Campus Sustainability Programs: Putting Universities at the Forefront of Green Movement

Campus Sustainability Programs: Putting Universities at the Forefront of Green Movement

There has been an enormous growth in national and state-level voluntary campus sustainability programs in the U.S. in recent years. These programs not only help universities and colleges institutionalize sustainability principles into everyday processes and actions, but also create a common knowledge pool of resources and best practices that enable these institutions to build strong sustainable communities.

University Purchasing Survey Reveals Growing Role of Sustainability Programs

National Association of Educational Procurement (NAEP) and SciQuest, Inc., a procurement automation organization recently announced the findings of “The Current State of Green Procurement Trends within Higher Education” survey. The survey, which garnered responses from procurement professionals at more than 100 colleges and universities in the U.S., sought to provide a benchmark from which the profession can gauge the growing role of procurement organizations within sustainability efforts, from the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment–an effort to address global warming by garnering institutional commitments to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions–to higher education’s efforts to contain costs and do more with less. This is the first year the survey was conducted.