Not quite green enough

UNC is no stranger to the “green” movement.

And now the increasing push to become a more sustainable campus has paid off. UNC received an A- on the Sustainable Endowment’s Institute’s annual College Sustainability Report Card and improved from 2007, when it received a C.

The grading is based on sustainability information gathered from public sources and a series of surveys sent to about 300 institutions in the United States and Canada.

UNC is tied with 26 other institutions for best overall grades. Nobody received an A.

The hard work and dedication of UNC students and staff deserve to be recognized at a national level. Encouraging students to think sustainably and efforts to make campus more environmentally friendly helped raise the B+ from last year.

UNC is entitled to some bragging rights, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t in definite need of some tutoring.

UNC scored an F in the “endowment transparency,” category. The grade is a lower than the D it received last year. This category evaluates how colleges control information about endowment investment holdings and shareholder proxy voting records.

Administrators are not obligated to make all of the endowment investment information available to the public, but students should advocate for UNC to make public the nature of its investments.

UNC needs to foster a free flow of information and should be encouraged to apply similar openness to endowment investments.

 If the University changes its approach to endowment transparency, UNC could become the first school ever to attain the grade of an A on its Sustainability Report Card.

 It is important to recognize that the distance the University has gone but we still have improvements to make.

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 The University is entitled to some bragging rights but that doesn’t mean it isn’t in definite need of some tutoring.

 UNC scored an F in the “endowment transparency,” category. The grade is a lower than the D it received in 2009. This category evaluates how colleges control information about endowment investment holdings and shareholder proxy voting records. (http://www.greenreportcard.org/report-card-2010/schools/university-of-north-carolina-at-chapel-hill)

 Administrators are not obligated to make all of the endowment investment information available to the public, but students should advocate for the University to make public the nature of its investments.

 Students and other university constituencies are campus stakeholders and have a right to the information. UNC needs to foster a free flow of information and should be encouraged to apply similar openness to endowment investments.

 Access to endowment information is needed within a college community to promote active, productive discussion about opportunities for conservation, clean energy investment and recycling.

 If the University changes its approach to endowment transparency UNC could become the first school ever to attain the grade of an A on their Sustainability Report Card.

 It is important to recognize that the distance the University has gone but we still have a long way to go.