In recognition of the continued efforts to improve environmental efforts on Missouri State University’s campus, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) issued Missouri State a Silver rating in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS). In 2011, the university received a Bronze rating on this same system.
“Since the last report, we have made significant strides in the areas of energy efficiency, student engagement, campus diversity, sustainability planning and coordination, waste diversion, sustainable purchasing, among others. These advancements directly translate to STARS points,” said Jordan Schanda, sustainability coordinator for the university.
Schanda noted that the report required more quantitative data than the previous version, so she collaborated with students, faculty and staff, as well as community stakeholders to gather the necessary information for the report. STARS includes 70 credit areas from four categories: academics, engagement, operations, and planning and administration.
“Participation in STARS is essential to advancing the sustainability of our campus, and it offers us a clear road map to become a more sustainable university,” said Schanda. “Due to our continued commitment to sustainability at Missouri State University, we were able to demonstrate our success in many of the new credits areas, which resulted in an increase in our score.”
The full STARS Report is available.
Based on the STARS Report, Schanda said the university identified some potential areas for growth, including: energy, dining services, curriculum, research, air and climate, buildings and investment.
About STARS
716 institutions have registered to use the STARS Reporting Tool. Of these institutions 498 are AASHE members (m), 229 are STARS Charter Participants (c), and 50 participated in the original STARS pilot (p). Each institution’s most recent report is listed below. Click on an institution’s name to view all STARS reports. See all STARS institutions. For more information about the STARS program, visit www.aashe.org/stars.