Clarkson University has a GOLD AASHE STARS rating. It is time to renew our rating and keep our GOLD status to reaffirm our commitment to a sustainable campus!
Clarkson’s next AASHE stars report is due at the beginning of 2022:
- AASHE: The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
- STARS: The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System
This is a comprehensive report that measures Clarkson on dozens of environmental and social sustainability metrics. Hundreds of other institutions of higher education participate in this reporting.
Sustainability throughout our campus operations is an overarching strategic principle in the draft Strategic Plan. Working through this process of assessing our sustainability strengths and challenges that the STARS system provides will help all of us to better integrate sustainability practices within our units and job functions. Raising our AASHE Stars score demonstrates to our peers that we are leaders when it comes to the many challenges our world is facing.
Our STARS report will have an impact on student enrollment for the next three years. The majority of prospective students consider sustainability when selecting a university. A Princeton Review survey in 2019 found:
The majority (66%) of respondents said having information about a college’s commitment to environmental issues would contribute “Somewhat,” “Very Much,” or “Strongly” to their application and enrollment decisions, with 25% indicating it would contribute “Strongly” or “Very much.”
There is a clear link between sustainability as a value and practice of our community, which will be represented through our AASHE score, to our financial sustainability as an institution. The Princeton Review survey has asked the same question for years. Each year there is a marginal increase in the number of students who consider sustainability in the decision they make.
Throughout the Spring 2021 semester, the ISE and the campus Sustainability Committee will be reaching out to representatives from all departments on campus soon to:
- provide an overview of the AASHE Stars program and the metrics related to your department;
- define data needs and evaluate how to collect relevant information over the course of this semester;
- review the STARS scores related to your units’ activities with you to help create a plan for improvement.
The ISE will then support the efforts of departments to take action on their plans for improvement so that we aim for a higher overall score by the end of the fall 2021 semester.
