Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 53.24
Liaison Tess Esposito
Submission Date Feb. 23, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

University of Dayton
IN-3: Innovation 3

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Title or keywords related to the innovative policy, practice, program, or outcome:
Sustainability Scholarship and Collaboration

A brief description of the innovative policy, practice, program, or outcome:

The University of Dayton opened the Hanley Sustainability Institute in 2015. Within its first year, HSI funded three scholars-in-residence and hosted two innovative sustainability conferences to promote sustainability within the curriculum, within the investment community, and across research disciplines.

Divest/Invest Conference. This conference engaged Pope Francis’ call to action in his compelling encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home. Conference panels addressed theological and ethical underpinnings of divest/invest initiatives, strategies for engaging senior institutional leadership, financial mechanics of fossil fuel divestment and investment, the student divestment movement, communication and media strategies, and ecumenical coalitions for institutional responses to climate change.

Everything is Connected: Teaching Pope Francis' "Integral Ecology". Internationally recognized theologians, ethicists, economists and scientists discussed the vision of environmental interconnection in Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si and his call to action to the world during a Spring 2016 University of Dayton conference. The conference began with a free, public talk by Ottmar Edenhofer, chief economist of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. In addition to Pope Francis' encyclical, Edenhofer discussed the recent United Nations Conference on Climate Change and the future of climate policy.
It’s Your Nature, Sustainability Artist-in-Residence. How do you convince 11,368 students that sustainability is a personal as well as global issue? Turn to an artist with a reputation for thinking out-of-the-box, for working across disciplines, and for bringing people together. Michael Bashaw, well known in the Dayton community, is an award-winning musician, sound-sculptor, arts educator and environmental activist. He serves this year as an artist-at-large, collaborating with students and faculty on special projects. Bashaw starts by working with the Rivers Institute in August during their orientation for their new River Stewards. Work this academic year includes installations, theater, music, and classroom sessions.
Leanne Jablonski Scholar-in-Residence
Falco Scholar in Residence


A brief description of any positive measurable outcomes associated with the innovation (if not reported above):

• Hosting and publishing proceedings on the web from the Divest/Invest conference (Acting on Pope Francis’ call: Divestment and Investment in Care for Our Common Home, November 5-7, 2015).
• Hosting an interdisciplinary conference, “Everything is Connected”, focused on developing an undergraduate textbook teaching Pope Francis’ Integral Ecology (March 3-4, 2016). Publishing the proceedings from this conference on the web.


A letter of affirmation from an individual with relevant expertise:
Which of the following STARS subcategories does the innovation most closely relate to? (Select all that apply up to a maximum of five):
Yes or No
Curriculum Yes
Research Yes
Campus Engagement Yes
Public Engagement Yes
Air & Climate ---
Buildings ---
Dining Services ---
Energy ---
Grounds ---
Purchasing ---
Transportation ---
Waste ---
Water ---
Coordination, Planning & Governance ---
Diversity & Affordability ---
Health, Wellbeing & Work ---
Investment Yes

Other topic(s) that the innovation relates to that are not listed above:
---

The website URL where information about the innovation is available:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

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.