2008 Woodie Awards
UNH makes the grade on sustainability report card
Kaitlyn Hennigan
Issue date: 11/6/07 Section: News
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Oh man, nobody likes report card time. All that stressing, wishing, and hoping that you did as well on that Chemistry final as you think you did. And then there are your parents to answer to, and that pesky little GPA to worry about. Yeah, nobody likes report card time.
Except if you're the UNH Office of Sustainability, that is.
On Oct. 24, the Sustainable Endowments Institute published its second annual "Sustainability Report Card" doling out grades to 200 public and private universities nation-wide based on eight sustainability-related categories. This year was the institute's debut assessment of UNH's sustainability practices and the university finished up solidly with an overall B grade.
"UNH should be commended. The grade was very strong," said Mark Orlowski, the executive director of the Sustainable Endowments Institute.
All 200 schools were chosen for evaluation based on the size of their endowments, which ranged from $230 million to almost $35 billion. UNH has an endowment of $235 million.
The report card is composed of eight categories. UNH scored an "A" in four of the five campus categories including administration, climate change and energy, food and recycling, and transportation. The university won a B for the category of, green building.
Specifically, the report cited former Interim President J. Bonnie Newman's signature of the President's Climate Commitment, the renewable landfill gas pipeline, and biodiesel buses as main achievements in UNH's work towards a sustainable learning community. The overall B grade also won UNH the status of "Campus Sustainability Leader," an honor granted to only 25 of the 200 universities in the study.
However, UNH did not score as well in the three endowment categories. UNH earned a D for endowment transparency and a C in investment priorities, and received no grade in the final category of shareholder engagement.
"A lot of very positive things were recognized," said Tom Kelly, UNH's chief sustainability officer. "What we're focused on is that UNH got A's in four of the five categories. The Sustainable Endowments Institute has a focus on endowment management and that is an area where we have some more work to do."
Except if you're the UNH Office of Sustainability, that is.
On Oct. 24, the Sustainable Endowments Institute published its second annual "Sustainability Report Card" doling out grades to 200 public and private universities nation-wide based on eight sustainability-related categories. This year was the institute's debut assessment of UNH's sustainability practices and the university finished up solidly with an overall B grade.
"UNH should be commended. The grade was very strong," said Mark Orlowski, the executive director of the Sustainable Endowments Institute.
All 200 schools were chosen for evaluation based on the size of their endowments, which ranged from $230 million to almost $35 billion. UNH has an endowment of $235 million.
The report card is composed of eight categories. UNH scored an "A" in four of the five campus categories including administration, climate change and energy, food and recycling, and transportation. The university won a B for the category of, green building.
Specifically, the report cited former Interim President J. Bonnie Newman's signature of the President's Climate Commitment, the renewable landfill gas pipeline, and biodiesel buses as main achievements in UNH's work towards a sustainable learning community. The overall B grade also won UNH the status of "Campus Sustainability Leader," an honor granted to only 25 of the 200 universities in the study.
However, UNH did not score as well in the three endowment categories. UNH earned a D for endowment transparency and a C in investment priorities, and received no grade in the final category of shareholder engagement.
"A lot of very positive things were recognized," said Tom Kelly, UNH's chief sustainability officer. "What we're focused on is that UNH got A's in four of the five categories. The Sustainable Endowments Institute has a focus on endowment management and that is an area where we have some more work to do."
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