University of Missouri

College Sustainability Report Card 2008

Although the University of Missouri has no known sustainability policies, a group on the Columbia campus will be charged with developing a sustainability plan. Each year since 2003, the Environmental Affairs Committee has issued an annual report on the impacts of campus activities on the environment. The campus has several active student groups, including Sustain Mizzou. The Kansas City campus recently implemented the use of green cleaning materials.

The university’s power plant is replacing 2 to 4 percent of its fuel with chipped tires from waste tire dump sites and recently began using waste wood chips to source an additional 4 to 5 percent of its fuel use from biomass. The St. Louis campus has a goal to reduce energy use by 2.5 percent every year through 2010 and other campuses have similar goals. In the next year, the lighting retrofit program at the Kansas City campus will replace approximately 46,000 low-efficiency lamps with high-efficiency lamps and ballasts through an energy performance contracting project.

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 milk come from in-state farms. The Kansas City campus implemented a recycling program in 2005 and the Columbia campus has over 900 recycling bins throughout campus. Last year, 19 tons of beverage containers were collected through a successful tailgater recycling program.

It is the university’s policy to incorporate sustainability principles and concepts in the design of all projects, while being consistent with budget constraints and appropriate life-cycle cost analysis. The Columbia campus has a number of green buildings, although LEED certification has not been pursued.

A university program was implemented in 2006 requiring at least 50 percent of non-exempt fleet vehicles purchased to be alternative fuel vehicles. Currently, the university system has a total of 58 alternative fuel vehicles. The St. Louis campus offers metro passes at a discounted rate. Beginning in 2006, the Columbia campus’s ad hoc Non-motorized Transportation Committee has worked closely with the city of Columbia to develop and encourage alternative modes of transportation, particularly bicycles.

A list of endowment holdings will be sent to individuals upon request as per open records laws. Proxy voting records are not made available to anyone.

The university aims to optimize investment return and does not invest in renewable energy funds or community development loan funds.

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