In its efforts toward sustainability, UF gets a B+.
The Sustainable Endowments Institute has issued its college sustainability report card for 2010, and UF has moved up from last year’s B grade.
The Cambridge, Mass.-based nonprofit organization released its report Tuesday.
The institute works to promote sustainability in campus operations and endowment practices.
UF’s overall grade reflects individual grades in areas such as student involvement, transportation and green building — all of which received A’s.
According to Rob Foley, a senior research fellow at the institute, qualities like instituting a bike-sharing program and requiring all-new construction projects to meet Leadership in Energy and Environment Design Gold criteria helped garner a high grade.
“The university having A’s is just a really great achievement and accomplishment,” he said.
“It’s not something most universities can do.”
UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes said the grade is an indication of the university’s increased focus on using limited resources wisely.
The only failing grade for the university was in the area of endowment transparency.
The UF Investment Corporation is a nonprofit group responsible for managing $1.6 billion of the university’s assets, according to the group’s website.
It does not make its list of endowment holdings available to the public.
Foley said the institute would like the university to open up its investment information for the entire student and faculty community to see.
Sikes said any member of the UF community can bring any issue over investments to the president.
She added that it is possible for investments that could cause social harm to be reconsidered.
“We believe we have put the tools in place to make sure that the university invests in a socially responsible manner,” she said.
