The Future of Sustainability at Vanderbilt

Historically, many universities have undertaken isolated actions or developed disjointed, programs that have been strung together and called a "sustainability program". While every isolated action is important, the core value of sustainability transcends individual efforts. (3) The recent dedication of VU administration staff to sustainability and creation of this website will allow for future coordination and support of academic, research, and student-led initiatives. Thus, the productive partnership already built between Vanderbilt's students, faculty and administrators will only continue to grow and flourish as our university continues growning responsibly.

From an operational perspective, administrators on campuses with more mature sustainability programs, have found that when beginning an institution-wide sustainability program, a lack of solid planning and inadequate development of a management system greatly hindered them from reaching their full potential. Thus, the university administration believes that the most viable way to effectively and efficiently support our current sustainability projects, such as those discussed above, as well as to develop a systematic plan to move forward, is through the development of a campus Environmental Management System (EMS), as discussed by the EPA. An EMS will evaluate our current programs, quantify measurement metrics as we assess their strengths and weaknesses, and produce a gap analysis to show us what we are currently not doing. This information will then assist VU administration and the broad spectrum of stakeholders in the Vandy community in determining short-term and long-term sustainability goals for our campus that make environmental, social, and economic sense for Vanderbilt University.

References:

1. World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). Our Common Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987, p.43.
2. Clough, G.W., J. Chameau, and C. Carmichael. "Sustainability and the University". The Presidency. Winter 2006, pp. 30-40.
3. Hignite, K. "Will Sustainability Take Root?". Business Officer. April 2006, pp. 12-22.
4. Special Report. "The Sustainable University". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Special Report Issue, October 20, 2006. Available at http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i09/09a01001.htm.

For more information on sustainability concepts in general or as they apply to the college and university setting, please visit www.aashe.org. Vanderbilt University has an institutional membership to this excellent organization and anyone with an .edu email address can join.

For more information on the Vanderbilt Environmental Health and Safety department, please visit www.safety.vanderbilt.edu.

Sustainability at Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt Operational Sustainability Accomplishments

Brief Overview of Vanderbilt Academic Activities Related to Sustainability

Brief Overview of Vanderbilt Student Activities Related to Sustainability