Pennsylvania State University
IN-25: Innovation B

Between 2013 and 2016, sustainability leaders at Penn State and Purdue universities co-led a collaborative initiative of the Big Ten Sustainability Group. This initiative aimed to articulate sustainability's role in supporting the missions of institutions of higher education in education, research, and service to society. In addition to contributions from most of the fourteen Big Ten universities, the initiative was supported by a capable external consultant. The project developed through a series of meetings, conference calls, and data collection efforts. The resulting white paper, the Big Ten Prospectus, represented an effort to understand and measure sustainability's contribution to mission-level priorities and begin a conversation with executive leadership about high-impact collaborations that will help our institutions adapt and thrive in a changing landscape. The results of this work should be useful to other universities seeking to demonstrate sustainability's relevance to institutional priorities. A workshop on the topic was presented at the 2016 AASHE meeting. In 2017 another AASHE workshop on the topic will be held entitled " Learning the Language of Executive Leadership to Increase Sustainability's Value". A draft paper will be available following the 2017 workshop.