Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 65.64
Liaison Rachael Wein
Submission Date March 3, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Smith College
EN-11: Inter-Campus Collaboration

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Emma Kerr
Campus Sustainability Coordinator
Office of Campus Sustainability
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Is the institution an active member of a national or international sustainability network?:
Yes

The name of the national or international sustainability network(s):

Smith College is a member of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).


Is the institution an active member of a regional, state/provincial or local sustainability network?:
Yes

The name of the regional, state/provincial or local sustainability network(s):

Smith College is a member of the Northeast Campus Sustainability Consortium (NECSC).


Has the institution presented at a sustainability conference during the previous year? :
Yes

A list or brief description of the conference(s) and presentation(s):

Dano Weisbord, director of campus sustainability and space planning, presented at the AASHE conference in 2016. The presentation was entitled "Engaging your community to design tomorrow's campus: resiliency, vulnerability, and adaptation" and also featured presenters from Cornell University and Boston University, in addition to Camille Washington-Ottombre, a faculty member in environmental science and policy at Smith College.

Description of the presentation: Scholars and practitioners have been arguing in favor of more holistic approaches to campus sustainability that would incorporate complex aspects of climate change. In order to address those multifaceted problems, institutions need to engage with their community to define paths towards tomorrow's campus that are meaningful and tailored to their respective institutions. However, engaging with the community is often challenging and raises the following questions: Does my community extend beyond campus boundaries? What are the tradeoffs between different methods of community engagement? How can the results of community engagement initiatives be incorporated into a planning process? How can community engagement be conducted in the long term? This workshop will address these questions by presenting a theoretical and practical overview of community engagement initiatives, analyzing three distinct case studies, and developing a road-map of good practices with workshop participants.


Has the institution submitted a case study during the previous year to a sustainability awards program that is inclusive of multiple campuses? :
No

A list or brief description of the awards program(s) and submission(s):
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Has the institution had staff, students or faculty serving on a board or committee of a sustainability network or conference during the previous three years? :
Yes

A list or brief description of the board or committee appointment(s):

Emma Kerr, campus sustainability coordinator, is on the board of the Sustainability Student Leadership Symposium. SSLS is an annual conference for student sustainability leaders that takes place in New England, and is organized by the board members, most of whom are sustainability staff members at schools in the New England (most are members of NECSC). Board members review proposals from host school applicants and help steer the direction of the symposium. They also generally attend with student leaders from their schools.


Does the institution have an ongoing mentoring relationship with another institution through which it assists the institution with its sustainability reporting and/or the development of its sustainability program?:
Yes

A brief description of the mentoring relationship and activities:

Sustainability staff from the Five Colleges (UMass Amherst, Amherst College, Smith College, Hampshire College, and Mt. Holyoke) and Williams College meet regularly in person or over the phone to give each other feedback, share best practices and experiences, and to assist with sustainability reporting and program development.


Has the institution had staff, faculty, or students serving as peer reviewers of another institution’s sustainability data (e.g. GHG emissions or course inventory) and/or STARS submission during the previous three years?:
No

A brief description of the peer review activities:
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Has the institution participated in other collaborative efforts around sustainability during the previous year, e.g. joint planning or resource sharing with other institutions? :
Yes

A brief description of other collaborative efforts around sustainability during the previous year:

Emma Kerr, sustainability coordinator, is on the Valley Bike Share Planning committee, which is a committee led by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, and made up of stakeholders from the communities that will be hosting the bike share program. Emma represents Smith College at the meetings, since Smith College will be sponsoring a station adjacent to the campus. The committee meets to discuss feasibility, fund-raising, and other logistical issues.


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.