by Beth Gray

Supply chain management is an important element of any business.  Dr. Robert Handfield, Professor of Supply Chain Management at North Carolina State University’s Poole College of Management, notes that until recently, “few businesses understood, much less managed, the entire chain of activities that ultimately delivered products to the final customer.”  It is more common in recent years, however, that businesses are paying much more attention to their supply chains.  With the increasing awareness of the importance of corporate social responsibility initiatives, supply chains are not only being “managed,” but are also becoming more environmentally friendly. 

Institutions of higher education are incredible consumers of goods.  In most cases, these “goods” – everything from toilet paper to food and from ink cartridges to dorm furniture – come from outside vendors.  The environmentally-conscious university has to consider the methods used to create these products and the environmental impact of transporting them from manufacturer to end user when evaluating its own environmental impact.  In addition, the waste created from these goods must be considered.  Many colleges and universities are addressing the entire life-cycle of goods and services in order to create more sustainable supply chains.  Rutgers University, for example, has developed a comprehensive, “holistic” approach to supply chain management that is driven by both good and effective use of university funds and the university’s stated responsibility to the environment. 

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by Beth Gray

Recently, a coworker who is also an American Public University (APU) student (as many of our employees are) sent me a link to a YouTube video that her professor posted as part of that week’s assignment.  The video, produced by The Story of Stuff Project and narrated by Annie Leonard, is 20 minutes in length and provides a somewhat scathing look at the life cycle of our “stuff.” 

Through the use of basic yet effective animations, Leonard describes in accessible terms how all of our stuff comes to be and what happens when we are finished with it.  Through the five steps of the materials economy (extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal), our stuff requires tremendous resources, natural and human.  Along the way, the process harms many of the parties involved.  During the extraction process, for example, people living in the places where the first resources are culled often lose the lands and natural materials on which they have relied for generations.  Because their resources are lost, some 200,000 people a day (worldwide) move from environments that had previously sustained them for generations to cities in search of work, often finding it in the factories that are making stuff from the resources taken from their lands.  During the production process, workers are subjected to many harmful chemicals that are used to create the stuff.  At the same time, working conditions in many of the factories producing our stuff leave much to be desired. 

Even the consumer, who is the driving force behind the manufacturing of this stuff is harmed.  The toxins that go into making the stuff impact those who buy and use these items.  Leonard uses the phrase, “toxins in, toxics out” to make the point that many of our products are actually toxic to us.  Through all of this, the environment takes the most consistent abuse, however.  The loss of vast quantities of natural resources, toxins emitted into the environment, and the irresponsible disposal of most items leaves our planet quite vulnerable, according to Leonard.

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by Beth Gray

Last week, several American Public University System (APUS) staff members from the school’s Instructional Design and Development office and the Office of the President presented at the 16th Annual Sloan Consortium International Conference on Online Learning in Orlando, Florida.  The Sloan Consortium (often called simply “Sloan-C”) “is an institutional and professional leadership organization dedicated to integrating online education into the mainstream of higher education, helping institutions and individual educators improve the quality, scale, and breadth of education.” More than 1,400 individuals attended (some virtually via Sloan’s live streaming feature) this year’s conference.  Attendees included representatives from other fully online institutions, ground-based colleges and universities, and schools with blended programs. 

The presentation, titled “Going Green Online,” detailed the ways in which APUS has capitalized on its online format to make significant progress in mitigating its carbon footprint.  The theme for this year’s conference was “The Power of Online Learning: Stimulating New Possibilities” and the group discussed the ways in which online universities can make a tremendous impact in combating climate change, a practice that is still relatively new to the online learning community.  To date, APUS is the only fully online school to sign the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.  Stressing the effectiveness of online instruction in helping to reduce a school’s carbon footprint, the presenting group provided best practices to help interested schools of all formats (online, blended, or on-ground) get started with their own sustainability programs.  The unique session topic was well-attended and was a great fit for the conference theme of “stimulating new possibilities.”

by Beth Gray

The growing concern over climate change has led many companies to consider how to alter their own practices in order to mitigate their carbon emissions.  Several large corporations have taken significant steps toward assessing and taking steps to lessen their environmental impact.  Walmart, for example, has a very well-developed sustainability initiative and has a page on their corporate website devoted to tracking how the company is doing in its attempt to have a less negative impact on the environment.  General Electric also has a sustainability initiative and publishes an annual sustainability report to track the company’s progress in achieving a greener future.  Nearly 700 institutions of higher education (including American Public University System) have also pledged to assess their carbon footprints through signing the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) and take dramatic measures toward eventually achieving carbon neutrality.  Read the rest of this entry »

by Elizabeth Gray

In 2003 when American Public University System (APUS) moved to Charles Town, West Virginia from its original home of Manassas, Virginia (where the university system continues to maintain its student services and marketing offices), the system’s leadership was cognizant of the historic nature of their new home.  As the institution has grown in student population and added additional employees, adequate parking for employees commuting to work became an ongoing problem.  APUS currently owns eight structures in the downtown area of the city and leases six additional buildings and space in three others.  Several of these buildings do not have their own parking lots and this has forced employees to contend with other downtown businesses and residences for parking on the street. Read the rest of this entry »