Oklahoma State University has a green thumb.
The university has been ranked with the top colleges worldwide for its contributions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). OSU has outranked much larger universities across the country and the globe for three straight years, placing overall at 72 among more than 1,600 global universities.
The fifth edition of the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings determined the placings. It assesses the ways institutions’ research, stewardship, outreach and teaching contribute to sustainability on a global scale.
Times Higher Education is a forefront publisher of education related news and developed the Impact Rankings in 2019. These rankings help better showcase the role that colleges can play in confronting essential global needs.
OSU has ranked in the top 100 universities international every year it has participated in the ranking process. The individual rankings OSU received are based on the educational, research and outreach aspects of the university.
It ranked seventh internationally in Zero Hunger (SDG 2), 63rd internationally in Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), 72nd internationally in Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11) and 41st internationally in partnerships for the goals (SDG17).
“The university’s strategy is focused on using the expertise of our faculty, staff and students to address the world’s most pressing challenges, many of which are reflected in the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” said Jeanette Mendez, OSU senior vice president and provost. “We approach these challenges by integrating teaching, research and outreach/extension, encouraging transdisciplinary efforts that engage people from across the OSU system.”
Global food security, or the Zero Hunger Goal, is OSU’s highest ranking at seventh globally.
“Our scientists focus on research, extension and academic programs that serve the needs of Oklahoma agriculture, food and natural resource sectors,” said Thomas Coon, vice president of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and dean of the Ferguson College of Agriculture. “Yet their impacts reach well beyond Oklahoma’s borders. It is heartening to see their impact ranking for food security continue to be in the top 10 universities evaluated from around the world.”
OSU’s dedication to global development started in the 1950s, when the president at the time, Henry G. Bennett, took a leave of absence from the university to head the Point IV program, an agency created to improve technological capacity in foreign countries.
Over the years, the university took on a number of vital and noteworthy projects, including founding an agricultural university and high school in Ethiopia, development projects in Thailand, Brazil and Bangladesh and other projects around the globe.
“As a land-grant university, it’s our mission to solve society’s most pressing problems,” OSU President Kayse Shrum said. “In October of last year, we unveiled a systemwide university strategy that focuses on the intersection of our research strengths and society’s grand challenges. Our rankings in the UN Sustainable Development Goals are a testament to the work of our faculty, staff and students to address these needs in impactful ways.”
OSU’s current strategic plan calls for the university community to focus on four interdisciplinary “priority areas.” They are innovating to nourish the world, leading in aerospace innovation and application, enhancing human and animal health (One Health) and powering a growing world population sustainably and responsibly.
For more information on the rankings, the SDGs guidelines and OSU’s position within those goals, visit timeshighereducation.com or news.okstate.edu.
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