aashe stars conference community hub bulletin
Login Create an Account Become a Member

AASHE Campus Sustainability Hub
Browse All

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.

View all Campus Engagement Submit a new resource

Featured Resources

Latest News from AASHE Bulletin

New Resources

4352 resources
As reflected in our #SCI2022 highlight, faculty and staff discussed new, interdisciplinary learning opportunities during the AQIP process. In one early project, students and volunteers developed an off-grid tiny house.

JCCC Students Work to Complete Tiny House Project

  • Johnson County Community College (KS)

As a pathway toward institutional accreditation through the US Higher Learning Commission, Johnson County Community College developed and completed an Academic Quality Improvement Project (AQIP) focused on institution-wide sustainability in …

Leveraging Strategic Partnerships to Advance Sustainability Education

  • The University of British Columbia (BC)
  • AASHE (MA)

What do we need to do to take sustainability education to the next level? How do we make sustainability learning ubiquitous in a university student’s learning journey while increasing an …

  • Posted July 18, 2022
  • Videos & Webinars
  • View more
Campus Garden Sign

Campus Garden to Bring New Opportunities for Self-Sustainability

  • California State University, Fullerton (CA)

Cal State Fullerton recently broke ground on a new campus garden that will serve as a tool for hands-on student learning. The ceremony was part of Cal State Fullerton’s 12th …

Principia College's competitive solar car team, with Earth Day enthusiasts.

Principia College celebrates Earth Day 2022

  • Principia College (IL)

The Principia College solar car is a fan favorite at our Earth Day Festival every year. Innovative, student-led engineering is a hallmark of this long-standing experiential learning program.

Principia College students paint reusable canvas totes at Earth Day!

Principia College celebrates Earth Day 2022

  • Principia College (IL)

Students show their planet love by personalizing canvas reusable shopping bags, purchased from Earth Hero. Our College Store has banned single-use plastic bags, so these totes are particularly handy!

Brainstorming Session: Reducing Waste During Campus Move-Outs

  • University of Virginia (VA)
  • AASHE (MA)

Join this brainstorming session and meet with peers to discuss everything from community partners to communications to student helpers and more. Come prepared to share, listen, or both.

  • Posted June 24, 2022
  • Videos & Webinars
  • View more
Group of people standing with newly planted tree.

Trees on campus are rooted in history

  • California State University, Fullerton (CA)

Seven serve as a memorial to lives needlessly taken. One received the blessing of the Dalai Lama. Others pay homage to local history. But symbolism and aesthetics aside, each of …

Engaging Hearts, Minds and Hands: Tracking Sustainability Drivers in Your Institutional Culture

  • Ramapo College of New Jersey (NJ)
  • AASHE (MA)
  • Awake (Victoria)

This presentation outlines the implementation of a standardized survey tool for measuring and tracking the extent to which sustainability is embedded in the culture of a higher education institution.

In …

  • Posted May 31, 2022
  • Videos & Webinars
  • View more

Campus as a Living Laboratory: The Built Environment

  • Florida Gulf Coast University (FL)

This book chapter focuses on Florida Gulf Coast University using its campus as a living lab to teach sustainability to students and the way that this type of learning affects …

WMGIC: Expanding Student Involvement in Sustainable Development

  • College of William & Mary (VA)

The Global Innovation Challenge at William and Mary (WMGIC) encourages and facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration and applied learning opportunities among students, policymakers, practitioners, and researchers by bringing innovative and sustainable perspectives …

Feeding the camels

We Feed Aggie Animals

  • Texas A&M University (TX)
  • Chartwells Higher Education (NY)

Texas A&M Aggie Dining launched a new "We Feed Aggie Animals" food waste initiative to enhance goals of eliminating food waste while supporting the campus community. Starting in January 2022, …

Root Leadership

Root: Centering Social Identity and Environmental Justice in First-Year Orientation

  • Williams College (MA)

Root is one of 6 topical opt-in first-year orientation programs, called EphVentures, offered by Williams College. It runs for four days at the beginning of new student orientation and introduces …

The Nova Southeastern University community comes together to celebrate Arbor Day with a tree planting ceremony and environmental stewardship and education fair. Participants gather around the newly planted tree with a "Fins Up" from the NSU Sharks.

Arbor Day at Nova Southeastern University

  • Nova Southeastern University (FL)

In celebration of Earth Day and Arbor Day, students, staff, faculty, and the University's President came together to celebrate the environment with a tree planting ceremony and educational table fair. …

Building capacity for socio-ecological change through the campus farm: a mixed-methods study

  • Butler University (IN)
  • Indiana University System Administration (IN)
  • Indiana University Indianapolis (IN)
  • Henry M Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (MD)

Given the ongoing socio-ecological crises, higher education institutions need curricular interventions to support students in developing the knowledge, skills, and perspectives needed to create a sustainable future. Campus farms are …

Map of the Sustainability Ecosystem at Concordia University

Mapping Concordia’s Sustainability Ecosystem, a system mapping experiment

  • Concordia University (QC)

Tristan Harris, the founder of the Center for humane Technology, once said: "Our ability to meet the world's challenges depends on us making sense & coordinating together." It means that …

Improving Laboratory Water and Energy Efficiency at Tufts University

  • Tufts University (MA)

The Biomedical Engineering (BME) and Chemical and Biological Engineering (CHBE) Departments at Tufts University installed a small autoclave (a laboratory sanitation machine) to reduce energy and water consumption in our …

EchoWorks Ribbon Cutting

EchoWorks: An Electronics Recycling College-Community Partnership

  • Western Dakota Technical College (SD)

There are more than a thousand toxic substances associated with electronic waste (e-waste), and improper disposal can lead to soil, water, food, and air contamination. E-waste is the fastest growing …

Cal Poly faculty learn about the student garden and food pantry on campus outside of the FLC sessions so they can provide students with information about equitable resources on campus.

CSU Faculty Learning Community in Teaching Climate Change and Resilience

  • California Polytechnic State University (CA)
  • California State University, Chico (CA)
  • California State University, Monterey Bay (CA)
  • California State University, San Marcos (CA)
  • California State University, Stanislaus (CA)
  • Cal Poly Humboldt (CA)
  • Strategic Energy Innovations (CA)

In the Spring of 2022, 62 faculty from six different California State University campuses representing over 30 disciplines participated in the CSU Faculty Learning Community in Teaching Climate Change and …

Purdue University Chapter members and Lafayette City Chapter members lobbying Representative Jim Baird's Legislative Director, Cory Harris.

Establishing and sustaining Indiana’s first higher education chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby at Purdue University

  • Purdue University (IN)
  • Citizens' Climate Lobby (CA)

In an effort to learn how to meaningfully engage with my community on the issue of climate change, I joined Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization which advances …

Engineering students’ agency beliefs and career goals to engage in sustainable development: differences between first-year students and seniors

  • Virginia Tech (VA)
  • Purdue University (IN)

This paper aims to explore the differences in first-year and senior engineering students’ engineering agency beliefs and career goals related to sustainable development. The authors also sought to understand how …

The relationship between the incorporation of sustainability in higher education and the student’s behavior: self-reported sustainable behavior scale

  • Universidade Municipal de São Caetano do Sul (SP)

This study aims to describe the development and validation of a scale that measures the self-reported sustainable behavior of students in higher education institutions (HEIs) regarding their knowledge on incorporating …

Meaning-making in higher education for sustainable development: undergraduates’ long-term processes of experiencing and learning

  • Leuphana University of Lüneburg

Despite the increase in teaching approaches designed to integrate sustainability into higher education, the connection between students’ learning experiences and their learning outcomes remains incompletely understood. The present multi-case study …

GIS and Sustainability Engagement in Higher Education

  • University of Maryland, Baltimore County (MD)

Does the use of an interactive GIS web map significantly influence the level of sustainability stakeholder engagement at institutions of higher education? With over 1,000 institutions of higher education across …

The Development of Sustainability Education at ASU - A Case Study

  • Arizona State University (AZ)

This video highlights the development of the School of Sustainability and the future of sustainability at Arizona State University. Dr. Boone describes the program's objectives, competencies, and initiatives including how …

  • Posted May 20, 2022
  • Videos & Webinars
  • View more

An Exploration of the Relationship between Sustainability-Related Involvement and Learning in Higher Education

  • Tufts University (MA)
  • University of Michigan (MI)

Higher education institutions are charged with developing civically engaged leaders to address the pressing issues facing the country and the world. While existing literature suggests institutional practices, such as promoting …

Graduate Student, Jack Leff, presents the Climate Action Commitment Roadshow materials to the Undergraduate Student Senate

Climate Action Commitment Roadshow Series

  • Virginia Tech (VA)

Virginia Tech recently approved a revised version of the Climate Action Commitment. To educate the campus community about it, our Climate Action, Sustainability, and Energy (CASE) Office went on a …

A Student-led Approach to Campus Sustainability: Environmental Sustainability Report

  • University of Delaware (DE)

The Environmental Sustainability Report (Fall 2021) was established using a bottom-up approach led by students and involved collaboration between multiple stakeholders, on- and off-campus. This Report was driven by a …

Our Clothing Swap table and the Florida International Sustainability Fair

Campus Clothing Swap

  • Florida International University (FL)

This project was produced by my club Society for Sustainable Souls at Florida International Universities (FIU) campus. It was created to encourage sustainability as well as community on FIU's campus. …

The Potential for Electricity-use Reduction in Grinnell College Residence Halls through Behavioral Manipulation

  • Grinnell College (IA)

I studied the potential for electricity-use reduction through behavioral change in on-campus residence halls. I used social comparisons to induce behavioral change in the residents. The results did not show …

Washington and Lee Quick Hits: Sustainability Leadership Trip Explores Local Food

  • Washington and Lee University (VA)

Washington and Lee University takes student leaders in sustainability on a trip to explore local foods and dining waste. It features the students visiting the campus's local garden that composts …

  • Posted May 19, 2022
  • Videos & Webinars
  • View more
Hornet Reuse App Item Request

Hornet Reuse App

  • California State University, Sacramento (CA)

As a way of reducing waste, creating a circular economy and creating a sense of community between students, faculty and staff at Sacramento State, Hornet Reuse was born. Hornet Reuse …

Nursing students' attitudes towards climate change and sustainability: A cross-sectional multisite study

  • University of Plymouth (Devon)
  • Queensland University of Technology
  • University of Brighton
  • University of Jaén
  • Hochschule für Technik Stuttgart/University of Applied Sciences (HFT) (Stuttgart)
  • Dalarna University
  • Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia

This study aimed to: i) investigate nursing students' attitudes towards and awareness of climate change and sustainability issues and its inclusion in nurse education, ii) explore differences across a range …

Measuring the Transformation of University Students’ Self-Construal for Greater Environmental Sustainability

  • Arizona State University (AZ)
  • Kyoto University
  • National Taiwan University

University campus sustainability projects frequently aim to promote ecological behavior of their community members. However, these projects rarely consider the level of students’ self-construal, the view of self held by …

Social Learning of Sustainability in a Pandemic—Changes to Sustainability Understandings, Attitudes, and Behaviors during the Global Pandemic in a Higher Education Setting

  • University of Queensland (QLD)
  • University of Klagenfurt

When people learn from each other and change their behavior accordingly, this is called social learning. COVID-19 not only taught us new habits to limit contagion, imposed restrictions also limited …

Global Social Responsibility and the Internationalisation of Higher Education for Society

  • Boston College (MA)
  • La Trobe University (Victoria)
  • Leeds Beckett University
  • Rovira i Virgili University

In this article, we argue that there is an urgent need to align internationalisation and university social responsibility agendas through the construct of Internationalisation of Higher Education for Society. The …

Higher Education Institution–Community Partnerships: Measuring the Performance of Sustainability Science Initiatives

  • Brock University (ON)

The enterprise of sustainability science extends beyond the academy to address pressing environmental issues through collaboration. It coincides with trends in higher education institutions (HEIs) towards an expanded mission for …

The Culture and Personal Disposal Practices of University Students: A Qualitative Study in Brazil and Germany

  • Universidade Federal do Ceará

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between cultural components and municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal individual practices in the context of Brazilian and German university students. To achieve this …

Stimulating student’s pro-environmental behavior in higher education institutions: an ability–motivation–opportunity perspective

  • University of Science and Technology of China
  • Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology
  • Women University Swabi
  • Hefei University of Technology

The slow and inadequate environmental performance of higher education institutions is attracting the consideration of researchers toward a behavioral change of teachers and students rather than just concentrating on learning …

Using the theory of planned behavior to understand the students’ pro-environmental behavior: a case-study in a Portuguese HEI

  • Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra (Coimbra)

Through the application of the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study aims to explore the main determinants of higher education students’ pro-environmental behavior.

Discourses on sustainability in a network of Argentine universities: exploring representations, cultural roots and transformative processes

  • Sapienza Università di Roma

Purpose: The paper aims to reflect on the function(s) served by the network of Argentine universities for environmental management and social inclusion (UAGAIS), including sharing information, empowering its members and …

What Do Freshmen Know about Sustainability? Analysing the Skill Gap among University Business Administration Students

  • Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
  • Universidad de Murcia (Murcia)

This study aims at creating and validating an instrument to assess the level of mastery in sustainability competencies of freshmen students in business-related studies. To reach this goal, a questionnaire …

Education for Sustainable Development in Spanish University Education Degrees

  • Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya
  • University of Cadiz
  • Universidad Pablo de Olavide

This work presents an analysis of student perception of Spanish university education degrees regarding their training in sustainable development. A sample of 942 students was used. The methodology consists of …

Determinants of recycling behavior in higher education institution

  • Universiti Putra Malaysia
  • Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

This study aims to investigate the impact of theory of planned behavior (namely, attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control) on recycling intention, as well as the relationship between recycling …

Developing leadership qualities in environmental sustainability through university co-curricular activities

  • University of Calgary (AB)

This study aims to provide insight into the question of whether graduate students who deliver environmental education workshops/residencies to elementary school children will develop environmental sustainability leadership qualities in themselves: …

Intention to adopt pro-environmental behaviors among university students of hard and soft sciences: the case of drinking by reusable bottles

  • Università degli Studi di Torino
  • Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II

The market of bottled water is one of the largest in the world. Paradoxically, the consumption of water in plastic bottles is highest in countries rich in the potable tap …

Promoting sustainable consumption in Higher Education Institutions through integrative co-creative processes involving relevant stakeholders

  • University of Zaragoza
  • Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez

The United Nations proposes to ensure a sustainable future for all through the Sustainable Development Goals, assigning a new role to each individual in all sectors of society. Higher Education …

Nursing students' perception of climate change and sustainability actions – A mismatched discourse: A qualitative, descriptive exploratory study

  • Dalarna University

Climate change is described as the biggest global challenge for human health in the upcoming decade. Nurses play a central role in mitigating the effect of climate change on the …

Exploring personal definitions of sustainability and their impact on perceptions of sustainability culture

  • James Madison University (VA)
  • Inflexion

The purpose of this paper is to present an exploratory analysis of campus community member (i.e. students, faculty, staff) definitions of sustainability, their perceptions of select elements of sustainability culture …

Mapping social structures for sustainability transformation at McGill University, Canada

  • McGill University (QC)

For a university to be a prime mover for sustainability transformation, all units of the university should contribute. However, organizational change in educational institutions is often studied by examining specific …

Can student managed investment funds (SMIFs) narrow the environmental, social and governance (ESG) skills gap?

  • Queen's University
  • Memorial University of Newfoundland (NL)

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it endeavors to document the current state of environmental, social and governance (ESG) pedagogy within undergraduate finance courses of business schools, and …

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

All Material Copyright © 2005–2023 Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
AASHE reserves the right to control the reproduction and use of all material posted on this website.
For questions about this site, please email resources@aashe.org — Privacy Policy

About
Finding Resources
Submission Guidelines