Building on a history of environmental stewardship, energy conservation, and the development of academic programs focused on ecology, SUNY Oneonta designated sustainability one of the six pillars that support our mission. By signing this declaration, we commit our campus to sustainability and affirm its importance as a global responsibility shared across national borders.

Already SUNY Oneonta has adopted the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System for Colleges and Universities. To facilitate the infusion of sustainability throughout the curriculum, the college has created a sustainability coordinator position, which will be filled by the fall of 2012. We also have formed the President's Advisory Council on Sustainability to lead the development of partnerships with SUNY and local and regional municipalities and organizations in the coming years. Using our innovative programs that convert spent cooking oil into heating fuel and shredded paper into livestock bedding as models, we will create a comprehensive campus-wide recycling initiative. The college pledges to implement a long-range climate action plan, and will continue to use a portion of the savings resulting from the reduction of water, gas and electricity consumption to expand sustainability efforts. We will meet or exceed LEED Silver standards for new construction, and establish a greener means to maintain all of our buildings and grounds.

State University of New York College at Oneonta