W&M joins Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education

AASHE The College of William & Mary has recently become a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, an association of colleges and universities that are working to create a sustainable future.

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by Sarah Hanke, Sustainability Fellow | October 4, 2010

The College of William & Mary has recently become a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, an association of colleges and universities that are working to create a sustainable future. Through membership in AASHE, the College will receive support in advancing its sustainability initiatives throughout the institution and in the community.

”We are pleased to become a member of AASHE. Among its many benefits, membership offers every individual at the College access to AASHE’s vast resources on sustainability,” said Lynda Butler, co-chair of the College’s Committee on Sustainability.

AASHE enables higher education institutions to meet their sustainability goals by providing specialized resources, professional development and a network of peer support. Membership covers every individual at an institution, so the entire campus community can take advantage of member benefits. To create an individual account, members of the College community can visit aashe.org, click on the login button and create a new account. William & Mary appears as a member institution in the drop-down menu. Once the individual account is created, users can begin to take advantage of AASHE’s vast amount of resources related to sustainability.

“We are delighted to have the College of William & Mary on board and participating in the campus sustainability community,” said Paul Rowland, executive director of AASHE. “This shows a real commitment to playing a leadership role in some of the biggest challenges of our time, and provides the campus community with access to thousands of examples of best practices in campus sustainability.”

Among AASHE’s major programs is a standardized, comprehensive assessment instrument called STARS, or Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System. STARS metrics cover every sector of campus, from planning and administration to operations to education and research. With STARS as a roadmap, institutions can select meaningful and appropriate pathways to sustainability while conserving valuable resources, combating global warming, and building healthier communities.