Cleaning out the in-box and catching up on a couple higher education-related items ...

** The University of Wisconsin-Madison received a "B" on the College Sustainability Report Card 2010, which was released Wednesday by the Sustainable Endowments Institute.

The report card includes data, profiles and grades for 332 schools.

"Surprising the skeptics, most schools we surveyed did not let financial reversals undermine their green commitments," Mark Orlowski, executive director of the Sustainable Endowments Institute, said in a press release. "New financial realities encouraged saving money by adopting environmentally friendly innovations."

The press release notes that more than 95 percent of participating institutions agreed to share the inner workings of their green practices, resulting in over 10,000 pages of detailed data and descriptions. Overall, the College Sustainability Report Card has the highest response rate of any college sustainability rating. Grading the schools entailed researching publicly available information, conducting surveys of appropriate school officials, and assessing performance with 120 questions across 48 indicators in the following nine categories: Administration; Climate Change and Energy; Food and Recycling; Green Building; Transportation; Student Involvement; Endowment Transparency; Shareholder Engagement; and Investment Priorities.

The grades of each of these nine equally weighted categories then yielded an overall mark. The highest cumulative grade level earned this year was an A-minus, which was earned by 26 schools.

Following is UW-Madison's grade in each category: Administration, B; Climate Change and Energy, C; Food and Recycling, A; Green Building, B; Student Involvement, C; Transportation, A; Endowment Transparency, A; Investment Priorities, B; Shareholder Engagement, B.

** "Going green" will mean big bucks for some UW-Madison students.

The university's Climate Leadership Challenge, which encourages student solutions to climate change, will award up to $100,000 in prize money to help winning teams put their products or programs into action.

Any UW-Madison student or group of students is eligible to compete for the grand prize of $50,000 and a 12-month lease on a suite at the University Research Park's new East Side facility, the Metro Innovation Center. The first information meetings about the contest will be held the next two Thursdays in 175 Science Hall, 550 N. Park St. Additional meetings will follow in the months to come.

The contest is being put on by the Nelson Institute Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE).

Submissions are due by March 25, and eight finalists will be selected to present their proposals at the institute's Earth Day conference April 20-21

For more information, click here.

** Andrew Revkin, a science reporter for the New York Times and the fall science writer in residence at UW-Madison, will give a free public talk on Thursday in room 1310 of Grainger Hall, 975 University Ave.

Revkin's presentation is titled "9 Billion People + 1 Planet = ?" The talk will begin at 3 p.m., with a panel discussion on the intersection of science and journalism taking place from 4-5:30 p.m.

** Madison Area Technical College will be hosting a "College Spotlight" event at its Truax Campus, 3550 Anderson St., on Thursday.

The event is being promoted as an opportunity for prospective students to speak with instructors, current students and graduates about all that MATC has to offer -- whether one is preparing for life after high school, hoping to update job skills or learn about a whole new career.

The College Spotlight runs from 4:30-7:30 p.m. For more information, visit matcmadison.edu.

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