Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 74.49
Liaison Krista Bailey
Submission Date Dec. 17, 2020

STARS v2.2

Pennsylvania State University
EN-11: Inter-Campus Collaboration

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00
"---" 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):

Examples include:
- Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)
- AASHE's Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating System (STARS)
- U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)
- National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE)
- Sustainable Development Solutions Network USA (SDSN)
- International Universities Climate Alliance
- Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities Network (EPIC-N)
- Project Drawdown (atmospheric GHG reduction)
- Global Building Network (for high-performance buildings)
- Sustainable Climate Risk Management(SCRiM) (transdisciplinary research network)
- Examples of national student sustainability organizations with Penn State chapters include: Engineers for a Sustainable World, Net Impact, The American Solar Energy Society, Global Brigades, and many more. See Credit EN-3 for additional student affiliations.


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):

Examples include:
- Pennsylvania Environmental Resource Consortium (PERC), a state-wide network of over 55 sustainability-leading colleges and universities in PA
- Big Ten and Friends Sustainability Group, an informal network of sustainability representatives at Big Ten and other universities


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):

Examples include:
AASHE's 2019 Annual Conference in Spokane, WA:
"From Zero Energy to Energy+: Community-University-Industry Partnerships for Sustainable Housing", by Sarah Klinetob Lowe
"The High Costs of Sustainable Operations: Institutional Purpose and the Quadruple Bottom Line", by Nathaniel Elser

PERC's 2019 Conference on Sustainable Development Goals and Higher Education featured several Penn State presentations, including:
"Agenda 2030 in Pennsylvania", by Paul Shrivastava
"Working with Our Communities", by Ilona Ballreich
"Penn State Solar Power Purchase Agreement", by Robert Cooper

Sustainability Curriculum Consortium Faculty Conference, Pittsburgh, 2018:
Workshop on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Understanding the Basics - Lydia Vandenbergh, session co-leader
- "Sustainable Efforts in the Simulation Laboratory", by Darlene Clark
- "Public Pedagogy for Sustainability:Plastic Entanglements:Ecology-Aesthetics-Materials", by Peter Buckland


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):

A student team from The Pennsylvania State University Smeal College of Business was awarded first place at the 2018 Smeal College of Business MBA Sustainability Case Competition. Teams from four other universities participated. The 2018 case setting focused on CNote - business sustainability case related to the commitment from impact investing to impact saving.


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):

Penn State has many faculty and staff who serve on sustainability-related committees and boards. Some examples include:
- Pennsylvania Environmental Resource Consortium (PERC)- Peter Buck, current executive committee member, and president-elect
- Big Ten and Friends Sustainability Group - Lydia Vandenburgh, co-chair
- Club of Rome Global Youth Summit 2020 - Madison Mitchell, chair
- Clearwater Conservancy, Board of Directors - Bill Sitzabee (Secretary), Margaret Brittingham, Erik Foley, Andy Warner
- AASHE Annual Conference 2019, Campus as Lab Committee - Meghan Hoskins
- National Council on Science and Environment - Tom Richard, Board of Directors
- Water-Energy-Food Nexus in Africa Network - Michael Jacobson, chair
- Network for Educucation and Research on Peace and Sustainability - Paul Shrivastava, Advisory Board
- Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (Kyoto) - Paul Shrivastava, External Research Committee member
- Sustainability Curriculum Consortium Faculty Conference, Pittsburgh 2018 - Peter Buck, co-organizer
- Sustainability Curriculum Consortium - Peter Buck, Advisory Council
- Center for REConnection (State College) - Leslie Pillen, President and Diana Malcom, Secretary


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:

Penn State's University Park campus, which is represented by this STARS report, works with other Penn State campuses to foster sustainability programs. In particular, staff from the Sustainability Institute at the UP campus host webinars twice a semester which target other Penn State campuses. Past topics have included food pantries and food security, campus gardens, sustainability in the curriculum, sustainability and risk management. In addition, the SI hosts 2-3 regional events annually after the end of spring semester that bring together, usually in-person, a geographic cluster of campus faculty and staff for a full-day event focused on sustainability. The program typically includes updates from each campus, a chancellor's discussion, and workshops on various topics on integrating sustainability into academics, operations, and outreach.

In addition, staff from the Sustainability Institute have worked with other Penn State campuses to establish their own Sustainable Communities Collaborative (SCC) engaged scholarship program and/or to support their individual SCC projects. Likewise, UP campus staff have helped other Penn State campuses offer a core course in sustainability leadership (SUST 200), as well as the Sustainability Leadership minor. And UP campus staff are supporting the Green Teams and the Green Paws office sustainability practices program at other Penn State campuses.


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?:
No

A brief description of the peer review activities:
---

A brief description of other inter-campus collaborative efforts around sustainability during the previous year :
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Website URL where information about the institution’s inter-campus collaborations is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.