Baylor University

College Sustainability Report Card 2008

Beside the recycling policies contained within the Risk Management Manual, Baylor University has no formal policies or councils that pursue campus sustainability. A proposal to hire a sustainability coordinator was made to the executive council in May 2007; however, there is still no word of a decision. A graduate student in the department of environmental sciences served as an intern during the summer of 2007 to boost the university’s sustainability program. The student-run Baylor Environmental Concerns Organization (ECO) sponsors an annual Earth Week celebration.

The university has a cogeneration facility that produces energy 50 percent more efficiently than standard boilers, and building commissioning has helped to identify energy inefficiencies. The university has recently helped finance the construction of a wind farm in Texas, although it may not receive energy from that source.

Food waste is picked up from one dining hall five days per week to be composted, and dining services has recycled 9,000 pounds of coffee grounds at the World Hunger Relief Farm. The majority of dairy products are purchased from a local farm. The university sponsors paper and cardboard recycling, at a projected 8 percent diversion rate, as well as printer cartridges, batteries, and machinery. A student-run recycling organization recycles other materials.

The university is currently preparing the Truett Seminary for LEED-EB certification.

The university shuttle service, which provided over 98,000 trips last year, uses four buses that run on ultra-low sulfur diesel. The physical plant has replaced several pickup trucks with small electric vehicles. Many new bike racks have been installed on campus over the past two years and the campus is designed to encourage walking and bicycling over automobile commuting.

The university makes its proxy voting records and endowment holdings available to select members of the university community. Records are available at the investment office.

The university aims to optimize investment return and is currently invested in renewable energy investment funds or similar investment vehicles.

The university provides its investment managers with guidelines to determine its proxy votes.