Business View - October 2015 19
CLEAN & GREEN
The Association for the Advancement
of Sustainability in Higher Education
AASHE Sees Sustainability Progress
By Meghan Fay Zahniser, AASHE Executive Director
The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability
in Higher Education (AASHE) empowers higher educa-
tion communities to take meaningful actions toward
advancing sustainability. I believe that higher educa-
tion is well positioned to lead the global sustainability
transformation as they educate and prepare our fu-
ture leaders. AASHE’s programs and services support
institutions in implementing strategies throughout cur-
riculums, as well as operation and administration pro-
cesses, to equip graduates with the solutions they’ll
need to address sustainability challenges.
Sustainability-focused academic degree programs are
regularly being established at colleges and universities
nationwide. Among AASHE’s most popular resources
is our Sustainability-Focused Academic Programs da-
tabase, which currently includes over 1,400 sustain-
ability-focused academic programs at 475 campuses
in 65 states and provinces.
Along with academic programs, there has been a
nearly 40 percent increase in living-learning initiatives
reported to AASHE that combine academics with ex-
periential learning and campus operations to broadly
infuse sustainability campus-wide.
We are also seeing a rise in higher education sustain-
ability positions according to AASHE’s Higher Educa-
tion Staffing Survey Report. The report is based on
results from a staffing survey administered approxi-
mately every two years, which includes questions re-
lated to salary, scope of work, engagement with other
units, number of supervised staff, reporting structure,
and more. The 2015 staffing survey report will be re-
leased this fall.
Campus initiatives aren’t the only place we notice ad-
vancements in sustainability. Businesses are expand-
ing their workforces to include sustainability experts.
Not only do these positions play a vital role in the sus-
tainability movement, but we believe that all positions
can make a positive impact by incorporating sustain-
ability efforts and strategies. Our goal is to support
higher education institutions that are training the next
generation of the workforce so that sustainability is no
longer considered a movement, but a way of life. Join
AASHE to learn how you can advance sustainability.
