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PRESS RELEASE: EMBARGOED UNTIL SEPT. 24, 2008
Contact: Mark Orlowski
Phone: 617-860-5454 ext. 10
Email: media@endowmentinstitute.org
Are Colleges Making the “Green” Grade?
New interactive report card reveals sustainability trends at 300 leading schools
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Sept. 24, 2008) – Budget-breaking energy costs combined with growing student activism are boosting the appeal of sustainability initiatives on college campuses across the country. The interactive GreenReportCard.org website reveals that two out of three schools have improved their grades from last year in the new College Sustainability Report Card 2009.
The website, launched today, provides interactive sustainability profiles and grades from the Report Card for 300 schools with the largest endowments ranging from approximately $150 million to $35 billion. The combined total is nearly $400 billion.
“The College Sustainability Report Card is the only independent evaluation of sustainability in campus operations and endowment investments and it has the highest response rate of any college sustainability ranking or rating,” said Mark Orlowski, Executive Director of the Sustainable Endowments Institute, the Report Card’s publisher. “We had 290 of 300 schools (97 percent) respond to at least one of the three Report Card surveys. Many are taking pride in greener campuses and sustainability-savvy investments.”
With “A-” as the highest overall grade earned, only 15 schools reached that level and qualified as College Sustainability Leaders. In contrast, the average grade for all schools surveyed came to “C+,” with more than 75 percent of colleges and universities earning sustainability grades in the “B” and “C” range.
Ivy League schools made notable progress since last year, but not all Ivies were green enough to achieve the highest grade. Only five are among the top 15: Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, and Penn.
Other schools with top marks include Stanford and the following liberal arts colleges: Carleton, Dickinson, Middlebury, and Oberlin. State school leaders include University of Colorado, University of New Hampshire, University of Vermont, and University of Washington. In Canada, the University of British Columbia was the only school to earn the distinction.
“Making a commitment to sustainability, ranging from local food sourcing to renewable energy investments, is no longer a priority of only environmentalists,” said Orlowski. “Such innovations are capturing the attention of everyone, from college trustees to admissions applicants.”
Responding to interest from students applying to college, GreenReportCard.org provides the first comprehensive college sustainability selection tool for high school students. Sixty-three percent of 10,300 college applicants recently polled by the Princeton Review said that a college’s commitment to the environment could affect their decision. "This website will help high school students make an educated college choice," said Orlowski.
GreenReportCard.org users will be able to create their own side-by-side comparisons of schools, using a broad range of criteria, including athletic league, geographic region, and Report Card grade.
They can also search for schools with specific programs, ranging from green dorms and car sharing to shareholder advisory committees and renewable energy investments. For example, car-sharing programs are available at 42 percent of schools surveyed—more than double the level of last year.
Each school’s full-page profile can be found on the GreenReportCard.org website and includes “A” to “F” letter grades in nine categories: Administration, Climate Change & Energy, Food & Recycling, Green Building, Student Involvement, Transportation, Endowment Transparency, Investment Priorities, and Shareholder Engagement.
The website also shows trends across policy categories. For example, a dramatic increase in renewable energy investments resulted in “A” grades more than doubling in that category since last year, from 21 to 50 percent of schools surveyed.
“Along with finding out what’s happening at a particular school, the larger question is how schools are using their resources,” said Orlowski. “Are they learning from each other and what example are they setting for students and for the community?”
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The Sustainable Endowments Institute is a Cambridge-based nonprofit organization engaged in research and education to advance sustainability in campus operations and endowment practices. Founded in 2005, the Institute is a special project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and receives funding from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation, Kendall Foundation, Surdna Foundation and the Nathan Cummings Foundation, among others.
PRESS RELEASE: EMBARGOED UNTIL SEPT. 24, 2008
Contact: Mark Orlowski
Phone: 617-860-5454 ext. 10
Email: media@endowmentinstitute.org
Innovator and Champion Awards Recognize Eight Schools
CAMBRIDGE, Mass (Sept. 24, 2008) – The Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI) announced today the winners of the Sustainability Innovator Awards and the Champions of Sustainability in Communities Awards. Eight schools in all were selected for recognition for their leadership in sustainability through these two award programs, which are part of the new College Sustainability Report Card 2009.
Five Champions of Sustainability in Communities Awards were given to schools with community partnerships that demonstrate the impact of collaboration in achieving sustainability goals. Three Sustainability Innovator Awards recognize an additional group of schools, which do not fulfill the selection parameters of the Report Card 2009, for their advancement of sustainability initiatives.
Recipients of the Champions of Sustainability in Communities Award include: Dalhousie University, University of Chicago, University of Minnesota, University of New Hampshire, and University of Oregon.
Recipients of the Sustainability Innovator Awards include: Green Mountain College, Northland College, and University of Prince Edward Island.
In addition, Honorable Mentions for the Champions of Sustainability in Communities Awards were given to four projects that have tremendous potential to grow into high-impact sustainability partnerships. Recipients of Honorable Mentions include: Brandeis University, Drury University, Tulane University, and University of Oregon.
"We give these awards to recognize schools’ successes,” says SEI’s Executive Director, Mark Orlowski. “We hope others will find inspiration in these examples and follow their leadership.”
Along with profiling 300 schools in the 2009 version of the Report Card, SEI has developed the new Champions of Sustainability in Communities Awards, and continues to hand out Sustainability Innovator Awards, which were first introduced in last year’s Report Card. The Institute solicited nominations by posting an announcement on the front page of their website (www.endowmentinstitute.org), as well as by sending requests for nominations to numerous listservs, websites, and college and university sustainability coordinators.
In evaluating the nominations, SEI used the following criteria: efficiency and/or reduction of resource use, educational impact, creativity, uniqueness of solution, and adaptability of approach to other schools. The five Champion Award recipients and the three Innovator Award recipients were selected from nominations received by the deadline.
The College Sustainability Report Card is the only independent evaluation of campus and endowment sustainability activities at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. In contrast to an academic focus on sustainability in research and teaching, the Report Card examines colleges and universities, as institutions, through the lens of sustainability.
The Report Card is designed to identify colleges and universities that are leaders in sustainability. The aim is to provide accessible information for schools to learn from each other's experiences and establish more effective sustainability practices.
For more information about the award nomination process, and to view profiles of recipient projects, visit http://www.greenreportcard.org/report-card-2009/awards/sustainability-innovator-awards and http://www.greenreportcard.org/report-card-2009/awards/champions-of-sustainability.
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The Sustainable Endowments Institute is a Cambridge-based nonprofit organization engaged in research and education to advance sustainability in campus operations and endowment practices. Founded in 2005, the Institute is a special project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and receives funding from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation, Kendall Foundation, Surdna Foundation and the Nathan Cummings Foundation, among others.