ISU selected to participate in campus sustainability program STARS
Kate Stickelmaier, Daily Vidette Senior Staff
Issue date: 2/12/08 Section: News
ISU has become one of the universities selected to participate in the trial phase of a campus sustainability-rating program by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
The evaluation system known as STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System), launched last Monday, Feb. 4, and includes more than 90 colleges and universities from across the country.
Those higher education institutions that have applied and been selected will participate in the rating system until Dec. 31 of this year in order to provide feedback for the release of STARS version 1.0 scheduled in spring 2009. "It's helping us evaluate ourselves…and determine our next steps," Enid Cardinal, ISU's sustainability coordinator, said when referring to the self-assessment system. "The whole rating system has been evolving for two years."
The selected schools were chosen based not only on their ability to participate, but also on a number of factors such as geographic location, size and type of institution as Niles Barnes, program coordinator at Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, explained.
"We are trying to create basically sustainability indicators…that will create overall [campus] standards," Barnes said. STARS currently consist of three categories including curriculum and research, operations and administration and finance that the campuses will use in the process.
"We will be going through and systemically evaluating the criteria for each category [at ISU]…" Cardinal explained, as a member of Association for the Advancement of the Sustainability in Higher Education's technical advisory committee.
Members from the two other committees known as the steering committee and the strategic advisory committee are also responsible for providing feedback to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, Barnes said.
"We want it to be accessible to everyone after the pilot program ends," Barnes said. Information regarding waste generation, dining services and governance, among others, will be evaluated and submitted by ISU.
"This will be the common evaluation system used [in the future]," Cardinal said. In the meantime, students, faculty and staff are encouraged to participate in the collaborative effort.
"They can definitely help provide and do research by contacting their campus sustainability coordinator," Barnes said. Cardinal also recommends that students take the initiative to conserve energy in the residence halls by turning off the electricity upon leaving their room. "I always tell people to unplug their cell phone chargers…"
Cardinal said, "Just because your screen saver is on doesn't mean [your computer] is not using power." While conserving water and recycling is a given, using washable wear instead of disposable containers in the dining centers can also reduce the amount of bulky trash created, according to Cardinal.
The evaluation system known as STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System), launched last Monday, Feb. 4, and includes more than 90 colleges and universities from across the country.
Those higher education institutions that have applied and been selected will participate in the rating system until Dec. 31 of this year in order to provide feedback for the release of STARS version 1.0 scheduled in spring 2009. "It's helping us evaluate ourselves…and determine our next steps," Enid Cardinal, ISU's sustainability coordinator, said when referring to the self-assessment system. "The whole rating system has been evolving for two years."
The selected schools were chosen based not only on their ability to participate, but also on a number of factors such as geographic location, size and type of institution as Niles Barnes, program coordinator at Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, explained.
"We are trying to create basically sustainability indicators…that will create overall [campus] standards," Barnes said. STARS currently consist of three categories including curriculum and research, operations and administration and finance that the campuses will use in the process.
"We will be going through and systemically evaluating the criteria for each category [at ISU]…" Cardinal explained, as a member of Association for the Advancement of the Sustainability in Higher Education's technical advisory committee.
Members from the two other committees known as the steering committee and the strategic advisory committee are also responsible for providing feedback to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, Barnes said.
"We want it to be accessible to everyone after the pilot program ends," Barnes said. Information regarding waste generation, dining services and governance, among others, will be evaluated and submitted by ISU.
"This will be the common evaluation system used [in the future]," Cardinal said. In the meantime, students, faculty and staff are encouraged to participate in the collaborative effort.
"They can definitely help provide and do research by contacting their campus sustainability coordinator," Barnes said. Cardinal also recommends that students take the initiative to conserve energy in the residence halls by turning off the electricity upon leaving their room. "I always tell people to unplug their cell phone chargers…"
Cardinal said, "Just because your screen saver is on doesn't mean [your computer] is not using power." While conserving water and recycling is a given, using washable wear instead of disposable containers in the dining centers can also reduce the amount of bulky trash created, according to Cardinal.
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