University of Northern Colorado

Welcome AASHE Conference Attendees from the University of Northern Colorado

Dear Colleagues,
On behalf of the University of Northern Colorado, it is my pleasure to welcome you to our beautiful state. We are excited that the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s 2010 conference is held in Colorado this year.

The University of Northern Colorado is located an hour north of Denver in the city of Greeley. UNC offers more than 100 undergraduate and 100-plus graduate programs spread among six academic colleges. We provide more than 12,000 students with a solid liberal arts foundation, hands-on experience and personalized attention from faculty.

We also offer courses online and at remote campuses throughout Colorado. Increasing the ways we deliver education allows more students to take advantage of our degree programs from their homes or communities.

As part of our commitment to sustainability, we are continually searching for new, effective ways to enhance our efforts. We have long had a campus-wide recycling program, and our free shuttle, which runs from one end of our 300-acre campus to the other, helps minimize automotive traffic on and around the university. UNC was also a pioneer in clean energy use as a partner in an electrical co-generation project, using clean natural gas as fuel, which was constructed on our campus approximately 20 years ago.

This fall we are implementing a shared bike program that allows students to check out bikes from our Campus Recreation Center, and we are partnering with Greeley City to provide free bus service for students from the campus into the downtown area. UNC has steadily decreased its campus-wide energy use over recent years with the purchase of more Energy Star appliances, installation of energy efficient lighting and changes to how we heat and cool buildings. Our efforts to conserve water include installation of low-flow water fixtures throughout campus and improvements to our watering habits. Our newest off-campus facility in Loveland is LEED Silver Certified, and we offer an Environmental Earth Sciences academic program for students. These are just a few examples of what UNC is doing to lessen its environmental impact and encourage sustainability.

We are excited to hear how our fellow higher education partners make wise use of their resources and are looking forward to being part of the important conversations that will take place during this conference. We hope this helps each of us become more involved as stewards of our environment.

Sincerely,
President Kay Norton