Muhlenberg Receives Bronze Rating for Sustainability Efforts from STARS
Muhlenberg College has received a STARS bronze rating for its achievements in sustainability from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 04:17 PM
STARS – the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System – is a reporting tool that provides a comprehensive set of metrics that track and encourage sustainability in all aspects of higher education.
Muhlenberg College has long been committed to sustainability, and in 2003 created a Greening Committee, comprised of faculty, staff and student representatives, examines, proposes, and monitors sustainability efforts, reduces resource use and promotes dialogue on and off campus.
The College also runs an Office of Campus Sustainability that facilitates the linkage between academic and facilities-based sustainability efforts to create student internship opportunities in the area of campus sustainability, support the Campus Greening Committee and student environmental groups and seek external funding and maintain resources to further the integration of sustainability into the curriculum and across campus.
The Office for Community Service & Civic Engagement cultivates partnerships with organizations in the Lehigh Valley and supports environmental and social sustainability through volunteerism, service-learning and civic engagement.
The College offers a novel academic program in sustainability studies that brings together students and faculty from a variety of disciplines to explore ways to maintain ecological and environmental health in conjunction with economic development and social justice. The program offers students hands-on problem solving experiences on campus, in the local community, and abroad in Costa Rica, Bangladesh and China.
There is a vibrant student community that focuses on sustainability, as well. The Muhlenberg Environmental Action Team (EnAcT) is a student organization that educates the campus on sustainability and environmental issues and develops projects and programs to lessen the ecological impact of individuals. There is also a Sustainable Living house, a student run community garden, and numerous student initiatives including a competition for reduced electric consumption in the dorms and an annual Earth Day Celebration.
The College’s STARS score card may be found online.
