Society for College and University Planning

SCUP's Statement in Support of Sustainability

 For many years, the SCUP Board of Directors has pursued a commitment to sustainability in higher education.

SCUP will continue to work with external organizations, such as the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), and the Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (HEASC), support initiatives such as the Higher Education Sustainability Act (HESA), and create professional development programming (conference sessions, workshops, webcasts, etc.) on this crucial topic.

SCUP is a CarbonFree Partner with Carbonfund.org, the nation's leading nonprofit provider of carbon offsets and climate solutions. They make it easy and affordable to calculate, reduce, and offset your carbon footprint with carbon offsets that are verified by third-party carbon offset standards.

Further, the SCUP board and staff pledge to incorporate the principles of sustainability into member benefits and daily operations. Examples:

Conferences:

• The theme of the October 8, 2010, Pacific regional one-day symposium at University of New Mexico is "Uncovering Patterns in the Sustainability Maze: An In-Depth Discussion."
• Environmental activist Jerome Ringo was the opening plenary speaker at SCUP–45, our 2010 annual, international conference in Minneapolis, MN.  
• Provided an annual conference track (concurrent sessions and workshops) and roundtables on topic of sustainability at SCUP-45.
• Portland, OR, the most sustainable city in the United States, was the location for the 2009 annual, international conference and invited sustainability-focused plenary speakers to past annual conferences, such as Susan Anderson, director, Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (SCUP-44) and Sadhu Johnston, commissioner, City of Chicago’s Department of Environment (SCUP-43). Again, an annual conference track (concurrent sessions and workshops) and roundtables on topic of sustainability was provided.
• Focused on sustainability at several regional conferences and one-day events, including the 2009 Pacific Regional Conference in Boulder, CO, "Strategies for the University Presidents Climate Commitment: Traversing From LEED to Carbon Neutrality," and the 2008 Southern Regional Conference in New Orleans, LA, "Regeneration: Planning Beyond Sustainability."
• Eliminated most print promotional materials for conferences. Annual and regional conference promotion use primarily electronic communications, such as PDFs. Inexpensive save-the-date postcards are printed on recycled paper. Multi-page brochures, including the annual conference's preliminary brochure, which is normally printed and mailed in January, is published online as a PDF only--a savings of 83,200 printed pages or approximately nine trees.

Books & PHE

• Published books in PDF format instead of printing or reprinting--a savings of hundreds of trees.
• Published special issue of the journal: “Sustainability: Taking the Long View.”
• All SCUP publications will be available in PDF format only by 2011.

Communities:

• Explored social media as a way to help members learn, share, and connect. Find us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Ning.

Membership Directory:

• Moved from a print directory to an enhanced, online directory in 2009--a savings of 1,680,000 pages or approximately 200 trees. The enhanced online membership directory is password-protected and allow members to search for other members using name, job title, organization, city, state/province, region, or country. Members can also download a PDF of the entire member roster, which is updated daily.

Professional Development Programs & Webcasts:

• Founded national Campus Sustainability Day in 2002.
• Offered "Sustainability: Strategies for Vibrant Campus Communities," the title of Campus Sustainability Day 7.0 on October 21, 2009.  The webcast was a co-production of SCUP and The New York Times.
• Worked with the Association of Governing Boards (AGB) to broadcast, “Environmental Sustainability as a Strategic Policy Issue: What Governing Boards Need to Know” in February 2009. (Available on CD.)
• Offered the renowned institute "on campus," which makes it a no- or low-travel learning opportunity for the participants--it also allows the institution to invite a wider variety of participants to learn about integrated planning.
  
• Sends AIA and other educational credits in PDF format via email to conference attendees.

SCUP Office:

• Hosts a booth at the US Greenbuild Conference.
• Purchased recycled copier paper and partially recycled color copier paper.
• Used washable plates and silverware in the office kitchen.
• Used recyclable storage containers for personal and office materials instead of boxes during the recent to new office location in fall 2009.
• Participates in the carbon neutral program of United Parcel Service (UPS) through our affiliation with The University of Michigan. This allows us to offset the environmental impact associated with shipping and transporting our products

Trends in Higher Education:

• Tracked environmental issues in one of SCUP’s most popular member benefits, SCUP Trends in Higher Education, which is available as a downloadable PDF only to members.