The College Sustainability Report Card 2010 gave Penn State a B for its sustainability efforts over the past year, giving the university high marks in food and recycling efforts but docking points in transportation and shareholder engagement.
The report evaluated 332 American colleges and universities and graded them on nine facets of their sustainability programs: administration, climate change and energy, food and recycling, green buildings, student involvement, transportation, endowment transparency, investment priorities, and shareholder engagement.
The Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI) of Cambridge, Mass. issued the report on Wednesday, available on greenreportcard.org.
Among Big Ten universities, none received an A. In addition to Penn State and Ohio State, 65 other colleges and universities received this above-average mark.
No college or university received an A, though 26 got an A-, including Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and Yale University.
In the report's subcategories, Penn State received four As, two Bs and Cs, and one D.
The university received a B for student involvement.
"I think in terms of the entire student body, environmental and sustainability involvement is low," said Morgan Dysinger, public relations officer for environmental group Eco-Action.
Dysinger (senior-English) said there are several successful student groups working toward sustainability that are trying to form a sustainability coalition.
"We want to bring together all the groups to combine our efforts," Dysinger said.
Penn State's lowest score, a D, was in shareholder engagement.
Only 8 percent of colleges and universities got an A in this category, and 41 percent received an F.
"Shareholder engagement looks at if you have an invested endowment ... and are working towards sustainability-related resolutions and socially responsible investing," said Lisa Tuska, communications fellow at SEI.
The report card is SEI's main project, but it also does outreach programming on sustainability with colleges and universities.
Last year, Penn State received a B and was identified as a campus sustainability leader. In the 2008 report card, the university received a B, and in 2007, a C+.
"Hopefully there won't be a need for the report card in the future because everyone will be doing wonderful things and sustainability will be a common practice," Tuska said.
University spokesman Geoff Rushton said the report's topic is important to the university. Independent reports are useful tools for Penn State, Rushton said.
"With a B, there is room for improvement," Rushton said. "We are always looking for ways to improve sustainability, as it is a very important goal of the university."
