AU hosted the nation-wide launch of the first system specifically made to evaluate the sustainability of colleges and universities this semester.
The program, called the Sustainability Tracking and Assessments Rating System, was launched in a conference of panelists recorded and streamed online from campus.
Director of Sustainability Chris O’Brien signed AU up as the first participant from the D.C. region in October, when the program was in a pre-launch “sneak peak” period, he said.
STARS assesses three main components of university life: education and research, administration and engagement and operations.
It calculates a university’s overall sustainability with a formula of point systems, according to O’Brien, who was involved in the development of STARS since its early stages and is now on the STARS steering committee.
“It’s unique because it’s the first of its kind because it was developed by ... hundreds of experts from dozens of schools over three years ... and it’s specifically meant for universities,” O’Brien said.
The education component involves course curricula, research and co-curricular activities. One thing STARS rates in this category is the number of courses on sustainability available at a university.
The same day of the STARS launch, the Kogod Council voted to create a new degree called the Master of Science in Sustainability Management, The Eagle previously reported. The availability of this degree counts towards AU’s ranking in the educational component of STARS, according to O’Brien.
EcoSense President Jennifer Jones, a sophomore in the School of International Service, said the existence and activities of the club itself, count towards AU’s STARS ranking in the education category.
“We are working on a lot of things that have to do with student education and professors teaching sustainability,” Jones said.
EcoSense was also involved with promoting sustainability in the STARS category of administration and engagement, according to Jones, by pushing for AU to purchase more renewable energy and encouraging AU President Neil Kerwin to sign the Presidents’ Climate Commitment in 2008.
The third category of STARS ranks the sustainability of AU’s operations, including buildings, dining services, waste management and the vehicle fleet on campus. One change being made on campus operations is that kitchen waste from the Terrace Dining Room will now go to a compost in Maryland instead of a landfill, according to O’Brien.
The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education created and administered STARS, according to O’Brien.
The AASHE Executive Director Paul Rowland was present at AU for the launch.
STARS is effective because it evaluates many aspects of a university’s campus and community when it gives that school a sustainability ranking, according to Rowland.
“From providing sustainability coursework, to dorm cleaning products, to energy efficiency in campus buildings, there are lots of opportunities for a school to identify and track its sustainability progress,” Rowland said in a press release.
AU remains the only D.C. participant in the program.
The George Washington University is one school in D.C. that did not sign onto STARS, according to Sophie Waskow, stakeholder engagement coordinator of the GWU Office of Sustainability.
“GW Office of Sustainability is currently focusing the resources and time of staff and faculty at GW on actions to address climate change,” Waskow said in an e-mail. “We are thrilled to see the roll out and are cheering on the participants in this first year of activity.”
Over one hundred participants nationwide are now signed up for STARS, and even more are expected to join, according to O’Brien.
“I fully expect that it will become the default higher education sustainability system,” he said.
You can reach this staff writer at mfowler@theeagleonline.com.
