Virginia Tech places in top 16 schools for sustainability
Virginia Tech has been named one of 16 colleges to The Princeton Review’s 2012 Green Rating Honor Roll. This designates that Virginia Tech achieved the highest possible score in its Green Rating tallies.
The survey of 768 schools measured three key areas:
- Whether the school’s students have a campus quality of life that is healthy and sustainable.
- How well the school is preparing its students for employment and citizenship in a world defined by environmental challenges.
- The school’s overall commitment to environmental issues.
Princeton Review notes the rising interest among students in attending green colleges.
Among 8,200 college applicants surveyed this year for its annual "College Hopes & Worries Survey," 69 percent said having information about a college's commitment to the environment would impact their decision to apply to or attend a school.
“This is huge,” said Denny Cochrane, Virginia Tech’s sustainability program manager. “Just four years ago, the Office of Energy and Sustainability didn’t even exist and the Climate Action Commitment wasn’t approved until just two years ago and now we’re nationally recognized for our sustainability commitment.”
The Virginia Tech Climate Action Commitment states our university will be a leader in campus sustainability. The Honor Roll designation reinforces Virginia Tech’s commitment to that goal.
“The Honor Roll includes schools that have been recognized nationally for years as being leaders in campus sustainability. It is such an honor to be included in those ranks,” said Cochrane.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
