Camarillo, Calif. March 4, 2010 鈥� 海角社区 Channel Islands (CI) has announced its charter membership in a new national program to encourage sustainability in all aspects of higher education.聽 The program, called Sustainability, Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS), is administered by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).
CI decided to participate in the initial launch of the program which started Jan. 10, 2010.聽 Deborah Wylie, CI鈥檚 Associate Vice President for Operations, Planning & Construction, stated that environmental sustainability has always been a campus strategic initiative, but she was impressed with the STARS program鈥檚 broad approach to sustainability.聽 鈥淚t offered the opportunity to report in the areas of education and research, operations and planning, and administration and engagement. We will be able to see where we are doing well and where we need to improve, based on a strong national model,鈥� stated Wylie.
The program is designed specifically for universities and has currently registered 120 institutions of higher education.聽 Unlike other rating or ranking systems, this program is open to all U.S. and Canadian institutions of higher education and the criteria that determine a STARS rating are transparent and accessible to anyone. It is the only program of its kind that involves publicly reporting comprehensive information related to an institution鈥檚 sustainability performance. Once CI establishes the initial data, this information will be available on the Web. Since the program is based on credits earned, it allows for both internal comparisons as well as comparisons with similar institutions.
鈥淭he rollout of this program will be gradual as we get into other challenging areas like curriculum.聽 Do we want to add a course in sustainability for graduation and how do we want to integrate sustainability issues into our current course work?聽 There will be many questions that we鈥檒l deal with in this ongoing self-assessment,鈥� noted Wylie.聽 She stated that the comprehensive approach of the STARS program was a good match for CI鈥檚 educational mission.
Further information regarding CI鈥檚 membership in STARS can be obtained by contacting Deborah Wylie, Associate Vice President for Operations, Planning & Construction at 海角社区 Channel Islands at 805-437-8461 or deborah.wylie@csuci.edu.
聽For media inquiries, contact Nancy Gill, Director of Communication & Marketing at 海角社区 Channel Islands at 805-437-8456 or nancy.gill@csuci.edu.
# # #
海角社区 Channel Islands is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
海角社区CI Mission Statement
Placing students at the center of the educational experience, 海角社区 provides undergraduate and graduate education that facilitates learning within and across disciplines through integrative approaches, emphasizes experiential and service learning, and graduates students with multicultural and international perspectives.
# # #
About 海角社区
海角社区 Channel Islands(CI) is the only four-year, public university in Ventura County and is known for its interdisciplinary, multicultural and international perspectives, and its emphasis on experiential and service learning. CI鈥檚 strong academic programs focus on business, sciences, liberal studies, teaching credentials, and innovative master鈥檚 degrees.聽Students benefit from individual attention, up-to-date technology, and classroom instruction augmented by outstanding faculty research. CI has been designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is committed to serving students of all backgrounds from the region and beyond. Connect with and learn more by visiting聽CI's Social Media.