Colleges Get Graded On Sustainability
Environmental Leader features the results of the 2008 College Sustainability Report Card, which evaluates American colleges and universities on their green initiatives in eight areas: Administration, Climate Change & Energy, Endowment Transparency, Food & Recycling, Green Building Shareholder Engagement and Transportation.
The report was delivered by the Sustainable Endowments Institute, which was founded in 2005. Over two thirds of the schools received higher marks than in last year’s inaugural report, with the overall sustainability leaders Carleton College, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Middlebury College, University of Vermont, and University of Washington.
Thirteen different schools improved by at least one full letter grade, but overall almost 70 percent of schools received a grade of C or worse. The two most popular programs leading to increased scores were focused on carbon reduction and green building.
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Marty Fahey
posted on September 29th, 2009 at 6:16 am
Just wanted to point out that Aquinas College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, was the first college in the nation to develop an undergraduate degree in Sustainable Business. The program began in fall 2003 and conferred degrees on its first graduates in May 2005.
In addition, the College established an important resource center for businesses wanting information on how to become more sustainable. It’s called the Center for Sustainability at Aquinas College. You can visit the site here: http://www.centerforsustainability.org/
Further, one of our Sustainable Business professors, Matt Tueth, Ph.D., just recently published a book “Fundamentals of Sustainable Business – A Guide for the Next 100 Years.” As stated by the author, “the work provides a clear and engaging go-to source for understanding the complex and often misrepresented sustainable business movement.”
If you are interested in resources, here are some names:
Matt Tueth, Ph.D., Steelcase Foundation Professor of Sustainable Business, 616-632-2191
tuethmat@aquinas.edu
Deb Steketee, Ph.D., Associate professor of Sustainable Business& Executive Director for the Center for Sustainability at Aquinas College, 616-632-2930, stekedeb@aquinas.edu
Jessica Eimer, Program Coordinator, Center for Sustainability at Aquinas College, 616-632-1994
eimerjes@aquinas.edu
Center for Sustainability, 616-632-1994, c4s@aquinas.edu
Thanks for listening and please, consider us as an important resource.
Marty Fahey
Director of College Relations, 616-632-2844, faheymar@aquinas.edu