Red, White, Blue, and Green: The University of West Georgia

This is one in a series of "chapters" (PDF) about college and university best practices, written by presidents for the Presidential Perspectives.org website. In it, Beheruz N. Sethna, president, The University of West Georgia, writes about his campus' successes in sustainability achievements. His "recommendations for implementation" of any successful initiative at a university are: "First, Make it an institutional priority"; "Second: Create a plan of action to generate the conservation"; "Third: Present the implementation plan to the leadership of the institution"; "Fourth: Roll out the plan with the endorsement of the leadership"; "Fifth: Monitor the progress with regularly scheduled metric analysis":

The title of this essay also emphasizes how the University of West Georgia (UWG) would not be able to realize its Green Initiative without the involvement of the entire campus. Add together, in approximately equal parts, the faculty, staff, students, alumni, and a large external community. Next, mix in undergraduate and graduate student research with faculty and staff research and continuous monitoring, assessment, and reporting. You begin to get an idea of the complexity of a Green Initiative that partners with a multitude of public entities.

The combination of academic research, staff training, and implementation of sustainable measures has made the Green Initiative and energy conservation programs an ongoing success story on the UWG campus. We have already received several best practice awards, and we have assisted in the dissemination of ideas that work. We stand ready to continue to do the same for other institutions.