Florida International U Students Produce Video on Rising Sea Level
The documentary, a compilation of stories that were produced by 33 video production students at the university’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, features first-person narratives that take viewers through the Everglades, Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale beach and the Keys where community leaders describe themselves as “the canary in the coal mine” of sea level rise.
Pennsylvania State U Students Plan Student Farm
Dozens of students are now involved in planning a student-centered farm initiative that includes plans for a new minor in sustainable food systems. Students are involved in strategy for the future farm including what farming techniques will be deployed, research about financial resources and workforce of other student farms, and fundraising.
Towson U Honored by Energy Department for Reductions
The university's Better Building Challenge goal to reduce usage 20 percent by 2020 and 13 percent reduction since 2010 was lauded by the U.S. Department of Energy at the recently held Better Buildings Challenge Summit.
Inside Higher Ed 'Sugar Out, Diet In'
A recently published article spotlights the University of California at San Francisco, where all programs are in the health professions, for becoming the first college to stop the sale of sugary beverages on campus but wouldn't prevent diet sodas from being sold. The move comes after work from university researchers identified negative health effects from a large intake of sugar-filled beverages.
Barnard College Announces Transgender Admission Policy
Following a full year of conversations and consultation with a wide range of resources, a recent board of trustees meeting approved a policy to "consider for admission those applicants who consistently live and identify as women, regardless of gender assigned to them at birth."
Stanford U Pilots Green Lab Program
The new university Cardinal Green Labs program aims to provide resources specifically tailored for laboratories to help them operate as sustainably as possible. The pilot program is a 30-minute online assessment that identifies how sustainable the lab currently is and points out tips for improvement.
San Diego State U Buildings Earn LEED Certifications
The university's student union received Platinum with a green roof, Forest Stewardship Council certified doors, daylighting, solar panels and rainwater capture and reuse. The recreation center earned a Gold rating after being renovated with photovoltaic panels and high-efficient fluorescent light fixtures.
U Florida Tackles Student Hunger With Food Pantry
The university will soon open its first food pantry in summer 2015 to provide food-insecure campus members with nonperishable and fresh goods from the on-campus farm. The pantry will also provide the campus community with education tools to improve their lifestyle, including cooking and nutrition classes for people who want to establish healthier eating habits.
Pennsylvania State U to Participate in Emergency Electricity Reduction Test
The university will soon request that all campus employees and students reduce the overall electrical load for one hour. The objective of the program is to protect the day-to-day electric grid reliability to help avoid blackouts. If successful, the university will receive compensation proportional to the load drop, and those funds will be used to support additional energy conservation projects.
Florida International U Collaborates on 1.6MW Solar Power Research Operation
The university and Florida Power & Light Company recently agreed to build a commercial-scale, 1.6-megawatt solar electric facility that will both generate electricity for 4.8 million customers and serve as an research operation. The project involves the installation of more than 5,700 solar panels on 23 canopy-like structures.
Northwestern U Signs Real Food Commitment
First university in the Big Ten to sign a campus commitment to increase the percentage of "real food", the commitment calls for 20 percent of the university's dining hall food to meet the Real Food Challenge's definition of real food, defined as ecologically sound, community-based, humanely produced or fair trade.
U Illinois Chicago Proposes Sustainability Teaching and Research Plan
The overarching goal of the newly proposed investment in sustainability is to advance the frontier of knowledge about attitudes towards and the practice of sustainability among all campus members through education, research and leadership. The document calls upon institutions of higher ed to expand educational goals and outcomes, and adopt policies that integrate principles of sustainability.
U Illinois Hosts Energy Boot Camp
In its fifth year, the university's Summer Institute on Sustainability and Energy held a workshop that included energy-focused lectures, panel discussions, site visits, networking events and collaborative projects that give participants the opportunity to create a real-world solution through an intense project that addresses the scientific, economic, business and policy side of implementation.
Three Schools Cutting Annual Energy Costs by Over $5M
With assistance from National Grid and GreenerU, Clark University, College of the Holy Cross and Worcester Polytechnic Institute are collaboratively participating in an initiative that encourages energy conservation, carbon reduction measures, and campaigns involving behavior change and are estimated to generate approximately $5 to $6 million in cost avoidance over the next five years.
Ohio State U Students Create Recycling App
Funded by an Alcoa Foundation grant of $100,000, the new Android app, RecycleNow, helps communities maximize their recycling efforts by providing municipalities the ability to explore the economic, environmental and social impact of potential changes to their existing recycling programs.
Williams College Opens Environmental Center
Designed to be a Living Building Challenge (LBC) building, the college's newest structure has office space for faculty and staff, a classroom, study areas, two small conference areas, a commercial kitchen, an outdoor amphitheater, and a number of gardens all related to the LBC's guidelines that stipulate minimal negative impact on human and ecosystem health, and support local manufacturers.
U Oregon Selects New Bicycle Registration Partner
With bike thievery the single largest category of crimes on the university's campus, Project 529 allows campus community members to easily register their bicycle, and includes an identity sticker that allows police officers to easily identify the true owner.
U Utah Wins Accolades from EPA
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized the university as a top school for green power purchasing in its College and University Green Power Challenge. The university ranked eighth in the nation by purchasing 85,926,100 kilowatt-hours of renewable energy.
Net Impact's Small Steps, Big Wins Announces Winners
For the third year, students around the world proved that a big difference can start with a small step. Over the course of the 2014-15 academic year, almost 5,000 students across 71 campuses completed 113,000 small actions, ranging from recycling and taking public transit to volunteering in their communities.
U Washington Awards Environmental Grants to Students
The university's Campus Sustainability Fund awarded 13 projects a total of more than $270,000 recently. The project included outreach on the harmful effects of single-use water bottles, an expansion of a native plant nursery, a wood salvage program on campus, and starting work toward creating a sustainable shellfish aquaculture farm.
NY Times: 'Anxious Students Strain College Mental Health Centers'
Anxiety has now surpassed depression as the most common mental health diagnosis among college students, though depression is on the rise too. Treating anxiety has become an enormous challenge for campus mental health centers. Many institutions are designing a variety of workshops and therapy groups to address anxiety, depression and their triggers.
Ithaca College Adjuncts Vote in Favor of Union
The preliminary results of the election, announced by the National Labor Relations Board, for a union among part-time and adjunct faculty at the college were favorable says the college's president in the recently published letter.
Students Send Aramark Letter of Support for Sustainable Tuna
Opening with the peril of our ocean's, the letter asking that Aramark make a prompt switch to serving sustainable tuna warns of problems associated with many tuna fisheries and mentions alternative means that are fully traceable and socially responsible.
Inside Higher Ed 'Town-Gown With a Global Twist'
The recent article from Inside Higher Ed cites research conducted on attitudes of owners and employees of local business and service providers toward the presence of international students in the community. This research was presented recently at a NAFSA: Association of International Educators conference session focused on integrating international students into the broader community.
Portland State U Initiates Travel Offset Program
The university's voluntary program now allows participating departments offset a fee that amounts to 2 percent of total travel expenses. Those funds are then allocated to the university’s green revolving fund to be spent on efficiency upgrades on campus, which in turn lower our carbon emissions and improve our facilities.
U Washington Receives Environmental Excellence Award
The university's Medical Center and Harborview Medical Center recently received the Top 25 Environmental Excellence Award from Practice Greenhealth for setting high standards for environmental practices in healthcare.
Northwestern U Awards Second Largest Office Green Certification
The university's Green Office Certification program brought together the Alumni Relations and Development department, employing 252 people, to increase awareness and participation in sustainable behavior. The department is in the process of creating a bike-share program and expanding the availability of reusable silverware and flatware for the office.
Northwestern U Creates Electric Vehicle Strategy
Given that transportation is the third largest contributor to the university’s greenhouse gas emissions, the university has replaced some of facility's trucks with small, electric trucks and installed four electric vehicle charging stations. Campus commuters and visitors who drive electric hybrid vehicles can recharge for free at the stations.
Northwestern U Evaluates Switching to Single Stream Recycling
The university decided to maintain a dual-stream recycling system, one collection for paper and cardboard, and the other for cans, glass and plastic, ensuring that recycling happens at the highest level possible to maximize resource reuse and to keep a lower rate of contamination.
North Carolina State U Students Establish Bee Habitat & Garden
This year students from the university's College of Veterinary Medicine have been busy as bees establishing a habitat for bees and a community garden on campus with the help of a $7,000 grant from the NC State Sustainability Fund. Featuring an assortment of pollinator-friendly and native plants, the garden is an educational space for future vets to learn about medicinal & toxic plants.
The Atlantic Frames Student Activism Renaissance
After citing many occurrences of student unrest at universities and colleges across the country and world, the recent article in The Atlantic highlights the social activism in topics ranging from sex and racism to university governance and student rights.
U South Carolina Collects 19 Tons During Move Out
This year’s Give It Up For Good yard sale collected 19 tons of donations from university students, faculty and staff and raised over $13,900 for the Central South Carolina Habitat for Humanity, beating last year’s total of $9,800. The university will partner with the organization to build or rehab a house this fall with raised funds.
Brandeis U Purchases 'Conflict Free' Computers & Electronic Equipment
The Massachusetts-based university is the 19th institution worldwide to sign on to ensure that the computers and electronic equipment the university buys have no connection to the mining sector of conflict-ridden areas, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Photo courtesy of Tulane Public Relations
U Chichester to Install Renewable Energy to Meet Goals
(U.K.): In an effort to reduce overall carbon emissions by 43 percent by 2020, solar panels will be installed on the student union by a community energy cooperative, which encourages cost sharing in renewable technologies.
Duquesne U Increases Minimum Wage to $16 Per Hour
The university's new annual budget raises its minimum wage from $15 per hour and also includes an extra 0.5 percent increase to all employees making less than $34,000 annually and a $500 university contribution to employee dependent-care flexible spending accounts.
Georgia Tech Initiates Campus Energy Program
The new Smart Energy Campus Program allows university researchers to obtain and analyze energy systems data aided by modeling and simulation tools to evaluate and optimize different energy systems on the university's campus. The project is designed to save labor hours, resources and money by quickly identifying buildings that have unusually high energy usage.
Cambridge U Investigates Endowment Fund
(U.K.) The University Council has voted to support a wide-ranging investigation of the university’s 2.2 billion pounds ($3.4 billion) endowments fund. Aiming to make investment more environmentally and socially responsible, the review plans to last a year and involve collaboration from students, academics and staff.
Oxford U Seeks to Maintain No Direct Holdings in Coal & Tar Sands
(U.K.): The Oxford University Endowment Management, OUem, a university subsidiary established to manage the funds, does not have direct holdings in coal and oil sands companies and has been asked by the university's executive governing body to maintain this position.
U Hawai'i Board of Regents Votes to Divest From Fossil Fuels
The decision to divest the university's $66 million endowment from fossil fuels came after a task group comprised of university regents, students, faculty and staff investigated divestiture. The group worked closely with the board's investment firm to evaluate options and impacts, and affirmed to take action in investing in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and changing behaviors.
