Sustainable Endowments Institute's Campus Sustainability Report Card 2009

The Sustainability Endowments Institute (SEI) has selected 300 colleges and universities for evaluation for their Campus Sustainability Report Card 2009.

As a way of comparison, last year SEI selected only 200 colleges and universities for their evaluation, and that was the first time Virginia Tech was rated.

Process

For the Campus Sustainability Report Card 2009 evaluation SEI reviews each college and universities websites and responses to the following three surveys:

The "Sustainable Policy Survey" focuses on campus operations and includes the following categories: administration, climate change and energy, general recycling, green building, student involvement, and transportation. The student involvement category was added this year. Read our response to the Sustainable Policy Survey (PDF), which also includes the Sustainability Week 2007 executive summary (PDF) and a congratulatory letter from the EPA (PDF) for VT's participation in RecycleMania.

The "Dining Services Sustainability Policy Survey" focuses on food service operations and recycling associated with food service. Read our response to the Dining Services Sustainability Policy Survey (PDF).

The "Endowment Policy Survey" focuses on endowment transparency, investment priorities, and shareholder engagement.

SEI sent Virginia Tech the three surveys on July 11, 2008, and all were completed and submitted to SEI prior to or on July 24, 2008 as required.