Awards for green initiatives
McGill University and University of Alberta are among Canada’s Greenest Employers (2009. The award was launched in 2007 by the editors of the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project.
The University of Alberta has a green demolition program to encourage salvage and re-use of building materials, adopted sustainable cleaning practices, composts organic kitchen waste as well as leaves and garden waste, is undertaking a $25-million energy management program reducing CO2 emissions by 20,000 tonnes per year and is designing new campus buildings to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.
McGill University established an environmental officer and a strategy to explore energy reduction in keeping with Quebec’s mandate to cut energy use 14 per cent energy from 2003 to 2011, increased the use of recycled-content paper from zero to 33 per cent in daily operations, eliminated paper telephone directories, expanded on-campus recycling, established a bicycle lending program at a suburban campus, installed geothermal heating in a recent building renovation and is a member of the Canada Green Building Council.
The high cost of plastic
Dalhousie University pays credit card companies $1.3 million a year to use plastic for charging tuition and residence payments. Faced with tight budgets, Dalhousie’s Budget Advisory Committee is considering eliminating credit cards as a payment method. About 40 per cent of tuition and residence payments are made with credit cards. Even if the university removes the credit card option, online payment would still be an option.
– Dalhousie News
Unused Textbooks financial burden
Students at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and Durham College have asked the school administration to develop a policy protecting students from the high cost of assigned textbooks that go unused. Students want to be surveyed at the end of the year and if less than half of a book is used, an alternative to book purchase should be developed for the course. Durham Region News
UBC delays NCAA decision
The University of British Columbia will delay until next year a decision on whether to apply for sports team membership in the US-based National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division II level until next year. Those who responded to surveys and open houses were reported as divided on the benefits of UBC joining the NCAA. There are also too many critical issues to be addressed, with academic accreditation being particularly important. Simon Fraser University has confirmed it will apply this year for NCAA Division II membership.
– Va