Appalachian State U Becomes Styrofoam-Free
Moving one step closer to its zero waste goal (90 percent waste diversion), Appalachian Food Services eliminated the use of Styrofoam in its facilities as of April 2016.
Duke U Research Lab Earns LEED Gold
The university's 12,000-square-foot marine lab in Beaufort, N.C., features natural light and ventilation, reduced water use, use of permeable, light-reflecting materials for walkways and other exterior surfaces to reduce runoff and heat-island effect, and energy-efficient heating and cooling.
Four Universities Receive Water Research Funding From EPA
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $3.3 million to research human and ecological health impacts associated with water reuse and conservation practices. Of the five institutions selected, the four universities are the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Utah State University, University of Nevada, Las Vegas and University of California Riverside. Selected by the EPA in conjunction with the White House Water Summit, this research will evaluate how reclaimed water applications such as drinking water reuse, replenishing groundwater and irrigation can affect public and ecological health.
U Illinois Urbana-Champaign Welcomes Tree Campus USA Honor
The university recently accepted the Tree Campus USA designation by the Arbor Day Foundation for its efforts and commitment to effectively manage its urban forest. The university established a Campus Tree Advisory Committee in 2015 that acts as an advisory body to Facilities and Services, which is responsible for maintaining more than 20,000 trees on campus.
New York U Sets $15 Per Hour Minimum Wage for Student Workers
A letter to the university community from New York University's president indicated that by the 2018-19 academic year students will receive a minimum of $15-per-hour. All full-time employees, graduate students and full-time employees of vendors with a major presence on campus already receive at least $15-per-hour.
Portland State U Offers Free Art Supplies
University art students looking for free supplies and materials have a new outlet on campus that is populated with unused and donated art supplies. Called the Supply Studio, the initiative is a collaboration between the School of Art + Design and the Campus Sustainability Office.
U Connecticut Converts Acreage to Farmland
After approximately 35 acres of farmland were used for new apartments, the university identified nearly 40 acres of wooded university property that will be converted to farmland in an effort to assure that the total amount of land dedicated to agricultural use is maintained.
HRC Names Over 30 University Hospitals as LGBT Healthcare Equality Leaders
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation released its 2016 Healthcare Equality Index, a national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender benchmarking tool that evaluates healthcare facilities' policies and practices related to the equity and inclusion of their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender patients, visitors and employees. Over 30 university hospitals were identified as leaders by having patient non-discrimination policies, equal visitation policies, employment non-discrimination policies and training for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender patient-centered care.
Villanova U Receives 'BEE Protective' Recognition
The university recently signed a pledge to continue its commitment to using neonicotinoid-free insecticides, a product with harmful environmental impacts. The pledge, called BEE Protective, is a national campaign organized through the Center for Food Safety and Beyond Pesticides and works with campuses to adopt policies that protect pollinators from bee-toxic pesticides.
U Central Florida Students Install 5 KW Floating Solar Array
A senior design team of five recently installed a 10-panel, 5-kilowatt (kW) pilot floating solar array in the campus' retention pond. The pilot project, assuming success, is expected to increase to a 900kW array at full scale, where the energy generated will add to the campus energy grid to completely offset the Bright House Stadium’s current energy usage. This offset is part of Sustainability Initiatives’ goal to reach 15 percent carbon neutrality by 2020 under the Climate Action Plan.
U Calgary & York U Make '2016 Future 40' List
The Corporate Knights 2016 Future 40 Responsible Corporate Leaders of Canada holds University of Calgary at No. 8 and York University at No. 22. In its third year, the Future 40 is a ranking of Canadian organizations and institutions based on 12 key performance indicators covering resource, employee and financial management. The Future 40 shortlist is derived from companies with revenues under $2 billion or maintaining fewer than 2,000 employees in 2014.
U Alberta Building Garners BOMA Recognition
The university's Triffo Hall recently won the 2016 Outstanding Building of the Year (TOBY) Award in the historical building category from Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Edmonton, an internationally recognized award for building management. Originally built in 1915, all areas of the building's operations were carefully evaluated for safety and security, environmental stewardship and community involvement. The building features skylights that run the length of the building and rainwater collection and usage.
U Connecticut Names Chief Diversity Officer
Joelle A. Murchison has recently been named chief diversity officer and associate vice president to the university. Murchison, who begins her new role in July, will serve as the university’s main strategist responsible for guiding efforts to define, assess, and promote diversity, inclusion, and educational and employment opportunity. She will develop programs and coordinate activities to recruit and retain faculty, students and staff from diverse backgrounds.
U Connecticut and Yale U Win $54M in Resilience Competition
The National Disaster Resilience Competition, held by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, awarded the two universities and several partners $54.3 million to build on a project that began after Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012. A coalition of regulators, municipalities and university researchers designed a demonstration project in Bridgeport, Connecticut, that works with the ecology and shoreline geography to protect critical energy infrastructure and residents in one of the state’s poorest, most vulnerable neighborhoods. Most of the federal money will go toward elevating a street that runs through the University of Bridgeport and constructing a greenway earthen berm to protect the community against storm surges.
Cornell U Building Scores LEED Gold
The newly renovated building features natural light that reduces the need for electricity, heating and cooling systems that reduce the building's energy use, and nearly 55 percent of the building’s material and furnishings are regionally manufactured.
Cornell U Hosts Diet Education Events
The university will have a series of events designed to help participants improve their diet and reduce carbon emissions associated with food. The events will feature plant-based dishes and prizes for attendees.
U Nebraska-Lincoln to Upgrade Irrigation System
A new campus-wide upgrade to irrigation piping is underway and projected to decrease campus water use by 20 percent annually. The new system allows employees to control and monitor watering from a centralized location.
Brandeis U Hosts Food and Sustainability Dialogue
Students recently organized a series of panel discussions for interested participants to discuss what role food choices can make in fighting climate change. Called the Brandeis Food Tank: The Think Tank on Food and Sustainability, the series explored food production, insecurity, waste, diets and education.
San Francisco State U Launches Cigarette Butt Recycling Program
The university's Office of Sustainability partnered with the Surfrider Foundation to install new ashcans in an effort to curb cigarette butt litter and pollution. The containers will be monitored by students who will send the butts to a recycling company, TerraCycle.
U Michigan Reports on Sustainability Progress
The newly released progress report highlights funding for sustainability-related research in the areas of water, climate and communities, greenhouse gas emissions reductions and expansion of the university's food waste composting program.
Virginia Commonwealth U Builds Learning Garden
With funding from a community engagement grant, the university's learning garden received new infrastructure from leftover renovation materials and is used to grow food as donation crops and rented by community members.
U Oregon Earns National Accolades for Sustainable Event Planning
The university events staff helped the football game earn Gold certification from the Council for Responsible Sports, which advocates for environmentally and socially responsible events. Highlights include 40-plus percent waste diversion, 100 percent renewable resources for electricity, reduced water use and food donation totaling 850 pounds.
Colorado State U Introduces Four Electric Vehicles to Fleet
Two Nissan LEAFs were purchased by Housing & Dining Services to be used as check-out vehicles for staff who need a vehicle during the day to attend meetings, run university errands or coordinate deliveries. The other two vehicles will be utilized by Facilities Management staff to travel between the three campuses, run university errands and attend meetings and conferences along the Front Range.
U Washington Tacoma Tracks Source of Tainted Water
The university's Tacoma campus, UWT, was built on what was once home to commercial and industrial uses such as dry cleaning, auto-repair operations and other manufacturing, reports a recent article from The Seattle Times. University officials have already spent about $7 million since the mid-1990s investigating and in clean-up, but a proposed legal agreement between the UWT and the state Department of Ecology seeks to pinpoint the source.
McHenry County College Wins IGEN Award
The college won the College Leadership and Sustainability Award from the Illinois Green Economy Network (IGEN) at the 2016 IGEN Sustainability Conference held in January 2016. IGEN's awards program honors colleges across the state for incorporating sustainability as a measure of success.
Northern Arizona U Raises Nearly $7K for Bike Safety
The university's first crowdfunding effort, Lights for Yellow Bikes, raised $6,704 for lights to be installed on bikes in its free bike program. Citing inclement weather and night riding, installing yellow lights on the bikes aims to help protect riders from harm.
Public Universities’ Group Unveils Plan to Improve Food System & Human Health
A group of leading experts from public universities across the U.S. recently announced a comprehensive research agenda and action plan that seeks to integrate agriculture, nutrition, food and health care systems to holistically improve human health outcomes and help prevent chronic disease. The new research agenda and action plan, Healthy Food Systems, Healthy People, is the product of a joint initiative coordinated by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.
Harvard Law School to Retire Shield
The Harvard Corporation has approved the recommendation of the Harvard Law School Shield Committee to retire the HLS shield, which is modeled on the family crest of an 18th century slaveholder, Isaac Royall. Because of its ties to slave labor, the shield came under fire in October 2015, when a group of law school students formed "Royall Must Fall" to demand that HLS discontinue using the Royall family crest as its symbol. The HLS has the opportunity to propose a new shield.
Duke Kunshan U Campus to Receive LEED Certification
Duke Kunshan University is the first Chinese university campus to be certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) campus program, with all five campus buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. The campus is distinguished by its use of aquatic elements to absorb, store, permeate, purify and reuse rainwater. Classrooms are equipped with air filtration and carbon dioxide monitoring and 32 percent of the campus site is covered in oxygen-generating native plants. Buildings make use of natural light to reduce energy consumption, high-efficiency water fixtures and solar thermal collectors.
Frostburg State U Allocates Funding to 12 Sustainability Projects
Twelve projects, about half of which were student proposals, recently received grant funding from the university’s President’s Advisory Council on Sustainability. Funded projects include increasing sustainability awareness, performing environmental research, presenting research at academic conferences and making direct environmental impacts on campus. Funding preference was given to those projects that involve and benefit students, are linked to an academic class offering experiential learning, provide long-term campus benefits and address the university's Climate Action Plan.
Kentucky State U Director Earns Environmental Education Honor
Jennifer Hubbard-Sánchez, director of the center for environmental education at Kentucky State University in Frankfort and state specialist for sustainable programs, was selected from nominees across the U.S. as one of five Outstanding Educators by Project Learning Tree. Hubbard-Sánchez connects Kentuckians with a special interest in teaching about climate change. Project Learning Tree is the national environmental education program of the American Forest Foundation.
Dalhousie U Releases Bike Safety Video
The university recently debuted a comedic bike safety video with 12 tips for safe cycling. Students and alumni appear in the film, which was co-funded by the Nova Scotia Department of Health.
Higher Education Institutions Under Pressure to Disclose Investments
The Associated Press reports that Congress and campus activists have stepped up pressure on colleges and universities to reveal financial investments made through their endowments. While lawmakers are questioning whether to tax colleges on investment portfolios, activists, including alumni and students, are demanding to know if investments are held in certain industries. An inquiry by The Associated Press to 50 public and private universities asking them to disclose their investments revealed "most schools issue annual reports with broad information and few details about specific investments".
U British Columbia Bolsters City's Climate Action Potential
Student participants of the 2015 Greenest City Scholars cohort have worked with the city of Vancouver on specific sustainability projects including water and food challenges. The projects target the city's ability to be resilient in the face of climate challenges. Since 2010, the Greenest City Scholars Program has brought together a total of 79 graduate students from the University of British Columbia.
Bucknell U Buildings Earn LEED Gold
The university's South Campus Apartments and Student Commons building, now displaying the Gold designation, feature natural light and energy-efficient lighting technology, FSC-certified wood, efficient plumbing fixtures, wind power and native plant landscaping.
Universities Help Launch 'Intentional Endowments Network'
Nearly 20 universities recently announced the formal launch of the Intentional Endowments Network. To support the development of intentionally designed endowments, the network facilitates peer-to-peer connection and learning, thought leadership and collaborative action. This peer-learning network engages senior decision-makers and key stakeholders in dialogue around the full range of options related to sustainable investing.
MIT Initiates Crowdsourcing for Climate Mitigation Ideas
The university recently launched a crowdsourcing contest to identify projects that reduce campus emissions and highlight the potential for scaleable, educational solutions as a living laboratory. The challenge is part of a new series of contests launched by the MIT Climate CoLab, a crowdsourcing platform of over 50,000 members. The series seeks high-impact proposals that tackle major climate change challenges.
EPA 2015 Food Recovery Challenge Announces Regional Winners
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced the five universities winners of the 2015 Food Recovery Challenge as California State University, Northridge; Northern Arizona University; Rochester Institute of Technology; University of Arizona; and University of California, Davis. These institutions pledged to improve their sustainable food management practices and report their results.
Penn State Students Help Peers Make Healthy Food Choices
Thanks to a new blog, the RHEAL Deal (Residential Healthy Eating and Living Deal), university student nutrition assistants communicate weekly posts highlighting healthy items in the dining commons. The blog posts include information about the nutrients in the featured food, different ways it can be prepared and where it can be found in the dining commons. Food that meets the healthy qualifications of RHEAL are also marked by a carrot icon on the entrée card.
Penn State Grounds Become Bat Habitat
Biology and engineering students collaborated to research, design and build bat houses that will be placed at two campus locations that were identified as suitable bat habitats.
Morehead State U Obtains Bee Campus Honor
A Bee Campus USA certification now adorns the university after the campus developed a Pollinator Protection Plan for its 1,200-acre landscape that includes locally native and pollinator friendly plants.
