NJHEPS | New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability
About NJHEPS
What is NJHEPS?
The New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability (NJHEPS) is a statewide collaborative of higher education institutions preparing the next generation of climate citizens and demonstrating sustainable, equitable, and innovative solutions.
Established in 1999 by the New Jersey Council of Presidents, NJHEPS is a non-profit transforming the higher education community through practicing sustainability and contributing to the state, region, and world’s emerging understanding of sustainability through teaching, research, outreach, operations, and community life.
What is the Purpose of NJHEPS?
​The purpose is to bring together our college and university communities to act on the scale we need to realize a more just, sustainable future for New Jersey.
We engage in three primary activities:
Workforce Development
Knowledge Sharing
Student Engagement
focusing on five key areas:
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Curriculum, academic programs and research​
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Campus activities and student experience
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Professional development for practitioners
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Operations of the physical plant and grounds
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Partnerships and cooperation between the academic community and corporations, advocacy groups, non-profit agencies, and civic and community associations
Who is NJHEPS?
NJHEPS is a diverse community of peers working in sustainability at colleges and universities across New Jersey, collaborating to advance NJHEPS' primary activities. NJHEPS has members from over 45 higher education institutions in the Garden State, including Community Colleges, State Colleges and Universities, Public Research Universities, Independent Colleges and Universities, as well as Rabbinic and Theological Seminaries.​
NJHEPS Leadership
Thew executive board and staff behind NJHEPS is a group of passionate individuals committed to making a positive impact in our community. Together, we work towards creating a sustainable future for all.
What our Members are Saying
For decades, NJHEPS has fostered connections for me with other sustainability-focused faculty, staff, and students from other colleges and universities in New Jersey and beyond. As a result, Kean University has integrated some of the ideas and information shared through NJHEPS events into our academics, facilities, and plans. I am grateful for all of the inspiration and friendships I've gained through NJHEPS over the years and I'm honored to be a part of this important organization.
Daniela Shebitz
Professor and Chair, Environmental Science
Kean University
NJHEPS has been a powerful and influential resource for fostering "care for our common home" across our New Jersey colleges and universities, public and independent of all sizes, and across the communities of the Garden State. This collaborative and cooperative strategy can nurture environmental justice and a healthy planet.
Eileen L. Poiani, Ph.D.,
St. Peter’s University
As a participant in NJHEPS for over twenty years, I can attest to the value of a network of colleagues working collectively toward the goals of sustainability in higher education. No other organization serves to provide the practical strategies and proven tactics necessary to translate ambitious policy objectives to the classroom and the built environment in which our students learn.
Paul Romano, RA, CEM
Sustainability Officer, The College of New Jersey
NHJEPS has brought programming to address Energy efficiency which in turns reduces the carbon footprint. NJHEPS was at the forefront of Sustainability when it appeared on the horizon. Rutgers is a founding member of NJHEPS.
Michael D. Kornitas, CEM, LEED
Director of Sustainability and Energy
Rutgers the State University of New Jersey
NJHEPS has been an invaluable resource over the years. It provides vital connections and community for sustainability and energy staff to share innovations, expertise, and experiences and learn about best practices.
Brian O'Rourke
Executive Director, Facilities & Grounds
Raritan Valley Community College
I have been able to meet like-minded academics who share ideas and resources I have employed in the classroom. Last year, I learned about best practices for the AASHE Stars audit we will begin in 2025. I have also shared information with other schools on our Campus as a Living lab grant initiative.
Kathleen Webber
Professor of Journalism and Professional Writing
The College of New Jersey
What has NJHEPS Accomplished?
The New Jersey Council of College Presidents founded NJHEPS in 1999 to serve as a “catalyst, organizer, and resource” to expand the role of higher education in promoting sustainability. At that time, the idea of sustainability was just beginning to reach public consciousness. The colleges and universities of NJHEPS worked to contribute to the state, region, and world’s emerging understanding of sustainability, through teaching, research, outreach, operations, and community life.​
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In the years since, sustainability has gained traction and become a common household term. NJHEPS continues to build on this progress by improving the practice and teaching of sustainability through collective action around student engagement, knowledge sharing, and workforce development.
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NJHEPS' achievements during the past 25 years have included:
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Create living labs to study more efficient and sustainable campuses.
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Calculate GHG emissions to track metrics using our Energy Toolkit
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Create and facilitate academic workshops for teaching sustainability and climate change
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Create guidelines for high-performance campus design
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Design and implement workshops for staff to run efficient campus operations
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Guidance to execute the AASHE STARS audit
What are NJHEPS' Goals for the Future?
To be a statewide collaborative of higher education institutions that prepares the next generation of climate citizens and demonstrate sustainable, equitable and innovative solutions.
We will do this through:
Stewardship
Good stewardship in operations
Community
Community partnerships and engagement
Curriculum
Targeted curriculum to prepare students for green jobs
Workforce
Workforce development to prepare students for climate jobs
Nurturing
Nurturing our campuses as living labs
How can NJHEPS Help the State Initiative?
We see NJHEPS as an important partner in helping the state reach its clean energy goals by 2035 by focusing on a new clean energy workforce with interdisciplinary degrees across the state.
We can facilitate opportunities, share knowledge and prepare a new green corps needed to help the state’s clean energy goals become a reality.
We can work together.
Our universities, colleges and community colleges – on curriculum, certificates and cross-campus collaborations that efficiently capitalize on strengths. We can create corporate and community partnerships, that prep our students for green jobs of today and tomorrow.
We can test and demonstrate effective and efficient solutions using our campuses as living research labs. All of these opportunities will prepare our graduates to support corporations, communities and governing bodies in clean energy implementation.
NJHEPS has the experience, institutional knowledge and drive to be a key partner in achieving the NJ 2035 clean energy goals laid out by the state. Our participation will increase the efficient use of funds and efforts targeting these goals.
Here are the needs we can help fill:
Create the curricular roadmaps and opportunities to support the state’s clean energy goals
Educate students with specific skills for current and future green jobs
Connect and collaborate with institutions and employers to create a pipeline that can be scaled
Through which we envison:
Research agendas shared across institutions.
Curricular elements like certificate and degree programs that span higher educational institutions across the state: resources are shared from sites of excellence (rather than limited by what one institution can offer).
A sustainability consortium to make courses available from different schools that count toward one degree.
A prepared pipeline of adequate graduates in number and interdisciplinary skills to meet the needs of the state,institutions, communities, and corporations.
Campuses are labs and testbeds of applied and actionable research in all areas of sustainability.
The 2035 goals are achieved ahead of time and under cost.
