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11-06-07

Media Release

Oregon State University Ranked As A Campus Sustainability Leader

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University has been ranked in the Top 25 for 2008 in the second-annual “College Sustainability Report Card,” an assessment of sustainability in higher education.

The “College Sustainability Report Card,” performed by the Sustainable Endowments Institute, is the only independent sustainability evaluation of campus operations and endowment investments. It assesses the 200 public and private universities with the largest endowments in the United States and Canada.

The report card focuses on two primary areas: campus management and endowment practices. With excellent scores in campus management, OSU’s overall grade was a “B-.”

“This is an exciting recognition for OSU,” said Brandon Trelstad, OSU’s sustainability coordinator. “We’ve made a lot of progress coordinating our efforts, and then documenting and making public our commitment to becoming more sustainable. Also, we have big plans for the future.”

In assembling its report card, the Sustainable Endowments Institute performs independent research and conducts surveys of campus officials. Findings are presented in eight equally-weighted categories: Administration, Climate Change and Energy, Food and Recycling, Green Building, Transportation, Endowment Transparency, Investment Priorities and Shareholder Engagement.

OSU received “A” grades in campus management categories of Administration, Food and Recycling, Green Building and Transportation; and a “B” grade in Climate Change and Energy.

“OSU’s ranking within the top 25 demonstrates our commitment toward making our campus operations and practices more sustainable,” said Vincent Martorello, director of Facilities Services. “We are making every effort to show that campus operations can be accomplished in support of and in accordance to sustainable practices.”

Trelstad said OSU is “lucky to be in a city and state that have similar visions for sustainability and support the work we are doing.”

“State and other incentives for conservation, renewable energy, alternative transportation and other projects have made collaboration with other public entities even more important,” he pointed out. “We hope to accelerate those partnerships dramatically and make some big announcements in the next few months.”

The entire report is available at http://www.endowmentinstitute.org/sustainability/. More information about sustainability at OSU can be found at http://oregonstate.edu/sustainability/. About Oregon State University: OSU is one of only two U.S. universities designated a land grant, sea grant, space grant and sun grant institution. OSU is also Oregon’s largest public research university, garnering more than 60 percent of the total federal and private research funding in the Oregon University System. Its more than 19,000 students come from all 50 states and more than 80 countries. OSU programs touch every county within Oregon, and its faculty teach and conduct research on issues of national and global importance.