Albany State, P&G partner to promote university Global Sustainability Communication project

ALBANY — A new initiative at Albany State University is educating students on how responsible manufacturing impacts the environment.

ASU is partnering with Procter & Gamble to promote the university’s Global Sustainability Communication project. The project aims to raise awareness about environmental and sustainability issues and to encourage local and global action. Werhner Washington, the plant manager for P&G Albany, presented ASU with a $10,000 check in support of the initiative.

“P&G is thrilled to be able to support Albany State University,” Washington said. “Sustainability is very important to P&G. It’s clear that ASU believes and understands that education is not just in the classroom.”

The funds will be used for curriculum improvement related to sustainability and also for student scholarships and study-abroad opportunities.

“The sustainability issue is truly a global issue,” said Jianchuan Zhou, associate professor of mass communication and the sustainability project director. “A lot of our students will complete projects while studying abroad in China. This generous gift form Procter & Gamble helps our students to become global citizens.”

Last summer, P&G donated $5,000 toward ASU’s China study-abroad program. Eight ASU students collaborated with Chinese students at Xiamen University in Xiamen, China, to report local news stories on environmental issues for Xiamen Daily, the flagship newspaper in Southeast China. Topics included Xiamen University’s initiatives and programs addressing littering, the city’s sorting of garbage and recyclable materials, and new technologies developed to control pollutants in the waters surrounding the Xiamen area.

“I’m excited for this partnership because it gives our students a competitive advantage” ASU President Art Dunning said. “Great universities can’t prosper without partnerships like P&G. It’s a mutually beneficial collaboration.”

While in China, students visited one of P&G’s most sustainable plants, the Taicang plant in the Jiangsu Province, where hair care and laundry products such as Pantene and Tide are manufactured. Students learned about the company’s sustainability goals and its efforts to reduce environmental impact.

“Sometimes people are led to believe that if we’re going to have sustainability and support sustainability, it can be very expensive and difficult for a company to grow their sales and profits while still supporting the environment,” Washington said. “By visiting the Taicang plant, students had an up-close and personal experience to see that we can deliver the objectives of the company and also be good to the environment.”

Students participating in the program will receive training on sustainability journalism from faculty members, environmental experts and consultants.

“I am hoping that students participating in this project will learn the skills and gain the experience needed to report or communicate on sustainability and environmental issues,” Zhou said. “Our students will help increase the public’s awareness through their projects and through a partnership with the media.”