Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.48
Liaison Dayna Cook
Submission Date Sept. 28, 2020

STARS v2.2

Northern Arizona University
EN-11: Inter-Campus Collaboration

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Matthew Muchna
Sustainability Manager
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Is the institution currently a member of a national or international higher education sustainability network?:
Yes

The name of the national or international sustainability network(s):

We are an active member of AASHE and have participated in the annual retreat, conferences, bulletin boards, peer-to-peer mentorship programs, and more recently, a call with national colleagues regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2007, NAU signed the Second Nature Carbon Commitment and annual or bi-annual reports its emissions through that platform. NAU President Cheng was an honorary speaker at the 2018 Second Nature conference.

NAU has 25-30 trained LEED AP and LEED Green Associates through USGBC.


Does the institution actively participate in a regional, state/provincial, or local higher education sustainability network?:
Yes

The name of the regional, state/provincial or local sustainability network(s):

Arizona Forward (state), Arizona Recycling Coalition (state), AASHE (national), Bicycle Friendly University (national), EPA Green Power (national), Second Nature (national) Tree-Campus USA (national), and Tri-U Summit (state - annual AZ Higher Ed Sustainability meeting for staff and students).


Has the institution presented at a higher education sustainability conference during the previous year?:
Yes

A list or brief description of the conference(s) and presentation(s):

2019 AASHE presentations:
-Re-branding a Student Led Green Fund, Genevieve Conley and Anthony Mirabito
-Sustainable Menstruation Products, Bryce Thayer and Owen Murphy
-Conservation Programs at NAU Poster, Abigail Harman
-How to Build Collaborations Effectively as an Office of One, Matthew Muchna
-Sustainable Dining and O2GO, NAU Sodexo Dining Partners


Has the institution submitted a case study during the previous year to an external higher education sustainability resource center or awards program?:
Yes

A list or brief description of the sustainability resource center or awards program and submission(s):

2019 Arizona Forward, 50th anniversary award: Environmental Excellence
https://news.nau.edu/environmental-excellence/#.Xrxvp2hKiUk


Has the institution had employees or students serving on a board or committee of a sustainability network or conference during the previous three years?:
Yes

A list or brief description of the board or committee appointment(s):

Arizon Forward's NORTHERN ARIZONA REGIONAL COUNCIL
The Northern Arizona Regional Council is made up of 12 appointed Arizona Forward members who work in and around Coconino County and is chaired by Joanne Keene, Chief of Staff, President's Office, NAU. 2016-2020

Rod Parnell, PhD
Pres. Council of Environmental Deans and Directors, National Council for Science and the Environment. 2016- 2020

Board of Directors for Willow Bend Center: http://willowbendcenter.org/board-of-directors/
Nikki Cooley, Senior Program Coordinator, Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, NAU


Does the institution have an ongoing mentoring relationship with another institution through which it assists the institution with its sustainability reporting and/or the development of its sustainability program?:
Yes

A brief description of the mentoring relationship and activities:

School Garden Action Learning Team "ALT" began taking shape during the fall of 2010. The premise behind the School Gardens ALT is to integrate undergraduate students from NAU into a local community school teaching and learning with students about gardening and environmental education. School Gardens is a multi-layer initiative for empowering local youth and NAU undergraduates to facilitate civic engagement, develop a working relationship with community members/partners, teachers, youth, and peers through education and the magic of gardening. Everyone involved within the School Garden ALT will be working to create and strengthen school gardens, integrate gardening and environmental education into the curriculum, imagine and help create a whole food system at each school (rainwater catchment, composting of kitchen and school yard waste, vermiculture, permaculture, etc). Create community connections, entrepreneurial food-related projects, and seasonal garden celebrations between schools.


Has the institution had employees or students serving as peer reviewers of another institution’s sustainability data and/or STARS submission during the previous three years?:
Yes

A brief description of the peer review activities:

In 2020: STARS submission review of Sesquehanna University, PA.
Review completed by Matthew Muchna, NAU Sustainability Manager, and Paige Strickland, undergraduate student worker for the Office of Sustainability.

In 2017: Program review for the College of Charlestons
By: Rod Parnell, PhD
Pres. Council of Environmental Deans and Directors, National Council for Science and the Environment
Coordinator of Academic Sustainability
Professor, School of Earth Sciences & Environmental Sustainability
Frier Hall 207
Box 4099, Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ 86011-4099
(928) 523-3329


A brief description of other inter-campus collaborative efforts around sustainability during the previous year :

In April of 2020, NAU hosted a virtual Arizona Tri-University summit with ASU and UA. A Google Drive was created for Arizona Higher Education staff and students to share project ideas and documentation. A collective action of the adaption of a Carbon Metric being implemented through the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR), who oversee the three Arizona state schools: UA, ASU, and NAU was created. ASU shared the launch of their collaborative sustainability online platform; Constellation. This platform assists in institutionalizing changes and projects at each university and builds a shared Arizona Higher Ed. Sustainability connectivity.


Website URL where information about the institution’s inter-campus collaborations is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Data provided by: kathy.yaegay@nau.edu and Matthew Muchna


The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.