UB again gets Gold in international sustainability measure

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Buoyed by higher scores in both academics and campus engagement, the University at Buffalo has again achieved a Gold rating in an international higher education sustainability measurement tool.

The Gold rating comes from the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, or STARS, a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability. The program is led by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

Universities submit data to STARS every three years. Since last time, UB raised its overall score to 72.06 points. This was UB’s first submission under the new STARS version 3.0, which includes more racial and social justice indicators. UB’s STARS report is available online via UB Box.

That progress includes the major milestone announcement Tripathi made on Earth Day in April, reporting that UB had achieved climate neutrality for its directly controlled emissions five years ahead of schedule.

The minimum threshold for a Gold rating is 65, while scores of 85 and above achieve Platinum status. A university’s overall score is based on the percentage of points it earns across four categories: academics, engagement, operations, and planning and administration.

UB’s academics score, which considers sustainability course offerings as well as scholarly research, rose to 56.37 points, capturing 83% of the available credits for that category, while its campus engagement score went up to 37.5, garnering 75% of the credits available.

An increased emphasis on sustainability in UB coursework and curriculum over the last three years, especially connected with experiential learning, helped UB score higher marks in academics and engagement. This is also demonstrated by an increase in schools and departments offering courses connecting to sustainability — for example, the buildout of the Department of Environment and Sustainability in the College of Arts and Sciences — and better surveying and assessing of the campus’ thoughts and knowledge on sustainability.

UB scored 45.5 points in operations and 30.05 in governance. Under the operations category, UB’s excellence in renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions helped the university achieve nearly three-quarters of the available credits.

“There is a lot of data that goes into UB’s STARS report and it encompasses nearly every facet of the university as we continuously try to capture the true breadth of sustainability across UB,” says Samantha Scarpello, research analyst in the Office of Institutional Analysis, which works closely with UB Sustainability in submitting the STARS report.

“This data tells an important story,” Scarpello adds. “By maintaining good information, we can celebrate where we as a university are succeeding and making progress, while identifying areas for future growth to meet our sustainability objectives.”

This STARS process identifies areas where university leaders can take action. For example, this assessment has spurred a working group to conduct a careful assessment of current procurement practices, which will result in efforts to create better systems to capture data and impact purchasing behaviors from a sustainability standpoint.

“Assessments like STARS are helpful tools for the university to capture the good work happening across all schools and divisions on our campus. Through this process we take a close look at every component of the institution and identify opportunities to advance our sustainability at UB,” says Derek Nichols, associate director for sustainability in UB Sustainability, who led and wrote UB’s STARS submission.