by Shane Henson — February 17, 2012—The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE.org) has launched the Campus Sustainability Data Collector, a tool it says will allow any higher education institution to report sustainability data and share it with the Princeton Review, Sierra magazine, and the Sustainable Endowments Institute.
AASHE has worked with these organizations since March 2011 to improve the process of collecting sustainability data from higher education institutions to reduce survey fatigue. The result, a basic version of AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) Reporting Tool, eliminates the need for institutions to complete four separate surveys by collecting all campus sustainability data in one place while giving the institutions an opportunity to be more transparent.
Each of the four groups will evaluate the data submitted in accordance with their own particular priorities, resulting in a unique, customized set of school ratings from each organization, says AASHE. Though the Campus Sustainability Data Collector does not have the benefits provided to STARS Participants, such as reports or public recognition, institutions will be able to share their data at no cost with these other campus rating organizations.
