Campus Life

Texas A&M Receives Honor For Sustainability Efforts

March 7, 2017

 

By Texas A&M Marketing and Communications Staff

Texas A&M University has earned a STARS Gold Rating in recognition of its sustainability achievements from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). STARS, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System measures and encourages sustainability in all aspects of higher education. AASHE

Texas A&M became a Charter STARS member in 2010 with the expectation that STARS would serve as a benchmarking tool and encourage continual sustainability improvements. Texas A&M submitted its first report in 2012 and a second report in 2015, both of which earned STARS Silver. As the campus has invested more into the STARS data collection and reporting process, the institution has been able to identify growth areas and make progress in achieving higher and higher levels of sustainability performance.

“We are delighted that the institution has been able to leverage STARS as a means to drive sustainability at Texas A&M University,” says Kelly Wellman, sustainability director. “Our persistence with monitoring performance helped the institution earn its first STARS Gold rating.”

With more than 650 participants on six continents, AASHE’s STARS program is the most widely recognized framework in the world for publicly reporting comprehensive information related to a college or university’s sustainability performance. Participants report achievements in four overall areas: 1) operations 2) academics, 3) engagement and 4) planning, administration.

“STARS was developed by the campus sustainability community to provide high standards for recognizing campus sustainability efforts,” notes AASHE Executive Director Meghan Fay Zahniser. “Texas A&M University has demonstrated a substantial commitment to sustainability by achieving a STARS Gold Rating and is to be congratulated for their efforts.”

Texas A&M’s STARS report is publicly available on the STARS website:

https://stars.aashe.org/institutions/texas-am-university-tx/report/2016-12-20/

For more information about the STARS program, visit stars.aashe.org.

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Contact: Kelly Wellman, Texas A&M University Office of Sustainability kwellman@tamu.edu(979) 845-1911 or Meghan Fay Zahniser, Executive Director

AASHE meghan@aashe.org (888) 347-9997

For more news about Texas A&M University, see https://today.tamu.edu/.

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