The University slightly improved in the 2011 College Sustainability Report Card, earning a C+ this year compared to last year’s C grade.
“When we talk about sustainability issues, it’s not usually on student’s minds, but it’s something we interact with every day,” said Matt Wyatt, Student Government director of sustainability. “LSU is starting to put a lot of effort into sustainability.”
The report, released this week, grades the University in nine different areas and is “the only independent evaluation of campus and endowment sustainability at colleges and universities in the United States,” according to the report’s website.
Wyatt said while this year’s improvement is “a step in the right direction,” some efforts — especially improving facilities and other “massive upgrades” — were hindered by the University’s current budget-cut situation.
“Given the budget cut situation, I think that’s why you saw just a minor improvement in the report,” Wyatt said. “The budget cuts have definitely hindered some of the projects, and they’re freezing any drastic changes on sustainability because there are other things that take precedent.”
The University scored a B in five of the nine categories — administration, climate change and energy, green building, student involvement and transportation.
The report gives the University a C in three categories — food and recycling, endowment transparency and investment priorities.
The final category, shareholder engagement, earned a F.
No Southeastern Conference school earned an overall grade worse than LSU, and eight scored better. Of the 12 SEC schools, only the University of Georgia earned an A-. The Universities of Arkansas and Kentucky tied LSU with a C+, while the remaining eight schools earned a B variation.
Tulane University in New Orleans earned an A-.
“Rather than be sore about our rankings, we should look to the other universities for ideas,” said Jenny Byrd, co-president of the student organization ECO at LSU. “What are they doing that we aren’t?”
Schools submitted a Web-based survey from April to September 2010, and this year’s report used “more detailed quantitative data,” meaning some category grades may have changed by “actual activity level has remained constant,” according to the report’s website.
The report uses a total of 52 indicators to evaluate performance within the nine categories. This year’s report included the most number of schools yet, with 308 of 322 schools responding to at least one of the four surveys measuring campus facilities, dining services, endowment policies and student involvement, according to a news release.
The report highlights the University’s Campus Sustainability program, cogeneration plant, dining improvements, green building plan and other initiatives helping the school’s grade.
Wyatt said many of the positive programs factored into the reports — like Easy Streets, tray-less cafeterias and food composting — started with student-lead efforts.
“A lot of these great social changes at the University start from student input and buy in,” Wyatt said. “We have the best ability to show what we want to change on campus, and showing that we’re making efforts also attracts a different crowd of students and puts LSU with other Universities making the same efforts.”
Wyatt said he’d like the University to pursue more solar-energy opportunities.
Byrd said ECO is focusing on food-sustainability efforts this year, including more composting and use of local and organic foods.