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Campus Engagement

Introduction

Engaging in sustainability issues through co-curricular activities allows students to deepen and apply their understandings of sustainability principles. Institution-sponsored co-curricular sustainability offerings, often coordinated by student affairs offices, help integrate sustainability into the campus culture and set a positive tone for the institution. Faculty and staff members’ daily decisions impact an institution’s sustainability performance. Equipping faculty and staff with the tools, knowledge, and motivation to adopt behavior changes that promote sustainability is an essential activity of a sustainable campus.

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What are the key elements of a sustainable university?

Nowadays, the principles of sustainable development are becoming increasingly important and universities are acting as agents in promoting these principles within society. In the future, universities will inevitably play crucial ...

  • Posted June 22, 2017
  • Publications
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Sustainability Leadership Programs: Emerging Goals, Methods & Best Practices

Colleges and universities are rushing to respond to an increasingly urgent challenge: developing the next generation of sustainability leaders. Although diverse in program design, teaching methodologies, assumptions, and skills taught ...

  • Posted June 20, 2017
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Qualifications for Contributing to Sustainable Development A Survey of Environmental Sciences Graduates

A survey of Environmental Sciences graduates from ETH Zurich was conducted to gain insights into their sustainability-oriented activities. 567 participants provided 672 concrete best-practice examples of their professional contributions to ...

  • Posted June 20, 2017
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Spreading the Eco-Message: Using Proactive Coping to Aid Eco-Rep Behavior Change Programming

  • George Mason University (VA)
  • Pennsylvania State University (PA)

Making pro-environmental behavior changes can be difficult, particularly when these changes challenge daily routines and comfortable lifestyles. We designed and implemented an eco-representative intervention program to help students reduce their ...

  • Posted June 20, 2017
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Influences on Student Intention and Behavior Toward Environmental Sustainability

As organizations place greater emphasis on environmental objectives, business educators must produce the next set of leaders who can champion corporate environmental sustainability initiatives. However, environmental sustainability represents a polarizing ...

  • Posted June 19, 2017
  • Publications
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Energy conservation attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors in science laboratories

  • Michigan State University (MI)

Energy use per square foot from science research labs is disproportionately higher than that of other rooms in buildings on campuses across the nation. This is partly due to labs ...

  • Posted June 19, 2017
  • Publications
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Analyzing Barriers to Energy Conservation in Residences and Offices: The Rewire Program at the University of Toronto

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA)
  • Yale University (CT)
  • University of Toronto (ON)

Conducting a barriers analysis is an important first step when designing proenvironmental behavior change interventions. Yet, detailed information on common barriers to energy conservation campaigns remains unavailable. Using a pair ...

Personal authenticity and political subjectivity in student deliberation in environmental and sustainability education

This study problematizes what is meant when one talks about classroom activities concerning environmental and sustainability issues as being authentic or not. It reports excerpts from three classroom discussions which ...

The relationship between university students’ environmental identity, decision-making process, and behavior

Environmental education scholars have argued for the need to focus on identity as a more predictive factor than attitude of individuals’ environmental behavior. We examine individuals’ decision-making as a mediating ...

Local food cooking class

Earthday at Universidad de Monterrey

  • Universidad de Monterrey

Put a Price on It: Bringing Higher Education into the Carbon Pricing Dialog

  • Swarthmore College (PA)
  • AASHE (MA)

This webinar explores the role of institutions of higher education in the emerging national carbon pricing dialog. Institutions of higher education have an immense capacity to educate a broad audience ...

  • Posted May 25, 2017
  • Videos & Webinars
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NYU student creating posters for March for Science in Washington, DC on April 22, 2017

NYU Celebrates Earth Month

  • New York University (NY)

UCI celebrates Bike Month

  • University of California, Irvine (CA)
GVSU Bike Safety Course for National Bike Month

GVSU Bike Safety Course for National Bike Month

  • Grand Valley State University (MI)
  • League of American Bicyclists (DC)

This lunch and learn serves as a 45 minute introduction to safe and knowledgeable bicycling. The discussion is led by instructors certified by the League of American Bicyclists (LCIs) and ...

Sustainability on the Other Side of the Stacks An embedded librarian in the Sustainability Office

Sustainability on the Other Side of the Stacks: An embedded librarian in the Sustainability Office By Amy Brunvand, American Libraries, The Scoop [blog], May 22, 2017 (online, part of a ...

Full Service Organics

  • St. John's University, New York (NY)

In the Full Service Organics documentary video, St. john's University, New York (SJU) has documented its efforts of student engagement in fighting hunger and waste, and making compost from ...

  • Posted May 22, 2017
  • Videos & Webinars
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Schematic of the shadow price. In cost-benefit analysis, the "cost" used should include the lifecycle carbon emissions of all options.

Swarthmore Carbon Charge Program

  • Swarthmore College (PA)

Swarthmore’s Carbon Charge seeks to systematically incorporate the unfelt global impacts of our emissions into our decision-making, both individually and as a college.

The scope of the work necessary ...

Pump2Plug Logo

University of California, Irvine's Pump2Plug Electric Vehicle Adoption Program

  • University of California, Irvine (CA)

The UCI Pump2Plug Electric Vehicle (EV) Adoption Program is widely recognized as the first university incentive programs for EV adoption through the replacement of gas-powered vehicles with electric vehicles. With ...

University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point Designated as the 40th Fair Trade University in the U.S.

  • University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (WI)

The University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, part of a national initiative by Fair Trade Campaigns to engage college/university students in issues of global poverty, officially received designation as ...

First experiment (for Google Science Fair 2012). Weedy check (control plot in which no natural herbicides were applied) shown to left; treated areas shown to right.

Natural Herbicides Project

  • Georgia Institute of Technology (GA)
  • Engineers for a Sustainable World (CO)

The Natural Herbicides Project focuses on addressing the issue of the usage of chemical herbicides with detrimental health and environmental impacts on- and off-campus. Our team developed an effective natural ...

Penstemon 2.0

  • Santa Clara University (CA)

From the outset, our goal has been to foster a culture of sustainability at the University by focusing on our curriculum as an interdisciplinary community of scholars. SCU has used ...

Art as the Catalyst for Critical Sustainability Conversations

  • University at Albany (NY)

The University at Albany is proud to submit an application that illustrates our use of art as the catalyst for critical sustainability conversations. This was accomplished via two main projects ...

Students Contribute Record-Breaking $6 Million to Student Green Energy Fund

  • University of South Florida (Tampa) (FL)

The purpose of the Student Green Energy Fund is to provide an opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to present formal proposals to a governing Fund Council with the goal ...

Report of the Smith College Study Group on Climate Change

  • Smith College (MA)

In this report, the Study Group on Climate Change (SGCC) presents its recommendations for climate action by Smith College. By implementing these recommendations, the college will coherently integrate climate action ...

Some of the feedback received during the consultation on the first draft of the Pitch In redesign

Branding our Waste: Creating College-Specific Recycling Signage through Collaboration

  • Red River College Polytechnic (MB)

In an ongoing effort to improve the effectiveness of our waste and recycling programs, Red River College set about redesigning our hallway waste and recycling signage (Pitch In signs) in ...

Community Engagement Panel

Sustainability Weekend Conference, Carnegie Mellon University

  • Carnegie Mellon University (PA)

‘Sustainability Weekend’ is a student-initiative held on Carnegie Mellon’s campus in Pittsburgh, PA, with the goal to promote inter-disciplinary conversations to raise awareness about the many sustainability issues surrounding ...

Cascadia Campus Climate Conversation (C4)

  • Cascadia College (WA)

-On October 25th, 2016, the senior cohort of the Bachelors of Applied Science in Sustainable Practices (BASSP) program at Cascadia College, Bothell, WA, held the first campus dialogue to discuss ...

How Middlebury College Achieved Carbon Neutrality

  • Middlebury College (VT)

This past winter, Middlebury College achieved an ambitious goal of carbon neutrality that had been officially set in 2007. When it became clear that the College’s initial of goal ...

Poster used to promote SUN Delegation outreach event.

Students Spark Solar

  • University of Minnesota, Duluth (MN)

A group of ten students focused in various areas of study from across the University of Minnesota Duluth campus came together to form the Solar University Network Delegation and advance ...

SFU’s 20-Year Sustainability Vision and Goals Case Study Submission

  • Simon Fraser University (BC)

On the 50th Anniversary of the institution, SFU launched an ambitious engagement process to map out and envision what a “sustainable SFU” would look like in 20 years. The yearlong ...

COAST member by college

COAST – a groundbreaking alternative transportation program at the University of Houston

  • University of Houston (TX)

COAST- Coogs on Alternative Sustainable Transportation, a new alternative transportation incentive program developed by the University of Houston’s Parking and Transportation Services department, is revolutionizing the way people commute ...

Sustainable Biodiversity on the Georgia Southern Campus

  • Georgia Southern University (GA)

Our project recorded the biodiversity of vertebrates on the 700 acre rural campus of Georgia Southern University. Faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students were involved in collecting the data. Students ...

UMD student using dish accumulator

Transforming Campus Food Service with Anytime Dining

  • University of Maryland, College Park (MD)

The Department of Dining Services at University of Maryland (UMD) set a goal to change the student culture and experience on campus through the Anytime Dining residential dining program. The ...

Student, Faculty & Staff Eco-Reps work together to map out a local adventure for their communities during a Sustain IT workshop with the Outing Club

The New Eco-Rep Model: Unifying Campus Audiences in Co-Curricular Sustainability Programming

  • Dickinson College (PA)

Dickinson College has innovatively reformed its Eco-Rep model into a combined student and employee peer-to-peer sustainability education program that creates co-curricular learning experiences aimed at unifying campus stakeholders while increasing ...

SPF Project: McGill Farmers' Market

McGill University's Sustainability Projects Fund

  • McGill University (QC)

The Sustainability Projects Fund (SPF) is a crown jewel of McGill University’s sustainability efforts and a best-practice model for universities. The SPF’s main goal is to build a ...

McGill Students Lobby to Create Climate Officer Position

  • McGill University (QC)

In Spring 2016, Management PhD student Amir Nosrat, and other colleagues at the Post-Graduate Students' Society of McGill University, came up with the idea to create a Climate Officer position ...

Cowbell Cleanup volunteers before a game

Cowbell Cleanup

  • Mississippi State University (MS)

Cowbell Cleanup is an initiative that was started by the Office of Sustainability on Mississippi State University's campus. The University faces a large influx of guests during home football ...

University of Saskatchewan Aerial Shot

The Campus Sustainability Plan: A Community Building Momentum

  • University of Saskatchewan (SK)

Progress on campus wide sustainability is not easy. It takes both planning and implementation to realize results. The University of Saskatchewan is realizing results from its Campus Sustainability Plan, developed ...

UTRGV Tree Campus Team

Community Engaged Scholarship and Learning in Urban Forestry helps UTRGV earn Tree Campus USA Designation

  • University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (TX)

In 2014, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (through its legacy institution UTPA), one of the largest Hispanic Serving Institutions in the country, proposed and offered three iterations of ...

Reduce the Juice – Saving Energy in Halls of Residence

  • AASHE (MA)
  • University of London

At the University of London, in England, we have launched a behaviour change programme aimed at students living on campus in the University’s halls of residence. The aim of ...

  • Posted May 18, 2017
  • Videos & Webinars
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Las Pintas Solar Experience group, 2013

Johnson County Community College Student Sustainability Committee

  • Johnson County Community College (KS)

As a broadly effective, innovative, engaging, and replicable project, Johnson County Community College’s Student Sustainability Committee [the SSC, the Committee] is a compelling and powerful tool for developing student ...

Watershed UGA: A living laboratory transforming campus and community through teaching, research and service

  • University of Georgia (GA)

Watershed UGA created a vision and framework for using the campus as a living laboratory to advance sustainability through teaching, research, public service and outreach, and university operations. We are ...

The University of Virginia as a Living Lab for Solar Energy

  • University of Virginia (VA)

Over the next five years, The University of Virginia hopes to install 1-2 megawatts of solar PV on grounds. To help prioritize projects, UVA turned to the School of Engineering ...

Zero Waste Events Expanding Across Campus (Synchronized Swimming Athletic Tournament)

The Ohio State University Sustainability Goals Development Project

  • The Ohio State University (OH)

In November 2015, The Ohio State University announced the establishment of sustainability goals to guide the university as it develops durable solutions to the challenges of sustainability and in evolving ...

Fix It Friday: Sidewalk marketing

Fix It Friday

  • Illinois State University (IL)

Fix It Friday is a program in which fashion students set up sewing machines in various places within the Illinois State University campus and the surrounding Bloomington-Normal community and offer ...

UTA CARES: Open Education and Open Pedagogy for Sustainable Future and Resource Conservation

  • University of Texas at Arlington (TX)

Reducing the cost of a college education is a frequent topic in higher education circles. Some colleges and universities such as UT Arlington have been trying to find other ways ...

GreenApps Eco-Reps Sustainability Leadership and Engagement Course

  • Appalachian State University (NC)

The GreenApps: Eco-Reps Program was developed in order to recruit on-campus students to join the Office of Sustainability team to assist with education and promotion of campus sustainability through a ...

Stakeholders’ perception of sustainability orientation within a major Romanian University

Purpose: The research attempts to aim to evaluate the perception that different stakeholder groups have of one of the largest and most important Romanian university with respect to its sustainability ...

Greening the campus intentions: a study of the University of the Aegean non-academic staff

Purpose: This study aims to focus on the University of Aegean’s non-academic staff’s environmental sustainability attitudes and behavior both at work and at home, their perceptions for sustainability ...

A comparative study of the efficacy of intervention strategies on student electricity use in campus residence halls

  • Radford University (VA)

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether, and how, electricity consumption by students in university residence halls were impacted through three intervention strategies.

Design/methodology/approach: The ...

This tab provides access to data collected through AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS). STARS is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. STARS enables meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions using a common set of measurements developed with broad participation from the campus sustainability community.

All responses reference content from reports under the latest version of STARS, version 2.2. AASHE membership and log-in is required.

EN 1: Student Educators Program

EN 2: Student Orientation

EN 3: Student Life

EN 4: Student Life

EN 5: Student Life

EN 6: Assessing Sustainability Culture

EN 7: Employee Educators Program

EN 8: Employee Orientation

EN 9: Staff Professional Development & Training

Additional analysis on scores and quantitative fields can be conducted using the STARS Benchmarking Tool.

Campus Engagement Partners

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