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Youngstown State's green status improving
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Youngstown State University is getting greener a little bit at a time.
The Cambridge, Mass.-based Sustainability Endowments Institute released College Sustainability Report Cards on Wednesday, giving YSU a C-. That’s up from a D+ on last year’s report card and a D the previous year.
“It’s nice to see our grade is moving in the right direction, and obviously, we’re working to keep that trend going,” said Ron Cole, YSU spokesman.
The Green Report Card evaluates sustainability in campus operations and endowment practices in nine categories: administration, climate change and energy, food and recycling, green building, student involvement, transportation, endowment transparency, investment priorities and shareholder engagement.
Oberlin College, in Oberlin, was again the Ohio school to earn the highest marks, scoring an A.
Both Ohio State and Penn State universities earned B+.
YSU scored the highest in the food and recycling category with an A.
“Our recycling program has been recognized across the state and nation,” Cole said. “They do a tremendous job, and it’s nice to see them getting recognition for that” on the Green Report Card, Cole said.
The report said that dining services spends 10 percent of its food budget on local or organic items and serves almost exclusively cage-free eggs, as well as fair-trade coffee and chocolate.
To reduce waste, reusable mugs and to-go containers are encouraged, and half of all meals are trayless, it says.
“The YSU recycling program composts all postconsumer, and most preconsumer, food waste,” according to the report card. “The university diverts over 30 percent of its waste from landfills and recycles electronics in addition to traditional materials.”
Dan Kuzma, manager of the university’s recycling program, said the programs listed in the report aren’t new to the university. The Sustainability Endowment “tweaked” its evaluation system, allowing university personnel to fill out surveys, he said.
“Now with their reporting system, we’re able to provide them with more accurate information,” Kuzma said.
YSU’s endowment transparency, however, earned an F.
“The university makes a list of all holdings available to trustees and senior administrators at foundation trustees meetings,” the report says. “The university does not make its shareholder voting record public.”
The endowment is part of the YSU Foundation, which is an entity separate from the university, Cole said.
Grading involved research of publicly available information, surveys of school officials and student groups and assessing school performance in the categories.
Cole said the university’s energy-efficiency program upgraded the efficiency of lighting, heating and air conditioning on campus.
“That not only made us more energy-efficient, it saved us literally millions of dollars in utility bills,” he said
The new Williamson College of Business Administration is YSU’s first building certified as green.
“We’re very proud of that,” Cole said.
The certification considers how the building is designed, its use of natural light, the types of materials used and the way in which they are disposed of and landscaping.
“We’re also soon going to be installing solar panels on the roof of Moser Hall,” Cole said.
There are also discussions about installing solar panels on the roof of the WATTS building, which is under construction.
“I think overall, there’s a real growing commitment on campus in terms of sustainability, and a lot of that is led by students,” Cole said. “It’s great to have students involved because the bottom line is, that’s why we’re all here.”