ITHACA — Ithaca College on Feb. 26 announced it has earned a Gold STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System) rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

Launched in 2010, STARS measures and encourages sustainability in all aspects of higher education. Ithaca College, a charter STARS member, earned its first Gold rating in 2011. The college recently learned from the STARS review board that its submission for 2019 will once again earn it Gold, after having slipped to Silver in 2016.

“STARS is a thorough self-assessment rating system,” Greg Lischke, director of energy management and sustainability at Ithaca College, said in a news release. 

With more than 800 participants in 30 countries, AASHE’s STARS program is a framework for publicly reporting comprehensive information related to a college or university’s sustainability performance. Participants report achievements in five overall areas: academics, engagement, operations, planning and administration, and innovation and leadership.

Ithaca College said its commitment to exclusively purchase green e-certified electricity and its two-megawatt solar farm near Geneva, figured prominently into the STARS Gold rating.

However, Lischke emphasized that campus-wide collaboration was critical to the college’s return to Gold. Notable collaborators include the Office of Student Engagement, with programs like Jumpstart and the G.R.E.E.N. Tour fostering lifelong commitment to service, involvement, and leadership. The Center for IDEAS (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Social Change), Center for LGBT Education, Outreach and Services, and the mobile and permanent food pantries also helped foster innovation in this area, he added.