The Martlet

UVic got a “C” in this year’s College Sustainability Report Card (CSRC), down from the “B+” it received last year. 

The reason for the plunge: UVic did not return any of the CSRC’s surveys.

The CSRC, an initiative of the Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI), ranks environmental sustainability efforts at over 300 North American universities. Each school is sent four surveys to fill out and return; they are then graded in nine categories. 

UVic was the only Canadian university that did not return any of the surveys. The University of Waterloo returned just one survey and was hit with a “D+” grade.

Neil Connelly, UVic’s director of Campus Planning & Sustainability, says UVic’s Sustainability Co-ordinator position was vacant when the surveys were sent in June. The SEI sent the surveys to the previous Sustainability Co-ordinator’s e-mail, but UVic never got them. 

“June was awkward in the sense that the position was vacant,” said Connelly. “July, we spent in the recruitment process, and the new co-ordinators didn’t start until August.”

The SEI contacted Connelly in August, wondering why UVic hadn’t returned the surveys. Connelly explained, but by then it was too late for UVic to complete the surveys. 

Connelly says that if UVic had returned the surveys, “we would have been at B+, or perhaps higher this year.”

But since the CSRC relies mainly on data from the surveys to grade schools, UVic got pummeled.

UVic’s marks in the Transportation, and in the Food & Recycling categories went from an “A” last year to a “D” this year.

“That doesn’t make sense,” said Connelly. “It just doesn’t, given the things that are going on here [at UVic]. From an alternative transportation point-of-view, there are more people coming to campus by cycling and transit than in previous years — there are fewer cars on campus.”

Connelly noted that UVic’s Board of Governors passed a Sustainability Policy last March, and that a Sustainability Advisory Committee is being formed to help implement UVic’s Sustainability Action Plan.

Not affected by the survey blunder, UVic’s mark for Investment Priorities was unchanged at “C,” putting UVic among the worst-performing schools in the category. 

Millions of dollars of UVic’s endowment are invested in environmentally-harmful sectors like Alberta’s Tar Sands. UVic’s endowment does not include any renewable energy or community development funds.

The UVic Foundation, a charity, handles UVic’s endowment. UVic’s Endowment Management Policy makes no mention of sustainability, and the UVic Foundation’s investment strategy does not involve any ethical considerations.

UVic Foundation Chair Lisa Hill was unavailable for comment. UVic Foundation Treasurer and UVic’s Associate Vice President of Finance and Operations Kristi Simpson, did not return calls by press time.

Connelly could not comment on the UVic Foundation’s investment policies.

Next year, however, UVic will be sure to fill out and return next year’s CSRC surveys, he said. 

“I think we’ll be well-positioned and we should be improving upon or maintaining a B+,” he said. 

To read the full report card, visit greenreportcard.org.