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Sustainability at Fort Hays State University

"Sustainability presumes that the planet's resources are finite, and should be used conservatively, wisely and equitably. Decisions and investments aimed to promote sustainability will simultaneously advance economic vitality, ecological integrity and social welfare."
- Kansas Board of Regents, 2009 Sustainability Reports

Students and faculty at Fort Hays State University continue to participate actively in the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education ( AASHE). AASHE supports sustainability efforts in higher education through academic programs, student life, operations, and research. Many sustainability organizations, including AASHE and the Sustainability Task force at FHSU, have adopted the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals as a broad framework to improve complex and interrelated sustainability challenges.

These 17 goals can be categorized broadly as “ The 5 P’s of Sustainability”, promoting the development and improvement of:

  • People and social sustainability,
  • Prosperity and economic well-being,
  • the Planet and environmental sustainability,
  • Peace for all, and
  • Partnerships to achieve these complex integrated outcomes.

Sustainability and Academics Programs

FHSU offers a wide variety of academic degree programs and certificates that support the broad goals of sustainable development at FHSU. Some examples include:

Additionally, many academic courses and student organizations use service learning opportunities to integrate relevant sustainability topics into projects. Examples include class-based projects such as those found in LDRS 310, students exploring the implications of food waste in agricultural supply chains, or volunteer activities such as tree plantings, guest lectures, and community rain barrel construction to help our community collect and use rain water wisely.

Departmental and Campus Initiatives support the judicious use of technology to reduce paper wasted from printing. Where possible, faculty utilize Open Educational Resources (OER) course design to reduce the need for expensive physical paper-based textbooks.

Faculty Development: FHSU faculty and staff serve on relevant committees on campus and in the community, and they attend sustainability conferences such as AASHE.

Social Art: FHSU graphic arts students create powerful social art.

Research: The John Heinrichs Scholarly and Creative Activities Day (SACAD) continues to highlight research on campus. More than half of all poster submissions continue to highlight topics associated with the “ 5 P’s of Sustainability”. In 2019, 65 of 144 submissions self-identified as a sustainable development topic; in 2020, 59 out of 95 also did so.

Sustainability and Student Life

A small sample of the variety of sustainability organizations and initiatives in the FHSU community include:

Sustainability and Campus Operations

  • FHSU has been harvesting electricity from the Kansas wind with two 2-megawatt wind turbines that are projected to produce additional annual savings in the range of $600,000 to $1 million.
  • FHSU implemented "peak shaving" energy use techniques to reduce costs of energy consumption and production.
  • Energy conservation measures have been implemented across campus, including replacing aging energy units, optimizing natural gas use and boiler operation, and converting HVAC equipment to variable speed technology.
  • Campus-wide recycling programs.
  • Green Space of over 117 acres, including areas along the original Big Creek stream bed that have been preserved in their natural state for ongoing plant and wildlife research projects.
  • Chartwells, the contracted food service provider for FHSU:
    • Works to lower food waste by measuring and weighing waste, through a program called Trim-trax
    • Uses a computer program to determine exact ingredient quantities needed to avoid food waste
    • Recycles its cooking oil through Healy Biofuels.
    • Recycles cans, plastics, and cardboard
    • Uses Biopak packaging
  • Where possible, FHSU is committed to incorporating LEED energy saving principles in new building construction, including:
    • Occupancy sensors
    • Variable speed motors
    • LED and T8 lighting
    • Low, or no VOC paints
    • Recycled-content carpets
    • Designing for natural daylight

Mission and Vision Statements of the Sustainability Task Force at FHSU

Sustainable Development Mission Statement

The Sustainability Task Force supports the mission of Fort Hays State University by communicating and coordinating a sustainable development framework for all FHSU stakeholders.

Vision Statement

We will strive continuously to improve Fort Hays State University by supporting and advocating for common, sustainable development goals without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The Sustainable Development Committee will seek to meet or exceed the Sustainable Development accomplishments of FHSU’s peer and aspirational peer institutions.

Mission and Mission Explanation

FHSU’s peer and aspirational peer institutions support initiatives that parallel those of AASHE, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. FHSU has maintained a long association with AASHE, which has adopted the widely known and utilized sustainability framework of the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals. AASHE provides a scorecard and metrics system (STARS) that will allow FHSU to benchmark itself against its peer and aspirational peer institutions.

The Sustainable Development Committee at FHSU seeks to coordinate, communicate, and support the various sustainability initiatives, goals, and objectives that span the institution: operations initiatives, student initiatives, and academic initiatives.

Want to learn more about Sustainable Development at FHSU? Please email: sustainability@fhsu.edu.

Contact Us

sustainability@fhsu.edu