SUNY ESF to Divest from Indirect Fossil Fuel Investments
The ESF College Foundation along with SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) and the board of trustees has committed to divest from indirect investments in the 200 companies identified by Carbon Underground as the top fossil fuel companies, based on potential climate impact. The university currently has no direct holdings and will not have any in the future.
U Nebraska Omaha Hires First Sustainability Coordinator
After earning her master's degree in sustainability from St. Louis University, Sarah Burke will facilitate the implementation of university's Sustainability Master Plan and help support sustainability-based curricular and co-curricular programs, events and research activities for the campus community.
London School Economics Pledges Fossil Fuel Investment Reduction
The school recently pledged to continue to ensure that no direct investments are made in fossil fuels and that it will seek to reduce investment placed indirectly through investment funds in companies whose business is significantly focused on thermal coal or tar sands. It will also avoid investment in companies engaged in tobacco manufacture and indiscriminate armaments.
Brandeis U Responds to On-Campus Racism Protest
A 12-day sit-in concluded after university administrators released a plan that includes increased diversity commitments and racial inclusion training for university staff. The sit-in was one of many similar actions taken by students across the U.S. calling for schools to address racial exclusion.
William & Mary Announces $68K from Green Funds for Projects
The university's Committee on Sustainability released $68,333 toward campus sustainability projects including rain barrel installations and on-campus water quality control initiatives, water-bottle filling stations and recycling bins, and implementation of paper-saving equipment.
U Sheffield Announces New Endowment Investment Policy
(U.K.): The university's new endowment investment policy includes several socially responsible aspects, including a commitment to eliminate exposure to investments linked to explicit environmental damage. Given the overwhelming evidence of the impact of fossil fuels on climate change, this commitment will lead the university to disinvest within the next academic year.
Smith College Students Test Permeable Surface
A student design will transform a 12-car parking area into a laboratory to test the effectiveness and effects of permeable pavement. Instrumentation will collect data from runoff and compare water quality between the permeable asphalt and traditional asphalt surface.
Colgate U Receives $500K Forest Research Grant
The National Science Foundation awarded $500,000 in funding to an interdisciplinary team of Colgate faculty, led by Associate Professor of Biology Catherine Cardelús, to continue investigating the status and conservation of sacred forests in Ethiopia’s northern highlands.
U California Collaborates on Climate Solutions
Announced at COP21 in Paris, the university has joined Breakthrough Energy Coalition, a group of investors led by Bill Gates that is committed to investing in technology that helps solve energy and climate issues, and Mission Innovation, an initiative to increase funding for research and development for early-stage clean energy innovation over the next five years.
U Ottawa Signs Montreal Carbon Pledge
Connecting with its strategic plan to find innovative solutions to issues of sustainability, the pledge recently signed by the university commits investors to measuring and publicly disclosing the carbon footprint of their investment portfolios on an annual basis
Cape Breton U to Become Energy Independent
With two turbines completed and one under construction, the university will soon be powered solely from wind energy. The three turbines are expected to generate 16.2-gigawatt hours of electricity annually, about twice what the university currently consumes, and providing approximately $2 million annually. Data from the turbines will be used in engineering classes.
U Laval Attains Carbon Neutrality
Energy-saving retrofits and optimizing boiler combustion allowed the university to reduce its emissions by 27 percent between 2006 and 2015. Carbon offsets are being used for the remaining emissions.
Northwestern U to Adopt UN Principles for Responsible Investing
Northwestern University will join Harvard University and the University of California Berkeley by adopting the U.N.-supported Principles of Responsible Investing, which address the importance of environmental, social and corporate governance issues to consider when making investment choices.
Academics Sign Climate Change Letter
Over 2,000 academics from 80 countries have called on world leaders to set an upper limit of temperature rise to 1.5 C. Previous pledges ahead of the Conference on Climate Change in Paris have indicated 2.7-3 C, which the letter says will cause catastrophes far worse than any sacrifices in making reductions.
U Dayton Conference Focuses on Fossil Fuel Divestment
Videos from the university's conference on the how-to of divestment-investment are now online. The university brought together more than 100 investment experts, religious leaders, students and activists to share their institutions' experiences in divestment and investment in renewable energy.
U Virginia Completes Nitrogen & Carbon Footprint Food Study
Students in the Nitrogen Working Group, which is part of the university’s Environmental Stewardship Subcommittee, came up with a pilot project to give a sustainability rating label to foods sold in the Clark Café. To calculate the footprint of a product, its weight was multiplied by impact factors for carbon, nitrogen and water pollution caused and used.
Harvard U Students Attend Sustainability Leadership Symposium
On November 8, a group of four Harvard Resource Efficiency Program members joined 141 other college students at Connecticut College to learn, discuss and explore best practices. Commons themes that arose throughout the day included diversity and personal definitions of sustainability.
Furman U Develops Online Sustainability Science and Full Cost Analysis Course
In keeping with its mission to promote interdisciplinary research and teaching in support of sustainability, the university recently launched the free, open-source, online learning module for undergraduate and introductory graduate-level course that explores problem-solving with systems thinking to account for the economic, societal and environmental costs of a problem.
200+ Universities Sign 'American Campuses Act on Climate' Pledge
Ahead of the Conference on Climate Change, 218 U.S. universities and colleges signed a pledge to demonstrate their support for strong climate action by world leaders in Paris next month. This announcement came at a White House Summit with higher education representatives, the U.S. EPA and the White House Council on Environmental Quality to voice their important role in climate solutions.
Rice U Holds Food Waste Reduction Competition
In an effort to have a positive effect on the impacts of food waste, the Zero Waste Campaign's first Food Waste Reduction Competition led to a 23.3 percent reduction in waste at one of the university's restaurants. The Zero Waste Campaign began as a collaboration between four student groups, including one class.
AASHE 10-Year Anniversary Celebrates Campus Sustainability
In this celebratory 10-year anniversary video of the campus sustainability movement, Meghan Fay Zahniser, AASHE's executive director along with Judy Walton, AASHE's founding executive director, Leith Sharp of Harvard University, Debra Rowe of U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainability Development and Fahmida Ahmed at Stanford University share thoughts about their vision for the future.
NY Times: 'A New Way to Improve College Enrollment'
The recent article highlights Long Beach, Calif., efforts to increase admissions and graduation rates for the poor and underprivileged. The city is a predominantly immigrant city where public schools, the local community college and state university have collaborated on a program to guarantee high school graduates a tuition-free year of higher education if they meet the academic requirements.
U Oregon Pilots Bulk Solar Purchasing for Employees and Community
The university's Sustainability Office partnered with Northwest SEED to work with local solar panel installers to negotiate a group rate and develop a streamlined design and installation process resulting in discounted rates to university employees and community members.
Michigan State U Launches Green Event Certification Program
In an effort to reduce waste from on-campus events, the university's sustainability office initiated the new Spartan Green Event Certification that uses an online form to evaluate several areas. Events that adequately meet the criteria receive a certificate and a seal for marketing purposes.
U Florida Hosts Social Justice Summit
After research indicated that campus isn't always welcoming to diverse populations, the inaugural summit featured workshops about race relations, sexuality, gender identity and disability in an attempt to bring diverse groups together for a conversation about social justice.
U Maryland Students Send Strong Statement on Fossil Fuel Investments
On Nov. 4, the Student Government Association passed a bill urging the university system chancellor to freeze expansion of all investments in fossil fuel companies, form a task force to assess methods of fossil fuel divestment, sell off those investments within five years, and reinvest in clean renewable energy companies.
Cornell U Parking Garage Attains Sustainability Designation
Certified by the Green Parking Council and one of seven such structures in the U.S., the building's features include the operation of environmental controls in this mostly enclosed parking garage. Exhaust air from the building above moves through the garage to moderate the temperature and flushe out carbon monoxide generated by cars in the garage. EV charging stations and LED lights included.
Penn State Powers Fleet EVs with Solar Energy
After purchasing electric vehicles for campus workers, the university invested in photovoltaic panels to charge the EVs as opposed to grid power, which is predominantly fueled by coal. Students from various majors volunteers to help with installation of the system.
U California Announces 10 Scalable Climate Change Solutions
Out of the recently held UC Carbon and Climate Neutrality Summit, the university system's Climate Solutions Group released a report outlining 10 solutions for addressing the challenges of climate change. Called Bending the Curve, the executive summary outlines some details about the solutions although the full report is slated for release in spring 2016 after peer review.
U California Names Faculty Climate Action Champions
As the university steps up efforts to eliminate its carbon footprint, it has named Faculty Climate Action Champions at each campus to work with students on projects aimed at building community engagement and awareness, and helping the university achieve carbon neutrality by 2025. The recognition comes with a $25,000 award, to be used for a project during the academic year.
U Washington Receives Accolades for Transportation Leadership
The Intelligent Transportation Services of America, the Washington State Department of Transportation and the governor's administration recently honored the university for advancing the use of electric vehicles (EVs) on campus through adding 14 EVs this year with an expected total of 42 by June 2016. Five parking lots have six permanent charging stations, including nine temporary stations.
Swarthmore College Hires New Sustainability Director
Aurora Winslade will join the college in December 2015 from Hawai'i Energy where she designs and manages programs to shift the market toward increased energy efficiency. Previously Winslade launched the sustainability office at the University of Hawai'i and was the inaugural sustainability director at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
U California Santa Cruz Students Receive Global Food Initiative Fellowships
Four university students that recently received a $4,000 UC Global Food Initiative (GFI) fellowships for the 2015–2016 academic year will be involved in one of the ongoing university GFI projects, which include efforts to address food equity and improve food security for students on UC campuses, and to increase opportunities for experiential learning at the campus’s farm and gardens.
Duke U Dining Brings Sustainable Seafood to Campus
Now Marine Stewardship Council-certified, the university sources food from suppliers that are also certified in the MSC Chain of Custody, which ensures that seafood can be traced back to a certified fishery and is confirmed by random DNA testing of seafood samples. MSC is an international nonprofit organization that safeguards seafood supplies to help create a more sustainable seafood market.
Michigan State U Student Group Increases Campus Sustainability Awareness
The student group Sustainable Spartans actively engage in spreading achievements in campus sustainability and, by way of research, develop practical solutions that can be implemented across campus. Recent projects include a solar-powered picnic table and a festival celebrating the campus' organic farm. Future projects include rain barrels and improving local food options.
U Tennessee Knoxville Demolitions Coal Smoke Stack
The 310-foot smoke stack, built in 1965, will be taken down this month after a state funded project was completed this summer that provides steam from natural gas. The university stopped burning coal in March 2015 in an effort to implement healthier methods for providing heat to campus, save money and contribute to the beautification of campus and the surrounding community.
Union College Updates Motto to Include Women
The college's motto, from nearly when it was founded (1795) until now, excluded women by reading, "Under the laws of Minerva we all become brothers". However, the college's board recently approved a change to add "and sisters" to the end of the motto. The original college seal is also slated for change to reflect the new motto.
Duke U Initiates Program Geared at First-Generation Students
In order to make accessibility for first-generation students and those from under-resourced high schools easier, the new Washington Duke Scholars Program enhanced financial aid and a comprehensive suite of academic and social programs for students who arrive at Duke with less experience with advanced coursework and networking opportunities than is common among many incoming Duke students.
U.S. EPA Releases Top 30 List of Green Power Users
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Top 30 College & University list includes the largest green power users of higher education institutions within the Green Power Partnership. The combined clean-power use of these organizations amounts to nearly 2 billion-kilowatt-hours of power annually, which is equivalent to the electricity use of more than 187,000 average American homes annually.
Yale U Launches $50M Faculty Diversity Initiative
A new five-year, $50 million initiative was recently announced that seeks to build on the diversity of the university's faculty by recruiting faculty that enrich diversity, improving faculty development offerings, providing tools and resources to future generations of faculty, and including university-wide participation to support each school's diversity efforts.
Duke U Hall Receives LEED Platinum
The new home of the university's Nicholas School of the Environment features photovoltaic technology that supplies nine percent of the building's total energy needs, solar thermal panels for domestic hot water, a vegetated roof, 100 percent FSC-certified wood for interior, water recycling systems and 95 percent of construction waste was recycled.
Drexler U Reveals New Tools to Prevent Suicide
Attempting to support students' mental health, the university unveiled MindKare, a kiosk that allows students to quickly and anonymously get feedback about whether they have a problem and resources that can help. Many students have admitted a fear of being seen as crazy or stupid, and this new, confidential tool gives them the safety and knowledge to investigate on their own.
Wall Street Journal 'Pizza Box Composting Gets College Try'
The WSJ recently discussed the successes and difficulties of recycling pizza boxes. Highlighting North Carolina State University for its innovative Pizza Box Composting Project that allows the university to divert the boxes from the landfill by using them as fertilizer.
U Southern Mississippi Removes State Flag
The university raised the American flag in lieu of the state one because it houses the Confederate flag in one corner. Mississippi officials are being urged to redesign the state flag.
AASHE, Second Nature, NWF & USGBC Make Joint Statement
Last week Julian Keniry from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), Jaime Van Mourik from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Tim Carter of Second Nature and Meghan Fay Zahniser with AASHE came together at the AASHE 2015 Conference & Expo to unveil a shared vision between the organizations to advance sustainability by working more closely together to benefit higher education institutions.
Stratford U Announces Move to Become a Public Benefit Corporation
The university, a for-profit, Virginia-based institution with national accreditation, announced last week a legal change to the company's charter, which allows it to focus more on activities that do not generate profit including actions aimed at benefiting the public.
U Alberta Introduces New Program for Food Vendors
The new program called Green Spaces offers certification to food vendors that help the university divert 1,500 tons of organic material annually and reduce waste overall. Some actions vendors can take to receive certification include sending composting kitchen scraps, sorting recycling and waste appropriately and eliminating polystyrene takeout containers.
