to the overall rating.
“We are very proud that the UA campus continues to progress at the ‘silver’ level, but we are not done yet; we are going for gold” said Dr. Marty Matlock, executive director for the Office for Sustainability.
Achieving the “gold” level will require cooperation among many individuals and groups on campus.
“Everybody has a particular role to play in making our campus more sustainable in achieving that gold status,” said Carlos Ochoa, director of the U of A Office for Sustainability.
It is important for students, faculty and staff to realize the impact they have on our STARS rating and to know that the Office for Sustainability can sometimes support their efforts to become more sustainable.
“Partnerships with faculty, staff and students are our biggest strengths. If we can leverage our sustainability goals to increase the value of a student’s education, then everyone benefits,” said Ochoa.
The Office for Sustainability continually searches for ways sustainability is being implemented into curriculum, extra-curricular activities, and research on campus.
One example of how the Office for Sustainability works to improve the campus’s AASHE STARS rating is the development of an Integrated Pest Management plan. The OFS partnered with Professor Donn Johnson of Department of Entomology to develop a pest management plan for the U of A campus. Johnson hired Cory Johnson, an undergraduate student, to help with its development. Once the product is finished, it will help achieve additional points in the rating system.
“We partnered with Dr. Johnson to hire an intern to develop an integrated pest management plan for our campus,” said Ochoa.
In order to achieve a “gold” rating through the AASHE STARS program, Ochoa said the campus needs to work together to identify new ways to improve sustainability efforts and to track the progress that has already been made.
“We need to get better at collecting data on the good things we are doing, and focus on the next stage of our campus growth,” said Ochoa.
For more information please visit https://stars.aashe.org/institutions/university-of-arkansas-ar/report/2014-02-14/ to see the completed Office for Sustainability AASHE STARS submission profile.