Godzilla vs mechagodzilla download.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Screen-shot-2009-10-13-at-11.53.52-PM-150×150.png” alt=”SEI” width=”150″ height=”150″ />According to the Sustainable Endowments Institute, NYU is a leader in sustainability for the nation’s colleges, but still has ways to go in transparency and engagement. The Institute, a nonprofit aimed at “advancing sustainability on campuses,” released its 2010 College Sustainability Report Card last week, grading most major colleges on all aspects of green leadership, from “Student Involvement” (NYU: A) to “Investment Priorities” (A).

Based off independent research and surveys, the comprehensive report card gave NYU an overall grade of a B, which is a bit misleading. Though the school receives mostly A’s, the F in “Shareholder Engagement” and D in “Endowment Transparency” and stick out like a student-athlete on NYU campus. The Institute explains it’s rationale:

• Endowment Transparency — D — A list of all holdings and a list of votes cast on proxy resolutions on a company-specific level are made available to trustees, senior administrators, and other select members of the school community at the investment office.
• Shareholder Engagement — F — The university asks that its investment managers handle the details of proxy voting.

In other words, the usual complaints of NYU students of the university’s leaders (i.e., “the administration is isolated and greedy”) are not unheard off campus. Whatever “investment managers handle the details of proxy voting” means, it doesn’t sound comforting — thus, the F. You hear that, J-Sex?

Nonetheless, NYU — recognized as a “Campus Sustainability Leader” — has improved its overall grade every year since 2007 (C) and the school’s successes should not go unnoticed:

• Administration — A — In its policies, NYU recognizes its responsibility to incorporate environmental values throughout administrative operations and its academic mission. The Sustainability Task Force completed the first comprehensive environmental assessment of the university and approved a number of sustainability policies. The Office of Sustainability employs nine full-time staff. The NYU Garden Shop provides 100 percent organic grounds care for the campus.
• Food & Recycling — A — Two campus dining halls have vegan stations that feature local, sustainably grown produce. Dining services purchases exclusively fair trade coffee and sustainably caught seafood. As part of a national pilot FoodPrint project, NYU will quantify its carbon footprint for food by inputting detailed ingredient invoices into a comprehensive calculator. During NYU’s 2009 Green Apple Move Out, students donated 73 tons of reusable items, up from the previous year’s 8 tons. Diverting this much material from landfills represented a 2 percent reduction in NYU’s waste stream for the year and saved the university approximately $10,000 in waste-hauling costs.
• Transportation — A — Over 17 percent of the university’s motor pool is comprised of electric vehicles. The NYU Bike Share Program allows students to register online for one of 30 available bikes. The university plans to increase bicycle storage, infrastructure, and safety measures. NYU offers a shuttle that connects the campus’s buildings around the city.
• Investment Priorities — A — The university aims to optimize investment return and is currently invested in renewable energy and community development loan funds.

We can’t say we completely agree with all of those assessments — at least NYU’s Village neighbors probably don’t (especially that last one) — but it’s satisfying to finally see some appreciation for forcibly eating vegan meatballs at Hayden dining hall. Also, where the hell is this “NYU Garden Shop” you speak of? Is this the secret of 12th floor of Bobst?

By comparison, Columbia also received a B, a downgrade from the A- it received last year. Not looking so Ivy now, huh Columbia?

Photo from Sustainable Endowments Institute.