A National Leader in Sustainability...
- UMass Amherst is rated a STARS Gold University for the sixth consecutive time by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) for the 2023 v2.2 report with a score of 75.29.
- Ranked #18 in the 2024 Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges jumping up ten spots from 2023. UMass is one of only 5 institutions in the Top 20 that have a student enrollment of at least 20,000 FTE's.
- Earned the 2021 Leading by Example Award from Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (MA DOER) for collaboration with UMass Dartmouth, UMass Lowell and Salem State University working together to decarbonize each campus.
- Ranked 18th out of 328 schools in North America in the 2021 Sierra Club's National Magazine Top 20 Coolest Schools List.
Transforming Our Campus...
- UMass Amherst completes the largest campus solar project in New England, over 5 MW, 15,000+ solar panels on 5 buildings & 2 parking lots.
- Honored with the 2019 Tree Campus USA recognition by the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management. Landscape Services is the recipient of the 2018 Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources Leading by Example Award.
- Becomes first major public university to divest from direct fossil fuel holdings.
- The School of Earth and Sustainability is established.
Major Sustainability Milestones...
- UMass Amherst wins the prestigious 2014 Second Nature Climate Leadership Award in the "Doctorate Granting Institution" category.
- Becomes the largest food-service provider in the nation to sign on to the Real Food Campus Commitment, which requires the universities’ food budgets to move away from industrial farms and junk food and towards local/community-based, fair, ecologically sound and humane food sources by 2020.
- The Franklin Permaculture garden, a thesis projected led by student Ryan Harb (2008 – B.B.A. Business Management & 2010 – MS Green Building, Permaculture, Sustainability) wins the White House Campus Champions of Change Challenge and is honored at the White House.
- The first Climate Action Plan is published, which identifies strategies that will help the campus reach carbon neutrality.
Early Student Leadership and Institutional Commitments...
- Student Josh Stoffel (2011 – M.Ed.) develops and launches the Eco-Rep Program, a peer-to-peer education program designed to promote student facilitated learning focused on sustainable issues.
- UMass System President Jack M. Wilson signs the five UMass campuses onto the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), now called the Second Nature Presidents’ Climate Leadership Commitments.
- To fulfill the requirements outlined in the ACUPCC, UMass Amherst Chancellor Thomas Cole forms the Environmental Performance Advisory Committee (EPAC), now called the Chancellor's Sustainability Advisory Committee (CSAC).
Meet our Facilities Management Sustainability Team
The Facilities Management Sustainability team is here to help the campus integrate sustainability solutions within all aspects of campus operations and serve as a resource for faculty and staff who are looking to use the campus as a learning living laboratory. We work with UMass Dining Sustainability and the School of Earth & Sustainability to advance sustainability across campus.
Chancellor's Sustainability Advisory Committee (CSAC)
This committee includes UMass Amherst sustainability experts and representatives of the major sustainability constituencies from across campus. For questions regarding CSAC including meeting attendance requests, please contact campus sustainability manager, Ezra Small by emailing esmall@umass.edu.
CSAC Membership 2024-2025
Members of CSAC include Committee Chair, administrative & sustainability staff, academic faculty including a rotating Dean, and student representatives including Student Government Association (SGA) and Graduate Student Senate (GSS).
