Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 69.58
Liaison Derek Nichols
Submission Date Dec. 14, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University at Buffalo
EN-11: Inter-Campus Collaboration

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Ryan McPherson
Chief Sustainability Officer
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Is the institution an active member of a national or international sustainability network?:
Yes

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

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education
Second Nature


Is the institution an active member of a regional, state/provincial or local sustainability network?:
Yes

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

The New York Coalition for Sustainability in Higher Education
The State University of New York Sustainability Coalition


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

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

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education 2018 Annual Conference (Pittsburgh)
--Building a Systemwide SDG Frame (focused on the challenges and opportunities of creating a campus to system (bottom up) sustainability strategy using the Global Goals or Sustainable Development Goals as a key organizing tool to find common ground and purpose across diverse intuitions)
--Transforming Our Tomorrow—A New Clean Energy Vision (demonstrate how we can scale climate change mitigation efforts to provide maximum impact both on our campus and beyond)

National Association of College and University Business Officers Annual Meeting (Long Beach, CA)
--Managing Energy Costs with Renewable Energy Purchase Agreements (national trends on renewable energy, case study of aggregation and new valuation strategies)

The New York Coalition for Sustainability in Higher Education 2018 Conference (Colgate University)
--Failing Forward—Lessons from the Field As We Work to Scale Renewables (after two years of blood, sweat and yes a few tears, we have developed some key lessons that we wish we would have known when we started, this fun interactive session focused on the challenges we have faced and our path for trying to overcome them)
--Integrating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to Engage Students and Develop Global Leaders (case study of our World's Challenge Challenge initiative)
--Financing Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects (exemplified four different renewable energy financing case studies)


Has the institution submitted a case study during the previous year to a sustainability awards program that is inclusive of multiple campuses? :
Yes

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

The National Association of College and University Business Officers Excellence in Sustainability Award


Has the institution had staff, students or faculty 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):

The New York Coalition for Sustainability in Higher Education, board member, Ryan A McPherson (University at Buffalo Chief Sustainability Officer)
The State of New York Sustainability Conference (2018), planning committee member, Ryan A McPherson (University at Buffalo Chief Sustainability Officer)
The State University of New York Sustainability Coalition, co-chair, Ryan A McPherson (University at Buffalo Chief Sustainability Officer)


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:

The University at Buffalo's Chief Sustainability Officer is the current co-chair of the State University of New York Sustainability Coalition. In this role he plays a pivotal part in working to build up sustainability coordinators across the 64 campuses to advance their sustainability strategies.


Has the institution had staff, faculty, or students serving as peer reviewers of another institution’s sustainability data (e.g. GHG emissions or course inventory) and/or STARS submission during the previous three years?:
Yes

A brief description of the peer review activities:

The University at Buffalo is in the process of reviewing the University of Albany's STARS submission.


Has the institution participated in other collaborative efforts around sustainability during the previous year, e.g. joint planning or resource sharing with other institutions? :
Yes

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

The University at Buffalo's Chief Sustainability Officer led a process to develop sustainability goals for the entire State University of New York system and its campuses (please see attached supporting documentation for this innovative new strategy frame that leverages the Sustainable Development Goals)


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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.