Wayne State University

College Sustainability Report Card 2010

The President’s Standing Committee on Environmental Initiatives has focused on evaluating campus sustainability trends and has established a fund to send campus community members to sustainability workshops and conferences. The university has placed a focus on sustainability in the campus master plan and strategic plan, and recently passed a resolution through the board of governors as a formal commitment to environmental stewardship.

The university has begun compiling its first greenhouse gas emissions inventory and is developing carbon reduction goals. WSU is also designing control methods to monitor utility energy consumption in real time in order to monitor system optimization. The campus is home to the first wind turbine in the city of the Detroit and features solar panels on a new engineering building.

Through its Farm-to-Cafeteria program, dining services collaborates with SEED Wayne, a sustainable food project and campus farm, and sources dairy and produce from local farms. The university offers hormone- and antibiotic-free chicken, serves fair trade coffee, and donates excess food to a local food-rescue program. Only reusable dishware is used in the cafeterias, and preconsumer composting programs are run in half of dining locations.

WSU requires all new construction to meet LEED certification standards. The new Engineering Development Center is LEED Silver-certified and has incorporated new energy conservation measures.

WSU offers more than 100 paid and unpaid sustainability internships to students, and coordinates an Eco-Reps program. The Student Environmental Action Leaders (SEAL) is WSU's largest and most active environmental student organization. Students have developed sustainable gardens on campus through SEED Wayne, which provides grants to student organizations that assist with the gardens.

WSU offers a pretax deduction to employees commuting via environmentally preferable transportation methods. The university runs a free shuttle bus on and around campus. The campus police utilize a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.

The university has no known policy of disclosure of its shareholder voting record. However, information on the endowment's long-term investment program is available online to the campus community and the public.

The university aims to optimize investment return and has not made any public statements about investigating or investing in renewable energy funds or community development loan funds.

The university has not made any public statements about active ownership or a proxy voting policy.