U California Divests from Private Prisons Amid Pressure
After pressure from the Afrikan Black Coalition, the university sold approximately $25 million worth of indirect investments in private prison corporations after the black student union revealed in November that the university held shares in private prisons. University shares in the private prisons, which were part of a portfolio, were sold on Dec. 1, 2015.
Penn State Unveils New Online Undergraduate Sustainability Certificate
The new online undergraduate certificate in Earth sustainability is offered through the university's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. The four courses required to obtain the certificate allow students to work with large data sets about climate change, water and food supplies, and natural hazards and conduct lab activities.
Investing in Students' Mental Health Pays Off
A recent article from the American Association of Community Colleges points to a new study from the RAND Corporation that indicates there is a corollary between mental health and academic achievement. Researchers found that the proportion of California college students at the state's public universities and community colleges increased by more than 10 percent between 2013 and spring 2015. At just community colleges, the increase was 15 percent over the same period. During that time, county governments directed a combined average of $8.7 million a year to campuses for outreach campaigns to reduce the stigma around mental health issues and to train faculty and staff to recognize students who may need help.
U Illinois Urbana-Champaign Completes 5.87MW Solar Array
The university's first utility-scale photovoltaic project, a 5.87-megawatt capacity, is expected to produce approximately 7.86 million-kilowatt-hours of electricity (about 2 percent of the electrical demand of the Urbana campus), and is the largest solar array on any Big Ten university campus. Approved in 2012 by the university's board of trustees, the project was made possible by a 10-year power purchase agreement with Phoenix Solar South Farms, LLC. The university plans to own all renewable energy credits (RECs).
U Louisville Extends Living Wage Policy to Contract Workers
Following its 2013 move guaranteeing all employees a living wage, the university recently approved a requirement that companies entering contracts with the university must pay their full-time staff a minimum wage of at least $10.10 per hour. Companies currently doing business with the university will be required to meet the new guidelines when their agreements are renewed.
U Virginia Wins $3.56M Grant for Wind Turbine Design
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy awarded the three-year, $3.56 million grant to a university team to build a small-scale prototype of a new kind of wind turbine with blades that fold together like palm fonds in dangerous weather and spread out to catch the wind during good weather.
North Carolina State U Student Union Scores LEED Silver
The university's new 283,000-square-foot Talley Student Union features an open design that maximizes daylight, occupant health and productivity, low-emitting finishes and furniture, high-efficiency plumbing fixtures, a 50,000-gallon rainwater cistern, and energy-efficient HVAC systems.
11 SUNY Schools Receive $2.7M for Energy Efficiency
As part of the New York Power Authority's first ever Operation and Maintenance Acceleration Program grant competition, 11 State University of New York campuses and SUNY System Administration will share $2.7 million in funding to stimulate and accelerate operations, maintenance and minor rehabilitation projects at state facilities. SUNY's building portfolio represents 40 percent of all state-owned facilities.
Auburn U Professor Receives Innovation Fund Award
University professor Jeffrey Suhling has been awarded an Alabama Innovation Fund grant for $400,000 through the Alabama Department of Commerce for research involving efficient building energy systems. With matching funds from the university, funding will support an experimental laboratory for research in scalable energy conversion systems.
Michigan State U Awards Cash for Student Energy Innovations
The university recently announced the winners of its inaugural Energy Innovation Award and Student Solar Design Competition that dispensed $11,000 in total prize money. The competition tasked interdisciplinary student teams with designing cost-effective, energy-efficient and design-centric solar installations for a campus landscape. Each project was evaluated for creativity, design, application and entrepreneurship with the intent of challenging participants to push the boundaries of clean energy innovation.
U British Columbia Students Compete on Sustainability Solutions
Launched in October 2015, as part of the university’s centennial celebrations, the Sustainability Challenge has fifteen interdisciplinary teams actively developing solutions across four priority areas for campus sustainability: sustainable food, climate action planning, waste management, and well-being and physical activity. Student teams will present their solutions to a panel of judges who will evaluate the projects and award cash prizes to the top three teams.
U Nebraska Omaha Expands Bus Ridership Program
Beginning in early 2016, university students, staff and faculty will be able to use their university identification card as a Metro Transit bus pass. The expansion of university’s transportation program will provide bus access to more than 15,000 students and 3,000 faculty and staff. This expansion is jointly funded by the university's Student Government Association and Parking Services.
U Massachusetts Amherst to Divest from Coal Companies
The UMass Foundation recently announced that it will divest from direct investments in coal companies. The foundation also said that it will continue to evaluate ways to manage the endowment in a manner that promotes both environmental sustainability and socially responsible investing. The foundation oversees $770 million in endowment assets for the UMass System.
Montclair State U Earthship Initiative Receives USGBC Recognition
The university's Environmental Club received honorable mention in the innovative sustainability initiative category from the New Jersey chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council for its Earthship project proposal, an off-the-grid structure built from recycled tires that are pounded full of dirt. If completed, the Earthship would be the only one on a university campus.
Colleges and Universities Creatively Addressing Transportation Woes
New parking lots, bike and car-sharing, and subsidized or free public transportation are growing options at colleges and universities in the U.S. that seek to reduce transportation woes on campus says the Los Angeles Times. Solutions can be complicated by increased enrollment and building costs, however finding creative and new alternatives is paramount.
U Chicago Faculty Form Union
A vote of 96 to 22 in early December resulted in non-tenure-track faculty forming a union affiliated with Service Employees International Union (SEIU) reports Inside Higher Ed. The University of Chicago is one of several to form SEIU-affiliated unions for full-time, non-tenure-track faculty members.
Harvard U Pledges Chemical Flame-Retardant Free Campus
On Nov. 4, the university became the first in the nation to sign a pledge stating its preference for purchasing furniture that is manufactured without the use of toxic chemical flame retardants. Based on scientific research out of Harvard, it joins Kaiser Permanente, Facebook and Autodesk in pledging to create healthier environments on campus.
U Maryland to Jointly Host Climate Action 2016 Summit
The university recently announced Climate Action 2016: Catalyzing a Sustainable Future, a global summit to be held at the College Park campus and in downtown Washington, D.C., in May 2016. With global and multi-sector stakeholders, including World Bank and World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the summit's focus will be in developing methodologies for global climate implementation.
U Delaware Employs New Sustainability Manager
Michelle Bennett assumed her role as sustainability manager in August of 2015 for the Newark campus. Her appointment and the establishment of an office of sustainability are part of the university's strategic plan. She comes to the University of Delaware from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.
Three Northeast Institutions Receive Energy Efficiency Accolades
Dartmouth College, Stonehill College and Northeastern University were honored by the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships as this year's Northeast Business Leaders for Energy Efficiency. This program highlights the accomplishments of organizations that achieve energy savings through investment in cost-efficient measures and address comprehensive changes in major energy systems, such as HVAC.
Yale U Introduces Carbon Charge Program for Buildings
The university recently announced a first-of-its-kind pilot program to put a price tag on the use of carbon, with some of the most prominent campus buildings playing a role in the experiment. Originating as a student proposal, the program seeks to prompt behavior changes at the individual and organizational levels by putting a price, $40 per ton, on carbon dioxide.
U New Hampshire Appoints Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer
Miriam Nelson, a researcher and author on nutrition and physical activity, will become the deputy chief sustainability officer and director of the university's Sustainability Institute in March of 2016. Nelson arrives at the University of New Hampshire from Tufts University's Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service and professor of its Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.
Johns Hopkins U Announces $25M Diversity Initiative
The new, $25 million Faculty Diversity Initiative recently announced by university leadership seeks to support more expansive and inclusive faculty searches, create a pipeline of diverse scholars, and broaden support for underrepresented members of the faculty. With five key programatic components, the initiative will measure progress and provide accountability through data and public reporting.
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.
