The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Issue date: 11/19/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Dan Hunninghake

Grades at Saint Louis University are improving, at least, they are on this year's release of the College Sustainability Report Card. The report gave SLU's sustainability efforts a "C" grade overall, an improvement from last year's "D."

"We are pleased that the organization recognized the efforts we've made to create a more sustainable campus during the past year," Director of University Communication Clayton Berry said. "But this report was not our motivation. As an institution, we are committed to exploring ways to make the campus more sustainable."

GreenReportCard.org is an interactive website that evaluates the environmental sustainability efforts of 332 colleges in the U.S. and Canada. From June to August, surveys sent to administrators and students collected data about this publicly accessible information. SLU's "C" overall grade was calculated from the individual grades in nine equally weighted categories, including administration, food and recycling, climate change and energy, and student involvement.

"I think it is great that our grade improved, but that "C" also shows that we still have a long way to go," SLU Environmental Task Force Vice President of Administration Jimmy Meiners said. "We notice everyday things that waste energy, such as the sprinklers going off when it is raining, or the outside lights being on in the middle of the day. We are working to fix those problems not only for the environment, but to save money for the University."

SLU also received a "C" in the category of student involvement; this category is graded based on student initiatives for a sustainable campus and student communication with the Administration about these issues. ETF and Student Government Association have already made improvements in this area, as they have recently established the Environmental Sustainability Core Vision Team. This team will have its first meeting soon, to discuss its plans and organization for the rest of the academic year.

The team will focus on working toward sustainability at SLU and will have a number of administrators from departments such as academic, student development, housing and residence life, and facilities.

Spencer Kellum, ETF president, will be the student representative on the team until he graduates at the end of the semester. Meiners will be serving as the student representative next semester.

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