Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.23
Liaison Merry Rankin
Submission Date Sept. 1, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Iowa State University
EN-9: Staff Professional Development

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Merry Rankin
ISU Director of Sustainability
Facilities Planning & Management
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution make available professional development and training opportunities in sustainability to all staff at least once per year?:
Yes

Does the institution wish to pursue Part 2 of this credit (the rate of employee participation in sustainability professional development and training)?:
Yes

Estimated percentage of regular staff (full-time and part-time) that participates annually in sustainability professional development and training that is either provided or supported by the institution (0, 1-24%, 25-49%, 50-74%, 75% or more):
75% or more

A brief description of any internal sustainability professional development and training opportunities that the institution makes available to staff:

Procurement Process Certification Training
High volume p-card users are required to attend “Procurement Process Certification Training” which is an 8 hour course on the procurement process. The training is open to any university employee.

The ISU Purchasing Department delegates purchasing authority to departments, which, in turn, select their employees to make purchases on the departments’ behalf. Employees with this authority are recommended to take this training before spending departmental funds.

The Procurement Process Certification Training includes a session on green procurement. This covers Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Guidelines, reducing unnecessary waste, purchasing recycled content products, and ways that energy and water savings can be realized through purchasing. In addition, educators learn how to minimize the use of toxins and the generation of pollution by purchasing degradable products, and how to use environmentally preferable paper and wood products. Educators are also taught about various key terms in green procurement, including Energy Star products, life cycle analysis, post-consumer content, and recyclable versus reusable products. After the training, employees can share this knowledge with other coworkers who can purchase within their respective departments.

The program is sponsored by the Iowa State University Purchasing department, which provides staff for the training. Training materials are also given to the educators on the Purchasing department's behalf.


A brief description of any external professional development and training opportunities in sustainability that are supported by the institution(e.g. through payment, reimbursement, or subsidy):

Professional development opportunities are offered on an ongoing basis at ISU. We utilize several venues for the training and development. Through our learning management system, employees (especially staff) are able to register for these opportunities. The courses are offered through various vendors including but not limited to our Employee Assistance Program, Benefits education, TIAA financial educators, Employee Labor and Relations staff, ISU WellBeing, and Environmental Health and Safety. Full listing of course offerings is located at www.learn.iastate.edu


Estimated percentage of regular staff (full-time and part-time) for which sustainability is included in performance reviews (0, 1-24%, 25-49%, 50-74%, 75% or more) :
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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.