Institutions of higher education play a pivotal role in transforming the lives of individuals and enhancing their communities. At the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), we view sustainability as a path of continuous improvement where our actions protect and enhance the human and natural resources needed for future generations to enjoy a quality of life equal to or greater than our own.
The success of our sustainability initiatives requires engagement, participation, and collaboration at all levels of the University, across campus and beyond. By partnering with businesses, government, higher education institutions, and communities, we are building lasting relationships, solving common problems, sharing prosperity, and, most importantly, preparing students for success in a complex and changing global environment.
At the Office of Sustainability at UTA, we aim to unify and integrate sustainability initiatives across campus. We are dedicated to educating the campus and community about the importance of thinking and acting sustainably so we can use resources responsibly and help improve the lives of present and future generations.
We encourage our students to engage in pressing problems in our society with outreach and education. By thinking critically about issues such as sustainability, they can not only help develop solutions, but also gain greater understanding of topics and issues not normally covered in their chosen discipline.
About Education and OutreachFrom waste diversion to energy management, UTA has several initiatives aimed at modeling best practices in planning and operating a premier research and teaching institution in an efficient and sustainable way. We’re building on long commitment to energy conservation and efficiency, water conservation efforts, sustainable landscape, recycling and reducing food waste.
About Sustainable OperationsUTA is committed to translating research and teaching into practice by piloting solutions to real world challenges and providing our students with the knowledge needed to create sustainable impact and service to the world. Our academic programs offer students exposure to a multitude of concepts and learning experiences that contribute to their understanding of sustainable development. Sustainable development is infused throughout our curriculum and represented in many centers and programs on our campus.
About Academic ProgramsAt UT Arlington, the Office of Sustainability uses two frameworks to support the evaluation of UT Arlington’s key impacts and to determine report topics: the GRI Reporting Framework, the most widely used standard for sustainability reporting worldwide; and AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS), a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure our sustainability performance. We also released a 2022 report on sustainability at UTA, which uses peer benchmarking to assess progress across a range of sustainability metrics at higher education institutions, from academics and engagement to operations and planning. It highlights both accomplishments and recommendations for improving campus sustainability.
About Sustainability ReportingUTA has made great strides in sustainability since instituting our first recycling program in 1994. We’ve made progress in each of our four cornerstones: Education & Outreach, Strategic Planning, Research, and Operations, and continue to push ourselves to be better sustainability leaders.
