The Sustainable University: Green Goals and New Challenges for Higher Education Leaders

352 Pages·2012·2.581 MB·English

by  James Martin, James E. Samels

THE SUSTAINABLE UNIVERSITY
This page intentionally left blank
T H E S U S T A I N A B L E
U N I V E R S I T Y
Green Goals and New Challenges
for Higher Education Leaders
James Martin, James E. Samels
& Associates
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Baltimore
© 2012 The Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved. Published 2012
Printed in the United States of America on acid-f ree paper
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 North Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryl and 21218- 4363
www .press. jhu .edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data
The sustainable university : green goals and new challenges for higher
education leaders / James Martin, James E. Samels & associates.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN- 13: 978-1 - 4214- 0459- 2 (hdbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN- 10: 1- 4214- 0459- 1 (hdbk. : alk. paper)
1. Universities and colleges—E nvironmental aspects—U nited States. 2. College
buildings—E nergy conservation— United States. 3. Sustainability. I. Martin,
James, 1948 Jan. 14– II. Samels, James E.
LB3223.S745 2012
378.1'960973—dc23 2011026544
A catal og record for this book is available from the British Library.
Special discounts are available for bulk purchases of this book. For more
information, please contact Special Sales at 410-5 16- 6936 or specialsales@
press.jhu.edu.
The Johns Hopkins University Press uses environmentally friendly book
materials, including recycled text paper that is composed of at least 30 percent
post-c onsumer waste, whenever possible.
Contents
Foreword, by Paul Rowland ix
Preface xiii
I UPDATING THE NATIONAL CONVERSATION
ON SUSTAINABILITY: Key Trends and
Challenges 1
1 The Sustainable University: A Need to Move Forward
James Martin and James E. Samels 3
2 Promises Made and Promises Lost: A Candid
Assessment of Higher Education Leadership and the
Sustainability Agenda Anthony D. Cortese 17
3 Trends, Skills, and Strategies to Catalyze Sustainability across
Institutions Debra Rowe and Aurora Lang Winslade 32
4 Mea sur ing Campus Sustainability Perf or mance: Implementing
the First Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating
System (STARS) Judy Walton and Laura Matson 49
5 Institutionalizing Sustainability: Achieving Transformations
from the Inside Leith Sharp and Cindy Pollock Shea 63
vi Contents
6 Sustainability: Shifting Defi nitions and Evolving
Meanings Davis Bookhart 83
7 Sustainable Citizenship: The Challenge for Students and
Their Institutions Terry Link 93
II SUSTAINABILITY AND THE LEADERSHIP
TEAM: New Assignments 101
8 Sustainability and the Presidency: Five Starting Points
Jo Ann Gora and Robert J. Koester 103
9 Not So Fast: A Dose of Reality about Sustainability
Thomas Buchanan and Tara Evans 124
10 The Importance of Sustainability in the Community
College Setting Mary Spilde 136
11 Sustainability, Leadership, and the Role of the Chief
Academic Offi cer Geoffrey Chase, Peggy Barlett,
and Rick Fairbanks 148
III FRESH AGENDAS FOR CAMPUS
OPERATIONS 165
12 Greening the Endowment Mary Jo Maydew 167
13 Sustainability and Higher Education Architecture:
Best Practices for Institutional Leaders Scott Carlson 180
14 Sustainable Campus Housing: Building a Better Place
Norbert W. Dunkel and Lynne Deninger 200
15 Food for Thought: Building Sustainable Food Systems
and Healthy Communities Howard L. Sacks 213
16 University Athletics and Sustainability: Start on
the Field Dedee DeLongpré Johnston
and Dave Newport 223
Contents vii
IV BEYOND THE GREEN GATES: Sustainability and
the Institution’s External Partners 241
17 The Impact of Sustainability on Institutional Quality
Assurance and Accreditation Sandra Elman 243
18 Green Legal: Creating a Culture of Vigilance, Compliance,
and Sustainability Thinking James E. Samels and
James Martin 254
V THE COMPLEX PATH AHEAD 263
19 Conclusion: New Goals and New Challenges for
Institutional Leaders James Martin and
James E. Samels 265
Notes 279
Selected Bibliography 299
List of Contributors 307
Index 321
This page intentionally left blank
Foreword
If one were to conduct a SWOT analysis of the role of sustainability in
higher education, one might fi nd that the strengths are limited, while
the weaknesses are widespread. The examples in this volume illustrate
possibilities that have been realized at a rising number of colleges, com-
munity colleges, and universities. Colleges that began looking at how to
change their use of energy through conservation technologies and be-
haviors have found real economic savings while reducing their carbon
footprint. Universities have found that “green” buildings not only reduce
energy and water costs but also make for a more comfortable working
environment. Other schools have gone so far as to become renewable
energy producers, anticipating the need to keep both costs and environ-
mental impacts low as far into the future as possible.
Many institutional problems have been created by failures to think
about sustainability in both operations and curriculum. Campuses in
every region of the country have hundreds of millions of dollars of de-
ferred maintenance that will require either that unprec e dented invest-
ments must be made to bring them to livable standards or that the build-
ings be demolished. Those same campuses continue to produce signifi cant
amounts of green house gases as they try to heat these failing buildings.
Failure to think far enough into the future in planning academic programs
and ser vices has resulted in employers’ creating sustainability positions
for which they have not yet developed adequate resource centers and train-
ing programs. The constant struggle among external forces such as cre-
ating greater access, demonstrating accountability, and declining public
fi nancial support indicates that some institutions will either dramatically
change or will disappear over the next de cade unless they develop a sound
and sustainable fi scal base. Likewise, unsustainable practices that have
ix