Tag Archives: Sustainability

Scranton is Going Carbon-Neutral for 2020

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The University of Scranton will purchase carbon-neutral electricity for 2020 in an effort to reduce the school’s carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emission generation.

Carbon-neutral electricity has its source in operations that generate power with considerable lower quantities of carbon dioxide emissions than is released from standard fossil fuel power generation. It includes low carbon power generation sources such as wind power, solar power, hydropower and nuclear power.

“At the University, we are always trying to initiate additional green initiatives on campus,” said Mark Murphy, director of the University’s Sustainability Office. “In our bid for 2020 electricity, we were able to purchase zero-carbon electricity at the same price as electricity which would have most likely been generated by burning fossil fuels like natural gas and coal.”

“Nuclear energy is carbon neutral and a good environmental step for the University,” Murphy said. “In the future, we plan on pursuing the purchase of 100 percent renewable energy, which is generated by the more traditional renewable sources such as solar, wind and water.”

For 2020, the University will use Carbon-Zero 24/7, a new, 100 percent emission-free product from Talen Energy, a privately-owned independent power producer based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Backed by Emission-Free Energy Certificates issued by PJM Environmental Information Services (EIS), Carbon-Zero 24/7 ensures that the electricity supplied to the University is from a source that does not directly emit any air pollution (sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide) which can help the university reduce emissions associated with its electricity usage.

Sustaining our Efforts for Green Practices and Programs

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The Princeton Review recognized The University of Scranton, and just 412 other colleges in the world, for expressing “strong commitments to green practices and programs” by inclusion in the 2019 edition of “The Princeton Review Guide to Green Colleges.” Most of the schools selected for the guide, which was published online in October, are in the U.S., with just 16 schools from Canada, one from Egypt and one from Greece also listed. This is the third consecutive year that Scranton has made this list.

The Princeton Review analyzed more than 25 data points to determine the final selection of colleges for the guide based on information from surveys of nearly 700 schools. The criteria broadly covered the schools’ academic offerings and initiatives, campus policies and practices, and green-career preparation for students. The colleges making the list “are standouts for their exemplary commitments to sustainability,” according to Rob Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor-in-chief.

According to Franek, college applicants and their parents are increasingly concerned about the environment and sustainability issues. He cited a solid majority (64%) of the 11,900 teens and parents that The Princeton Review polled for its 2019 College Hopes and Worries Survey as saying that having information about a college’s commitment to the environment would affect their decision to apply to or attend the school

Scranton’s long-established sustainability efforts include academics, facilities and community education and outreach. Scranton has infused issues of sustainability in courses across the curriculum, ranging from theology, to business, to the natural sciences, to education, as well as other disciplines. Scranton uses numerous “green” procedures in building maintenance practices, as well as in building design and construction. Scranton currently has three Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified buildings: Leahy Hall, the Loyola Science Center and the DeNaples Center, which became the city’s first LEED certified structure in 2008. The University also conducts multiple community educational programs organized through its Office of Sustainability, which include a community garden, an Earth Day Essay Contest, an Earth Day Fair and an Evening of Environmental Science program for area children and families.

In addition, the Sustainability Office began a Work Study Program that engages work-study students in service-learning opportunities to help them grow in knowledge practical applications of sustainability concepts taught in their classes.

In addition to its “Guide to Green Colleges,” The Princeton Review has listed Scranton in its “Best Colleges” guidebooks for 18 consecutive years, also ranking Scranton in its 2020 edition among the nation’s “Best Science Lab Facilities” (No. 7), “Best Campus Food” (No. 10), and “Best-Run Colleges” (No. 20).

Stay Sustainable, Stay Relevant

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The University of Scranton’s Master in Health Administration (MHA) program was nationally recognized by The Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) and Canon Solutions America for its sustainability initiatives in the context of corporate responsibility and Jesuit pedagogy. The University’s MHA program received the prestigious CAHME/Canon Award for Sustainability in Healthcare Management Education and Practice at the March 25th CACHE Congress in Chicago.

Each year, CAHME recognizes excellence in graduate healthcare management education with CAHME- accredited programs and in partnership with leading healthcare organizations. These valued programs are recognized for driving innovation, improving the student experience, and expanding the presence of graduate healthcare management education. Now in its second year, the CAHME/Canon Solutions America Award for Sustainability in Healthcare Management Education and Practice focuses on recognizing universities that are committed to pushing public health forward through dynamic and diverse sustainability-driven activities with proven results.

The University MHA program links sustainability with social justice, public health, and health disparities through alumni engagement, international experiences, and community project work.

“Global and environmental health issues are complex and universities teaching future leaders in healthcare, as well as corporations serving in this field, have a responsibility to ethically and effectively address health issues. As educators at a Jesuit university, we take this responsibility very seriously and are deliberate in our efforts to teach our students to be leaders in addressing issues of social justice and sustainability in order to better serve all people, and especially to care for those who are the most vulnerable,” said Debra Pellegrino, Ed.D., dean of the Panuska College of Professional Studies, which houses the health administration program at Scranton. “We are grateful CAHME and Canon are taking the lead in recognizing sustainability in health administration programs with this award, which is so important for the future of healthcare, and we are honored that the University was selected to receive the 2018 award.”

“We are so grateful for Canon’s support of this award, as it recognizes programs that are advancing the quality of graduate healthcare management education,” said Anthony Stanowski, DHA, president and CEO of CAHME in a news release announcing the award. “Canon is an important partner in this work.”

“It’s an honor to announce The University of Scranton Master in Health Administration as our 2018 Sustainability in Healthcare award winner,” said Peter Kowalczuk, president of Canon Solutions America. “Together with CAHME, we are truly committed to helping improve the quality in academic healthcare management education and promoting continuous evolution in the preparation of future healthcare leaders. Canon Solutions America congratulates The University of Scranton on this great achievement and we look forward to their program pushing personal and professional growth for its students while embracing diversity in the health education community.”

According to CAHME, the mission of the University’s master in health administration program helped to secure the award. The program’s mission is to provide local, regional and international students a comprehensive and interdisciplinary set of core competencies and values for health administration jobs in a variety of healthcare organizations. Additionally, the program contributes scholarship to its disciplines, especially applied research, publications and presentations.

The innovative curriculum of the University’s MHA program includes a “Fit for the Profession” component to ensure readiness for profession, said Steven Szydlowski, D.H.A., program director of the University’s MHA program. In addition, sustainability components imbedded in the curriculum include administrative residency project for sustainability in healthcare as part of the program’s 8-credit Administrative Residency course (HAD 581), which is required course for all MHA students. Dr. Szydlowski said projects cover global, environmental, financial, social sustainable issues and involve developing and implementing a sustainability project in an applied healthcare setting. Elements of sustainability are also addressed in other elective courses, as well as through other initiatives such as study abroad experiences.

To learn more about the MHA Program at the University of Scranton, click here.

CAHME is an interdisciplinary group of educational, professional, clinical, and other health sector organizations devoted to quality improvement of education for healthcare management and administration professionals. Additionally, CAHME accreditation establishes the standard of measurement of graduate healthcare management education for the world community.