University of Missouri

College Sustainability Report Card 2007

The University's policies vary from campus to campus. Although there are no formal sustainability centers or coordinator positions, energy managers working in the award winning energy management department at the Columbia campus ensure campus-wide efficient and conservative energy use. The Green Campus Initiative addresses environmental stewardship through the environmental health and safety department on the St. Louis campus.

The Columbia campus has replaced almost 100 percent of campus lighting with more efficient models, and the University has been awarded an EPA Green Lights and EnergyStar Partner of the Year on several occasions. The St. Louis campus has a goal to reduce energy use by 2.5 percent every year through 2010 and to increase recycling volume by 8 percent annually during the same period. Other campuses have similar goals. The University also uses some alternative fuels for its boiler plants and explores ways to make use of its by-products.

The University's Farm to MU campaign is constantly increasing the availability of local foods on all campuses. Items such as produce, cage-free eggs, and millk come from in-state farms. Recycling efforts have increased on the Kansas City campus as a result of renovation and a new contract with Sodexho, and compost efforts are especially strong on the Rolla campus.

The University has a sustainable design policy that outlines site management, energy and water use, and other design guidelines. Projects are not required to meet LEED certification, but are encouraged to do so when "campus goals and budgets align."

The University makes neither its proxy voting record nor their list of endowment holdings public.

The University prioritizes investing to maximize profit and has not made any public statements about investigating or investing in renewable energy funds or community development loan funds.

The University asks that its investment managers handle the details of proxy voting.