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The Daily OrangeSU receives B grade in annual sustainability review
By Justin Murphy
Posted: 10/13/09, 2:28 AM EST Section: News
Thanks to Zipcars, locally grown produce, and energy-saving appliances, Syracuse University received a B grade in the annual survey conducted by the Sustainable Endowments Institute. The survey measures the environmental awareness on college campuses across the country.
The grade is an improvement for SU over the B-minus it received the last two years on the College Sustainability Report Card survey. In 2007, the survey's first year, SU received a C-plus.
SU has completed several projects to earn the higher grade, but plans are in place for future improvement.
"We were pleased to see we're improving, but we would have liked to see an A," said Tim Sweet, SU's director of energy and computing management. "That's what we're striving for."
The independent survey covered 300 schools with the largest endowments in America and Canada, and 32 other higher education institutions. Eight percent of all the schools earned the top awarded grade, an A-minus (The highest possible grade is an A).
"While we're grading schools, the ultimate goal is to share information and best practices and let schools know what one another are doing," said Lisa Chase, a senior communications fellow at the Sustainable Endowments Institute.
Of the 23 New York schools surveyed, only two - Vassar College and Ithaca College - scored better than SU. Each school received a B-plus.
SU received an A in four out of nine categories listed in the survey: administration, climate change and energy, transportation, and investment priorities.
One of the most influential programs that contributed to the improved grade was the Flexible Work Sustainability Initiative that started in October 2008, which aims to reduce transportation costs and emissions by letting some staff work from home, Sweet said.
SU has also instituted a ride-sharing program for employees, a carpooling initiative that groups together SU employees that live near each other. Also in 2008, the university began using hybrids, electric cars and Zipcars, Sweet said.
The grade is an improvement for SU over the B-minus it received the last two years on the College Sustainability Report Card survey. In 2007, the survey's first year, SU received a C-plus.
SU has completed several projects to earn the higher grade, but plans are in place for future improvement.
"We were pleased to see we're improving, but we would have liked to see an A," said Tim Sweet, SU's director of energy and computing management. "That's what we're striving for."
The independent survey covered 300 schools with the largest endowments in America and Canada, and 32 other higher education institutions. Eight percent of all the schools earned the top awarded grade, an A-minus (The highest possible grade is an A).
"While we're grading schools, the ultimate goal is to share information and best practices and let schools know what one another are doing," said Lisa Chase, a senior communications fellow at the Sustainable Endowments Institute.
Of the 23 New York schools surveyed, only two - Vassar College and Ithaca College - scored better than SU. Each school received a B-plus.
SU received an A in four out of nine categories listed in the survey: administration, climate change and energy, transportation, and investment priorities.
One of the most influential programs that contributed to the improved grade was the Flexible Work Sustainability Initiative that started in October 2008, which aims to reduce transportation costs and emissions by letting some staff work from home, Sweet said.
SU has also instituted a ride-sharing program for employees, a carpooling initiative that groups together SU employees that live near each other. Also in 2008, the university began using hybrids, electric cars and Zipcars, Sweet said.
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