HomeMy WebLinkAboutNews Release - Mail Packet - 3/11/2014 - Information From Darin Atteberry Re: Northern Colorado Business Report Article Dated March 4, 2014, Entitled �Csu Ranks No. 1 In Nation For Sustainability�CSU ranks No.1 in nation for sustainability
By Melissa Schaaf March 4, 2014
Colorado State University received the top ranking in the nation for its sustainability efforts.
CSU achieved the highest score ever reported to Sustainability Tracking, Assessment &
Reporting System, or STARS, a national survey that measures sustainability efforts at
universities and colleges across the country, according to a release. The University received a
"gold" rating by scoring 84.38 points out of a possible 100. Of the 300 universities that
participate in STARS, only 18 percent have achieved gold, the system's second highest ranking.
No university has earned "platinum," the highest ranking.
The first time CSU participated in STARS in 2011, it also achieved the top score with a 77.45
out of 100.
"Colorado State is a proud to be a leader in the research and practice of environmental
sustainability, and this STARS score is a real testament to our high-caliber environmental
research faculty and operations staff," Rick Miranda, provost and executive vice president of
CSU said in a statement. "As a university, we want to be fully engaged in sustainability."
The STARS system evaluates universities for their sustainability efforts across campus.
Reporting is divided into three categories: education and research; operations; and planning,
administration and engagement. Additionally, the reports take into consideration improvements
that colleges have made since previous surveys.
"We can't just rely on what we've done in the past," said Tonie Miyamoto, director of
communications and sustainability for CSU's Housing and Dining Services. "We have to show
we are committed to improving sustainability efforts and what we are doing that is new and
innovative."
Some of the highlights of the 2014 CSU STARS report include:
All eight of the University's colleges and more than 90 percent of its divisions are engaged in
sustainability.
More than 75 percent of CSU's faculty members are engaged in sustainability-related research.
CSU students performed 450,000 hours of community service in one year.
Of the 2,633 courses CSU offers, 794 are sustainability related.
More than 25 percent of the food served at the University's dining halls is purchased from local
growers, ranchers, farmers and/or is organic.
March 6, 2014
To: Mayor & City Council
From: Darin Atteberry
FYI /sek