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Academic Senate votes to realign U’s endowment toward positive sustainability investments

April 27, 2021

The University Academic Senate voted to approve recommendations to realign the University’s endowment toward positive sustainability investments. A series of town halls was conducted throughout the 2020-21 academic year to engage the campus community in a dialogue about this issue. Students attending the town halls overwhelmingly supported moving the University endowment away from financial investments that center on carbon-heavy emissions.

The investigation and resulting recommendations were made by the Senate Ad Hoc Committee for Divestment and Reinvestment Investigation, which was organized to inform the Academic Senate with regards to the divestment of its endowment fund on best actions that balance the economic, ethical, community, and environmental concerns of the university.

The report, and more on the committee, can be found at this link.

Incorporating Sustainability More Broadly into the Curriculum

April 17, 2018

When hearing the word “sustainability,” some people think of things like recycling and saving energy, but at the U, we realize that this term is relevant in a multitude of actions and areas of study. Faculty at the U can now have sustainability attributes flagged in the course catalog.

Go to the Sustainability Office website to learn more about sustainability course attributes.

Faculty who wish to learn how to incorporate the big ideas of sustainability into their courses are invited to apply to attend the Wasatch Experience, which engages educators in a two-day, team-based workshop in August, followed by regular small-group meetings during the school year. Participants design and implement an action plan to integrate the big ideas of sustainability into their courses. Upon program completion, participants are awarded $500 and receive the University Sustainability Teaching Scholar designation.