WMU goes from C- to B in sustainability

By Fritz Klug
News Editor

(Graphic by Kyle Green)

As many students are receiving their mid-mid-term grades, Western Michigan University has received a B from the Sustainable Endowments Institute in their annual College Sustainability Report Card.

Every year, the Institute rates universities on how they implement sustainability polices.

“A lot of universities can talk the talk,” said Lisa Quska, a research fellow for the Institute. “We judge who can actually walk the walk.”

The Institute sent out four different surveys to 332 schools across the nation: one to the administration, one to dining services, one to the university’s endowment, and another for a student to fill out.

WMU results are similar to other Michigan schools, as Michigan State University received a B, University of Michigan a B+, and Kalamazoo College a B.

“We have been placed into the elite class of ‘Campus Sustainability Leaders,’” Harold Glasser, associate professor of environmental studies and chair of President’s Universitywide Sustainability Committee, wrote in an e-mail.

“We worked on putting the data together for this for several months,” Glasser wrote.
“More importantly—with collaboration and cooperation from folks all across campus—we worked on creating tremendous improvements all last year.”

Last year, WMU received an overall C- rating.

Glasser points out that in the last year WMU has signed the Climate Savers Computing Initiative and the ACUPCC.

In February, the committee published their Strategic Sustainability Initiatives Report, outlining plans for improving sustainability on campus.

Click here for the full WMU report

Click here for the full Sustainable Endowments Institute

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Oct 7 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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