Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 72.58
Liaison Tom Twist
Submission Date June 12, 2020
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Bates College
IN-26: Innovation C

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Tom Twist
Sustainability Manager
Facilities
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name or title of the innovative policy, practice, program, or outcome:
Green Innovation Grants

A brief description of the innovative policy, practice, program, or outcome that outlines how credit criteria are met and any positive measurable outcomes associated with the innovation:

We have recently instituted a Green Innovations Grants Program for students, staff, and faculty to both empower the campus community in term of sustainability, and also to crowd source good sustainability ideas from the community.

Sustainable – the project should move the college forward in an area of sustainability.

Innovative – should be a creative yet grounded way to solve a particular sustainability problem.

Impactful – since we have limited funding, we are looking to invest in a project that will give the biggest bang for our buck. Measurable outcomes are encouraged, as well as projects with a favorable return on investment.

Embedded – the project should be embedded within the larger organization, to ensure the success of the initiative.

Autonomous – after it is completed by the recipients, the project should be relatively autonomous, so that it is not drain on staff and faculty resources into the future.

To date, we have funded projects that have created outdoor bike repair stations, replacing paper towels with hand dryers, helped reduce disposable dishware around campus, start a garden, and several more.

We use these criteria to select the successful grant applications:

Sustainable – the project should move the college forward in an area of sustainability.

Innovative – should be a creative yet grounded way to solve a particular sustainability problem.

Impactful – since we have limited funding, we are looking to invest in a project that will give the biggest bang for our buck. Measurable outcomes are encouraged, as well as projects with a favorable return on investment.

Embedded – the project should be embedded within the larger organization, to ensure the success of the initiative.

Autonomous – after it is completed by the recipients, the project should be relatively autonomous, so that it is not drain on staff and faculty resources into the future.

Synergistic – more weight will be given to projects that have a synergistic component to them. For example, infrastructure projects that also include components of behavioral change, outreach, or education will be favored over projects with more one-sided effects.

Collaborative – projects that represent a collaboration between students, faculty and/or staff are encouraged.

Longevity – we want this project to have a lasting effect on the college.


Which of the following impact areas does the innovation most closely relate to? (select up to three):
Campus Engagement
Buildings
Waste

A letter of affirmation from an individual with relevant expertise or a press release or publication featuring the innovation :
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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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