The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) awarded Tufts a silver rating for its efforts to improve environmental sustainability on campus.
STARS, a program run by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), rates colleges and universities based on self−reported data to measure their sustainability performance.
At the 2011 AASHE annual conference early last month, the Office of Sustainability (OOS) received a silver−star window cling to display, according to Program Director for the OOS Tina Woolston.
The OOS submitted data to STARS for a ranking on Aug. 1, the first time that the OOS had competed for a ranking, according to Woolston.
Tufts received a score of 62.73. The next highest rating, a gold star, would have required 65 points.
STARS uses three categories, Education and Research, Operations and Planning, Administration and Engagement to rate colleges and universities. A school can also receive innovation credits in recognition of exceptional development in an area.
Tufts received 61.01 percent of possible points in Education and Research, 36.30 percent in Operations, and 78.88 percent in Planning, Administration and Engagement, along with four innovation credits.
"The rating pinpoints where we're doing well and where we're lagging behind," senior Rachael Wolber, an intern at the OOS who worked on gathering the data for the STARS report, said.
College sustainability experts spent three years developing the STARS rating system, Woolston explained.
STARS makes all data submitted to it from colleges and universities public, making it easier for other organizations publishing rankings to rate the schools as well, according to Woolston. She noted that in the past Tufts has chosen not to submit surveys to other well−known organizations like the Sierra Club because of the time it takes to complete the surveys.
STARS' method of publicizing its data also allows schools to see what programs other colleges and universities have implemented, according to Wolber.
"We can look and see what programs [other schools] have and see how we could adopt something similar," she said.
Hannah Kahler, a senior OOS intern, identified Tufts' focus on educating both students and faculty as one of its greatest strengths.
"We do a really great job of having leaders in the community that can help answer any questions for sustainability efforts on campus," she said.
Woolston noted that Tufts scored lower in certain areas that judge improvement because STARS uses 2005 as a base year to measure certain data.
"Because Tufts has been recycling since 1990, you didn't see a big difference, but some of these schools were not recycling at all before 2005," Woolston said. "Tufts is at a disadvantage because we started doing stuff early."
She added, however, that a newer version of the STARS rating system, version 1.1, will address these shortcomings. Tufts submitted its data under version 1.0 this year.
Woolston and Wolber have begun to brainstorm ways to improve Tufts' STARS rating next time.
"One of the easiest things to do, and what one might argue has the largest impact, is to reduce our carbon footprint, which is tied to our burning of fossil fuels," Woolston said. "That's a very large impact of ours, so that would be where we want to focus first."
Woolston stressed that student and community participation in sustainability efforts is extremely important in reducing Tufts' environmental impact.
"We hope that students and the Tufts community can see how they fit into the plan, and how they can help Tufts achieve its goals," she said.
Despite the new silver award, Woolston noted that there are many additional things that Tufts can do to improve its green efforts.
"We still have a long ways to go in order to become truly sustainable," she said.
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Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the Office of Sustainability received a silver rating. The rating was given to Tufts itself.
