Administration

Overview

The Administration category addresses colleges' and universities' actions toward sustainability at the administrative or trustee level. Sustainability practices that we look for include:

• Policies or commitments to sustainability in the institution’s mission statement or master plan
• Signing local, national, or international sustainability agreements
• A sustainability coordinator
• An active advisory committee that guides the administration on campus sustainability
• An office or center specifically focused on achieving campus sustainability goals
• Green purchasing policies
• A website that serves as a resource for community involvement and education on sustainability

Key Findings

• Three-quarters of the schools have full-time sustainability staff members. A considerable number of schools, 75 percent, have recognized the need for an administrator who works full time on engaging the community in sustainability and improves the campus's carbon footprint.  

• More than half of the schools have a sustainability office. An office or center specifically focused on achieving campus sustainability goals (excluding academic departments) exists at 57 percent of the schools.

• More than nine in ten schools have a website dedicated to campus sustainability. A significant number of schools (91 percent) use a website to communicate sustainability tips and information about their latest initiatives.

• Nineteen in twenty schools have a campus advisory committee on sustainability. A large majority of the schools (95 percent) have a committee with multiple stakeholders (e.g., faculty, staff, students) that advises the administration on how to make the campus more sustainable.

• Over two-thirds of the schools have adopted green purchasing policies. A significant number of the schools (68 percent) have adopted robust policies for purchasing a variety of eco-friendly items, including paper products, appliances, and electronics.

• An increasing number of schools have established revolving loan funds for sustainability efforts. Revolving loan funds at 22 percent of the schools use the money saved on utility bills from building energy- and water-efficiency projects to undertake more efficiency projects.

• The average grade for the Administration category is B+. For a summary of grade distribution for this category, please refer to the chart on the right.
  

Grade Breakdown