Columbia University, Harvard University and the University of Colorado were among the schools receiving top grades for campus sustainability.
Earlier this month, the Sustainable Endowments Institute released its annual College Sustainability Report Card in which it graded 300 universities in the U.S. and Canada.
The institute focused on nine areas of sustainability: administration, climate change and energy, food and recycling, green building, student involvement, transportation, endowment transparency, investment priorities and shareholder engagement.
Users can view the report and compare schools based on the nine areas.
UWIRE affiliates analyzed how the report card affects their school and what universities are doing to improve.
George Washington U.’s green grade improves
On campus sustainability issues, the university improved in four of six categories, including a jump from a D to an A in transportation, reflecting the school’s Metro-centric campus plan and car-sharing programs.
The university received F’s for its endowment transparency and shareholder engagement because GW does not publicly list endowment holdings and leaves many of its investment decisions to outside fund managers.
Don Lindsey, chief investment officer for the school’s $1.1 billion endowment, said they are planning to take over much of the responsibility from fund managers soon.
Full Story from The GW Hatchet
Georgetown sustainability consistently average
Despite taking a few steps toward becoming greener, Georgetown earned the same grades in all categories in the Sustainability Endowments Institute’s yearly green report card.
This year, nearly two-thirds of the surveyed universities improved their scores, reflecting greater investment in sustainable energy.
Despite this overall trend and several institutional improvements last year, Georgetown received a B- for the second year in a row on the 2009 report card.
Full Story from The Hoya
U. Massachusetts is just ‘average’ on sustainability
The University of Massachusetts has received a C+ on the 2009 College Sustainability Report Card, which is used to rate the nation’s greenest colleges and universities.
The Sustainable Endowments Institute, based in Cambridge, Mass., graded 300 schools in nine categories: climate and energy use, green building, food and recycling, transportation, administration, student involvement, endowment transparency, shareholder engagement and investment priorities.
Full Story from the Massachusetts Daily Collegian
Indiana U. improves, ties for least sustainable in Big Ten
While IU ranked above average in the investment priorities and student involvement categories, it was average in areas such as administration, climate change and energy, food and recycling, green building and transportation.
First-year graduate student in environmental studies and Sustainability Task Force member Elliot Hayden said, from his point of view, the administration got off with a better mark than they should have.
“Frankly, I think that that C+ gave IU a little more credit than it deserves,” he said. “It really needs to be put into perspective.”
Full Story from the Indiana Daily Student
UC Berkeley receives grade of B in sustainability evaluation
In a national study of campus sustainability released Wednesday, UC Berkeley received a B on its “green” report card.
Compiled by the independent non-profit organization Sustainable Endowments Institute, the evaluation revealed that the UC Berkeley campus has a high-ranking sustainability program. Yet the campus lost points in the endowment sustainability section, receiving a D and a F in two of the three categories.
“It kind of surprises me,” freshman Armand Cuevas said. “I’d think Berkeley, as the top public university, would have at least an A.”
Full Story from The Daily Californian
Cornell U receives ‘B+’ grade on Sustainability Report Card
Cornell University received a B+, showing consistent improvement from the B it received in 2008.
The report card, according to the SEI, is the “only independent evaluation of campus and endowment sustainability activities.” The combined endowments of the universities surveyed total over $380 billion.
Full Story from the Cornell Daily Sun
U Wisconsin drops to ‘B’ in report card for sustainability
University of Wisconsin-Madison dropped half a letter grade in a sustainability ranking, according to the 2009 College Sustainability Report Card released last week, but university members said the school is not on the path to failure.
UW-Madison dropped from a “B+” to a “B” in this year’s report card. According to GreenReportCard.org, only 15 schools received an “A” while 75 percent of colleges and universities earned grades in the “B” and “C” range.
Full Story from The Daily Cardinal
