Learning Resources

Abstract: The past decade’s growth of campus sustainability planning has created a cadre of new planners. As exemplified by Richard J. Martin’s article in this issue of Planning for Higher Education, the work of higher education planners is enhanced by the new Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS). STARS is a boon for those who wish to see more comprehensive, integrated planning on college and university campuses.

Abstract: Colleges and universities continue to face significant fiscal challenges in the current recession. In response, institutions have identified innovative facilities planning and management strategies that support institutional growth and, in some cases, institutional survival. Strategies explored include deferring capital expenditures and reducing facilities operating costs, increasing facilities utilization, investing in campus sustainability, adapting to information technology, and leveraging the distressed real estate market. The current financial climate has only added urgency to the trend already underway to explore alternative campus development approaches. Indeed, the expectation should be that even more institutions will embrace these innovations and that these new strategies will become institutionalized as an expanded set of campus development planning tools.

Abstract: California State Polytechnic University, Pomona was an early signatory of a climate neutrality pledge. This article draws lessons from the university’s greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction planning effort by explaining the planning process and the plan features. Three themes are explored: (1) creation of the emissions baseline and targets, (2) strategy selection, and (3) the plan’s relationship with the broader change process. The article concludes with suggestions for other campuses entering the GHG planning process.