Baylor University

Baylor University has a 20-member sustainability committee and employs part-time staff to support the committee's work. A purchasing policy specifies that any paper purchased must have at least 30 percent recycled content. Aside from the recycling policies contained within the risk management manual, the university has no formal policies that pertain to campus sustainability.

Baylor University has a cogeneration facility and is currently installing low-emission boilers. The university also uses environmental temperature control systems. Through its new energy contract, Baylor is helping to finance and bring wind energy to the Texas power grid. The university has made no formal commitment to carbon emissions reduction.

The university sources most dairy and some produce from local vendors, and fair trade coffee is served. Styrofoam has been replaced with biodegradable paper cups and reusable to-go containers, and trayless dining will begin in all residential restaurants in fall 2008. Food waste is picked up from one dining hall five days per week to be composted. Recycling is single-stream and there is also recycling for printer cartridges, batteries, and machinery.

Baylor has no official green building policy, but LEED standards have been used in some new construction projects. The university is seeking LEED-EB certification for a recently constructed building.

The Baylor University Environmental Concern Organization helped initiate the campus-wide recycling program, ran a Focus the Nation teach-in, and screens sustainability-related films. Educational information about sustainability is distributed at new student orientation, and the university is planning a new residence hall sustainability orientation.

The university's free shuttle service operates three routes with four buses that run on ultra-low sulfur diesel. The physical plant has replaced several pickup trucks with small electric vehicles. Many new bike racks have been installed in recent years and the campus is designed to encourage walking and bicycling.

Information about endowment holdings and proxy voting is made available only to the board of regents and senior administration.

The university aims to optimize investment return and is currently invested in renewable energy funds. The university is also exploring the idea of allowing donors to direct gifts to a fund concerned with sustainability issues.

The university provides its investment managers with guidelines that determine its proxy votes. A member of the university administration determines some proxy votes.