04/08/2025
SUNY Cortland’s many “green” initiatives have once again been recognized by the nation’s leading association for the advancement of sustainability in higher education.
The university recently earned a silver rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), which noted Cortland’s stellar success in areas such as reducing food waste, educating about sustainability and sharing resources.
The ranking is the result of a stricter and more robust version of AASHE’s Sustainability, Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS). Cortland is the first participating institution in the SUNY system to be ranked under this new system. Only 37 other colleges and universities have been evaluated under these more stringent guidelines.
“With sustainability constantly changing and advancing, there are new initiatives and projects to implement,” said Matt Brubaker, the university’s energy manager and a part of the team that developed its STARS application.
Cortland has been a SUNY pioneer in STARS before. In 2015, it was the first campus in the 64-campus SUNY system to receive a gold rating under the original STARS program.
“Although we have dropped down a ranking, this is still a tremendous accomplishment,” Brubaker said. “Completing the newest version of STARS provides us with a clear idea of what initiatives to focus on while continuing to meet goals outlined in our strategic plans.”
Part of this work has been preparing a survey to measure sustainability literacy and commuting habits among members of the SUNY Cortland community. The survey is live now, and the Sustainability Office encourages all students, faculty and staff to complete it. Any student who finishes the survey before April 18 will be eligible for a raffle to win 2 free Spring Fling tickets or a $50 CAS gift card. You can find the online survey here.
SUNY Cortland’s many sustainability achievements were highlighted in the recent STARS 3.0 report. They include a redeployment of Cortland’s Green Rep program, which was paused since the pandemic, expanded curricular offerings and the hiring of Megan Swing as Cortland’s first full-time energy and sustainability engagement coordinator.
Four notable areas in which Cortland received full points were:
Continuing Education: focusing on both sustainability-focused course offerings and continuing education courses that incorporate sustainability content.
Shared Facilities: noting the university’s willingness to use campus resources to help strengthen and sustain the wellbeing of the community.
Inter-Campus Collaboration: emphasizing Cortland’s engagement and partnerships with other educational institutions and New York State entities.
Food Recovery: highlighting Cortland Auxiliary Services’ growing donations of unused perishables to local food banks, composting and various food-waste-reduction programs.
Brubaker, Swing and Beth Klein, SUNY distinguished service professor of science education and the university’s sustainability coordinator, are already working to prepare for the next report.