Spotlight
Totally Cool
| USF News
One of hundreds of trees planted by USF students on Arbor Day 2012 grows in front of USF's Patel Center.
Photo by Aimee Blodgett | USF News
USF is cooler than ever — just ask the folks at Sierra magazine.
The university earned 12th place in the publication's sixth annual ranking of America's Coolest Schools. The ranking is based on each college and university's environmental practices, new green initiatives and sustainability-focused research and education.
Just last year USF ranked 47th among America's greenest colleges and universities, making this year's leap all the more impressive.
"We have worked so hard to turn around our campus and community, to lead by example, and to become a cleaner, greener place to live, learn and work,"" says Christian Wells, director of the Office of Sustainability, which is housed in the Patel School of Global Sustainability.
USF was lauded for several measures, including:
- More than 2,000 trees have been planted on campus in the last 15 years.
- The Student Green Energy Fund, supported by a $1 per-credit-hour student fee, helps pay for energy projects on campus, like the installation of solar panels at the USF Marshall Student Center.
- All USF students, faculty and staff have fare-free access to the bio-diesel fueled Bull Runner shuttle system.
- The Borrow Our Bikes Green Bike Program allows students to check out bicycles for free.
- USF students participated in the Solar Decathlon and won a spot to exhibit their "flex house" on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
The "Cool School" nod marks one of many environmental distinctions USF has won over the past year, including the Second Nature Climate Leadership Award; designation as a National Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation; and a second place showing in the Waste Minimization category in the competition division for 2012 Recyclemania.