Naropa U Divests from Fossil Fuels
After recent unanimous vote by the university's endowment committee, the institution has fully divested from companies identified as having the highest potential greenhouse gas emissions. From gofossilfree.org, a 350.org campaign to divest from fossil fuels, Naropa is one of eight institutions that has committed to divestiture of fossil fuel holdings.
Three Universities Sign 'Real Food Campus Challenge'
Johns Hopkins University; University of Massachusetts, Amherst; and University of Montana, Missoula pledged to buy at least 20 percent real food annually by 2020. Johns Hopkins University pledged to source 35 percent.
U Illinois Urbana-Champaign to Debut New Sustainability Institute
Evolving out of chancellor-led campus planning exercises and pending Board of Trustees and Illinois Board of Higher Education approval, the Center for a Sustainable Environment will soon be the Institute for Sustainability, Energy and the Environment. Launching with a $500,000 annual budget, the campus-wide research enterprise is projected address globally significant challenges.
USDA Awards Grant to Study Trees as Bioenergy Feedstock
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture recently announced it will be awarding $10 million to a Colorado State University consortium to study the major challenges limiting the use of insect-killed trees as a sustainable feedstock for biofuel. Project partners include University of Idaho; University of Montana; Montana State University; and the University of Wyoming.
U Texas Austin Students Plant On-Campus Farm
The new green-fee funded Micro Farm is the university's first student-run operation where students grow vegetables, fruits, flowers and herbs for university dining halls, a local food shelter and an on-site farm stand.
U West Florida Students Begin USGBC Chapter
In hopes of creating an environmentally-friendly campus, the new U.S. Green Building Council student club's first project will be construction of an Earthship structure composed of compacted dirt and used tires, which will be used as a seating area outside of the science and engineering building for campus members to create community.
Virginia Tech Students Push for Fair-Trade Apparel
Students recently partnered with United Students Against Sweatshops to work with the university to adopt the Bangladesh Fire and Factory Safety Accord into its licensee code of conduct. The policy aims to improve the safety of factory practices and conditions.
22 Historically Black Schools to Receive Toyota Hybrid Vehicles
As part of its environmental stewardship program designed to empower the African American community, the Toyota Green Initiative tour recently announced plans to lease a Toyota Prius to select schools in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Bucks County CC Holds Diversity Discussion
Spurred by the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman case, the Interactive Conference on Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Understanding brought the campus community together in a moderated discussion around issues facing minorities and how to find harmony among diverse groups.
Clarkson U Hosts Community Farmers' Market
The university's recent decision to host the winter market allows campus and community members to procure locally grown and processed goods. The markets' new location is near the all-local dining concept, which will allow dining services to source food directly from the market.
Clarkson U Students Conduct Waste Audit
As part of a fall class project, students separated the waste publicly in separate piles to understand the habits of the campus community. By way of this public display, passers-by were also educated about waste.
Duke U Arts Festival Centers Around Sustainability
The annual festival's thematic choice this year is sustainability in order to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and expand the boundaries of artistic endeavors on campus. Organizers' intention is for participants to consider how creativity can galvanize sustainable behaviors.
Eastfield College to Implement Sustainability Projects
The college's Green Team plans to install 16 water-bottle refilling stations in an effort to reduce waste from plastic bottles on campus; attach "smart heads" to sprinklers to conserve water; and create a new community garden project.
Foothill-De Anza CC Foundation Divests from Fossil Fuel Holdings
Citing the community college district's commitment to environmental sustainability and a thoughtful student campaign, the college's Board of Directors voted to discontinue direct investments in fossil fuel companies and minimize investments in commingled assets that include such companies. As of the date of this article, the foundation's holdings were valued at about $33 million, of which approximately one percent was invested in fossil fuel companies. From gofossilfree.org, a 350.org campaign to divest from fossil fuels, eight higher education institutions have committed to divestiture from holdings in fossil fuels.
Missouri State U Launches 'Green Kiosk'
The university recently purchased the energy dashboard to educate the campus community about current energy use and to capture statistical information for facilities and sustainability projects on specific buildings.
Portland State U Questions Oppression in Sustainability Movement
The university's new Social Sustainability Month theme for 2013-14 is Decolonizing Sustainability: Unsettling the Dominant Paradigm, a focal point that encourages consideration of how the mainstream environmental and sustainability movements may perpetuate historical systems of oppression, colonization and domination.
Sierra, Princeton Review Announce Coordinated Reporting Deadline
AASHE has collaborated with Sierra Magazine and The Princeton Review to allow institutions to report all data in one place using the new and improved STARS 2.0. The new version of STARS offers a basic level of access at no cost to institutions. Simply follow these steps: 1) register for STARS (at the basic or full level of access), 2) report your data in the STARS Reporting Tool, and 3) save a “snapshot” to also share with Sierra Magazine and The Princeton Review. To help further address survey fatigue, Sierra Magazine and The Princeton Review have coordinated their deadlines. Register for STARS 2.0 and submit your data by Feb. 28, 2014 to be included in Sierra’s “Cool Schools” list or The Princeton Review's “Guide to Green Colleges.”
SUNY System Commits to Local Food
The university system recently committed to increase the procurement of fresh and minimally processed New York-grown produce by SUNY dining services at a competitive price that provides a sustainable profit margin for farmers. It will include an educational campaign to increase awareness among campus faculty, staff, and students on the benefits of purchasing locally grown fruits, vegetables, and meat.
U Alabama Proposes Bike Rental Program
As a result of increased use of bikes and the need for bicycle infrastructure on campus, the university's Student Government Association and Transportation Services Office have proposed a bike-sharing program, where students can pay a small fee to rent a bike form a public rack for one day.
U Hawai'i Proposes Sustainability Policy to Board of Regents
Students, faculty and community members' newly introduced policy calls for the recognition that the knowledge base in sustainable island systems resides in the indigenous people and residents of Hawaiʻi, and to commit to consult with local cultural practitioners and sustainability experts on best practices in sustainable resource allocation and use.
U Louisville Grows Green Space
A 4,000-square-foot area on campus is now a green space with a vegetable garden, clover pasture, rain barrels and compost containers.
U Maryland Celebrates 'Park(ing) Day'
Students from the university's chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Arboretum and Botanical Garden recently converted two parking spaces into a public park in an effort to raise awareness of the importance of green spaces in urban areas.
U Pennsylvania Building Earns LEED Gold
The 40,000-square-foot building's features include communal areas, roof-top gardens and green roofs as part of its storm water management system, natural daylighting, energy efficient heating, cooling and ventilating systems, and regionally-sourced materials.
U Wisconsin Madison to Create Framework for Diversity & Inclusion
Now in process of updating its plan for diversity and inclusion through a series of engagement sessions, the university is asking for campus member feedback for guiding, shaping and strengthening the university’s commitment to inclusive excellence and innovation. The listening series will be held in Spanish, Hmong, Tibetan and Mandarin as well as English.
Wesleyan U Students and Faculty Re-Envision 'The Commons'
As part of the university's College of the Environment year-long academic think tank on critical environmental issues, students and faculty discuss management of common property from an interdisciplinary perspective involving humanities and performing arts. The think tank will conjoin its scholarly work with the efforts of student sustainability groups like the Long Lane Farm Club, WILDWes and WesFresh.
Calicut U Implements Bicycle Initiative
(India): The university will provide bicycles free of charge to 100 of 421 affiliated colleges encouraging students to lead active and healthy lives apart from contributing to emission reduction and energy savings.
EAUC Announces 2013 Green Gown Awards Winners
(U.K.): Winners and commendations were bestowed across 13 categories at the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges’ 2013 Green Gown Awards. Now in its ninth year, the awards program recognizes exceptional initiatives being undertaken by universities and colleges across the U.K. to become more sustainable.
Furman U Partners for Community Weatherization Program
(U.S.): The university's Community Conservation Corps program recently partnered with Habitat for Humanity to continue its efforts to reduce energy consumption and promote financial stability of homeowners through weatherization, energy conservation and education in the community.
Griffith U Creates Climate Change App
(Australia): The newly released Coastal Ecosystems Response to Climate Change Synthesis Report app, which provides critical information for anticipating how climate change may impact on coastal Australia, will help the public navigate through science and make decisions about the growing climate change threat.
INSIGHT into Diversity Magazine Announces Higher Ed Awards
(U.S.): INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine has announced the 56 recipients of its first annual Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) award. The national award, open to all colleges and universities throughout the U.S., measures an institution’s level of achievement and intensity of commitment in regard to broadening diversity and inclusion on campus through initiatives, programs and outreach; student recruitment, retention, and completion; and hiring practices for faculty and staff.
Purdue U Expands Biking Lanes
(U.S.): Thanks to the newly-sanctioned Bicycle Task Force, one mile of new bike routes is being added to campus to increase the safety for riders and pedestrians.
Queen's U to Place Recycling Stations
(U.S.): Sixty new bins, including organic waste bins, will be distributed across campus in an effort to make sorting waste on campus more prevalent and accessible.
Saint Martin's U Building Acquires LEED Platinum
(U.S.): The university's Hal and Inge Marcus School of Engineering is now housed in the LEED-Platinum building featuring a geothermal ground loop; systems and structures that are exposed, offering visitors a clear view of their operations; energy-efficient fixtures and equipment that reduce water usage by 48 percent; a roof-top solar panel system that allows students to study tracking devices, solar orientation and the production of solar energy; a rain garden; and a grid-tied photovoltaic array that produces more than 15 percent of the building’s power.
Students Organize Around Campus Food Day 2013
(U.S.): Campus Food Day was celebrated recently at 350 U.S. colleges and universities. The event mobilized students to unify the food movement and launch efforts to change food policies on campus through events such as lectures, documentary screenings and petitions. Johns Hopkins University, Northeastern University and The University of Massachusetts, Amherst signed onto the Real Food Campus Commitment, pledging to source 20 percent of its food from local, fair, sustainable and humane farms and food businesses. As of Campus Food Day, 22 institutions have signed the Real Food Campus Commitment.
'Sustainable Campus International Competition' Announces Winners
(Canada): In its inaugural year, the SCIC recognized sustainability innovations from worldwide post-secondary institutions. Superior Institute of Management (Dakar, Senegal) placed first for its Green'Act, a program that enables students and community members to collect waste and sell recyclables back to industry. Two Canadian institutions, McGill University and MacEwan University, competed for first alongside Superior Institute of Management. A total of 13 projects from seven universities located in five countries submitted works.
U California Santa Barbara Opens First Farmers' Market
(U.S.): In an effort to promote eating local and providing a place for community to exist and grow, the Gaucho Certified Farmers' Market will allow any farmers within the three- county area to sell fresh produce to students and the community.
