NSU gains membership in AASHE

To assist in its stated goal of establishing environmentally sustainable practices and operations on its campuses and in the community, Northeastern State University has joined the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

The AASHE is a national organization linking institutions of higher learning that are committed to sustainable personal and community development.

"NSU joins hundreds of other colleges and universities in sharing best practices and modeling the way for other institutions," said NSU President Don Betz. "AASHE focuses the full range of university endeavors, from 'governance and operations to education and research.' AASHE also helps create the network among the participating schools. NSU is in good company and will significantly enhance our capacities via this network."

The participatory network will be in operation Sept. 19-22 when NSU hosts Dr. Kelly Cain, director of the St. Croix Institute for Sustainable Community Development at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Cain will visit NSU to assist the institution in identifying ways to assess campus effort to reduce carbon emissions and improve sustainability in NSU's 20-county service area. His itinerary includes a public lecture at 7 p.m. on Sept. 20 titled "Gateway Communities," which will discuss best practices on moving forward with growth and change in economic development, environmental stewardship and sociological improvement. The venue is to be announced.

Membership in AASHE gives NSU access to ideas and methods being used to enhance sustainability on other member campuses.

Mark Kinders, vice president for university relations, said a priority institutional goal is to reduce the carbon footprint of the NSU campuses in Tahlequah, Muskogee and Broken Arrow.

"When you look at what higher education is doing in the sustainability movement, it's a cafeteria line of hundreds of different things," said Kinders. "We need to pick things that fit our resources, culture, expertise and willingness. By joining AASHE, it gives us a look at all these things we can do to find practical applications and focus our thinking as we move toward making our campuses more sustainable."

Tim Foutch, associate vice president for administration, said the resources availed by AASHE membership were numerous.

"We will have access to professional development workshops, publications, sustainability training, newsletters, an interactive resource center and partnership projects with other institutions," he said. "These institutional collaborations develop integrated sustainability operations and external partnerships."

Kinders said many of the ideas and incentives for change come from the student body, which would also benefit from AASHE membership.

"Students are driving campus sustainability and deciding what should be implemented," he said. "We want to help them build their expertise and be sustainability leaders in their communities once they graduate."

For more information about AASHE visit www.aashe.org.