Clark University

College Sustainability Report Card 2008

President Bassett signed the Presidents Climate Commitment and the university has also signed the Talloires Declaration. A full-time coordinator is responsible for energy conservation, recycling, and other sustainability issues. The Campus Sustainability Initiative is a network that connects administrators, students, and faculty members, and the Clark Energy Awareness Program educates, motivates, and inspires the university community to use energy resources wisely.

Clark joined Clean Air–Cool Planet in 2004 and completed a campus greenhouse gas emissions inventory in the spring of 2007. An energy competition encourages students to conserve energy, and numerous light retrofits, including a compact fluorescent lightbulb swap, have improved energy efficiency. Students are given the option to pay an additional $30, which is used to buy enough wind energy to offset their electricity consumption.

cal produce is served as possible during peak periods. Fair-trade coffee, cage-free eggs, and organic produce, rice, and oatmeal are available at certain locations. As part of a new contract with Sodexho, hormone-free milk will be purchased from a local dairy. Reusable dishware or biodegradable packaging is used at all locations, and all food and landscaping waste is composted. Clark’s recycling rate has increase from 10 percent of total waste in 2004 to 15 percent in 2006. Farm tours familiarize students with local farms.

Clark follows some green design standards in construction, although there is not currently a policy for green construction. Several buildings are LEED-certified or meet certification standards. The new Blackstone Hall residence has several green building features, including recycled vinyl faux wood flooring, and nearly achieves LEED Gold certification standards. The Higgins University Center is being renovated following LEED standards for existing buildings.

A shuttle runs between institutions of higher education in Worcester. The shuttle has recently increased service hours and destinations to include weekend evenings and stops downtown and at the train and bus station.

Some information on endowment holdings is made available to the public, while the remaining endowment holdings and all proxy voting records are available to members of the school community. The information is available at the investment office and in some cases is sent to individuals upon request.

The university’s timber funds were chosen in part because of their strong environmental focus.

A committee of three students, three faculty, four trustees, one staff, and one alumnus deliberates, and makes recommendations or decisions, on proxy votes.