Environmental Practices

We are committed to confronting the challenge of climate change by reducing the environmental impact of our operations. To that end, Adtalem launched a multi-year environmental initiative during the first half of fiscal year 2020, after completing energy audits. These three strategic goals define Adtalem’s Energy Conservation Measures and Green House Gas reduction initiatives through 2024. View our most recent Sustainability Report for details.

Adtalem’s partnership with InstallNET allows us to recycle furniture, fixtures, equipment and other materials required to be removed from a site at the end of a lease or when a location is sold. Through this partnership, 155,000 pounds of material were diverted from landfills in fiscal year 2020, with 62% of materials recycled and 38% donated to be reused. Adtalem also offers hazardous waste recycling for locations managed by our facility services partner. In fiscal year 2020, the locations recycled 1,793 pounds of these materials.

American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine forged a partnership with Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to establish the Caribbean Center for Disaster Medicine, a regional center of excellence to foster education, research and training on disaster preparedness and response. Additionally, in Fall 2019, the school held a TEDx event. The theme, “Weathering the Storm,” was carefully selected to pay homage to the response to Hurricane Irma.

Our Corporate Headquarters in Chicago and both the Chicago and Cleveland campuses of Chamberlain University are Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Certified Buildings. The development of the Adtalem headquarters included the installation of energy efficient LED lighting and bottle filling drinking fountains, as well as the use of zero or low volatile organic compound (VOC) paints.

Per our U.S. Supplier Code of Conduct, we expect our third party partners to use environmentally responsible practices and production methods that meet well-established certification standards. Our supplier policies can be viewed here.

As an incentive to use public transportation, Adtalem full-time colleagues are eligible for a benefit program where they are allowed to save pre-tax dollars to offset the cost of subway, commuter train, ferry, and carpool transit.

Adtalem’s institutions support agricultural initiatives in the communities that surround their campuses. For example, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine entered into a three-year memorandum of understanding with St. Kitts Aquaculture and the Department of Marine Resources of St. Kitts with a goal to develop sustainable food production for the island nation. In addition, the school continues its partnership with the St. Kitts and Nevis Ministry of Agriculture through a Goat Breeding Program. Through the crossbreeding of local indigenous species with goats from other countries, the project enhances the agriculture industry through the quality of livestock and produces offspring with better growth rates, higher quality of meat and stronger resistance to local diseases.