Mississippi State University

Mississippi State University has established a campus planning and sustainability office. The university is pursuing professional development in order to equip staff with knowledge of sustainability concepts and LEED standards for future design needs. The Campus Planning Committee and Sustainability Committee are being restructured.

MSU has two facilities that are heated and cooled with geothermal wells, and a canopy of solar electric cells covers a sidewalk overhang. The university has made many energy efficiency upgrades, such as installing energy management control systems, improved insulation in older buildings, efficient remote boiler systems, and compact fluorescent lighting.

Dining services purchases foods from two or three local farms and the campus produces its own dairy products. Take-out containers are recyclable and the school collects paper throughout campus for recycling. Vegan dining options will be available in fall 2008.

According to the university master plan, campus utilities services is expected to incorporate LEED standards into its building practices. Over the past few years, the university has utilized sustainable design concepts in campus planning. Though not LEED-certified, the school has many new facilities that demonstrate these concepts.

The Bulldog Recycling Club sponsored an Earth Day event with the Campus Activities Board to promote recycling on campus.

MSU is developing a bicycle-sharing program to reduce vehicle use on campus. Bicycles have been ordered and the program is expected to begin in fall 2008. Lighted, concrete bike paths have been placed throughout campus. Shuttles are now included in university transit operations.

The Mississippi State University Foundation makes neither its proxy voting records nor its list of endowment holdings public.

The Mississippi State University Foundation aims to optimize investment return and is also exploring renewable energy investment funds or similar investment vehicles.

The Mississippi State University Foundation asks that its investment managers handle the details of proxy voting.