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.
Featured Resources
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UNC Charlotte Party for the Planet
- University of North Carolina, Charlotte (NC)
An annual event celebrating Earth Day at UNC Charlotte with student organizations and campus groups tabling and hosting interactive activities
- Posted April 23, 2025
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CCNY and Columbia University Environmental Justice Summit
- Columbia University (NY)
- The City College of New York (NY)
City College of New York, PSC-CUNY CCNY Environmental Justice Committee, Environmental and Climate Justice at Columbia Project, Center for Science and Society, Incite Institute, and WEACT present a three-part event …
- Posted April 23, 2025
- Photographs
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De La Salle Lipa Environmental Awareness Talk for Parents
- De La Salle Lipa (BATANGAS)
Spearheaded by the De La Salle Lipa Sustainability Office, the Environmental Awareness Sustainability talk aimed to instill environmental awareness and promote sustainable practices among parents. Through this, parents and students …
- Posted April 23, 2025
- Photographs
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Zero Waste Summit
- West Chester University of Pennsylvania (PA)
The Office of Sustainability at West Chester University held the Zero Waste Summit today. Many students came out to learn how to reduce their waste output and learn more sustainable …
- Posted April 23, 2025
- Photographs
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Earth Day at Cuyahoga Community College
- Cuyahoga Community College (OH)
Campus events have been pretty slow-going since COVID, but we had a fantastic turnout today. Students received free books and aluminum water bottles after answering climate-related trivia questions. They learned …
- Posted April 22, 2025
- Photographs
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Northwestern University Earth Month Fair
- Northwestern University (IL)
sustainNU, Northwestern University's Campus Sustainability Program, hosts an annual Earth Month Fair to share sustainability work happening on campus and what people can do to reduce their environmental impact. The …
- Posted April 22, 2025
- Photographs
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UNC Charlotte Student Garden Day
- University of North Carolina, Charlotte (NC)
An annual event hosted by the Office of Sustainability, UNC Charlotte Jamil Niner Student Pantry, and the Pollinator Club at UNC Charlotte that organizes volunteers to beautify the four garden …
- Posted April 22, 2025
- Photographs
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UNC Charlotte Campus Beautification Day
- University of North Carolina, Charlotte (NC)
The Office of Sustainability and Grounds Department hosted the semi-annual Campus Beautification Day on April 16th. Volunteers planted trees around our Greek Village housing area, and cleaned up litter around …
- Posted April 22, 2025
- Photographs
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Deree Science Day 2025
- The American College of Greece (Aghia Paraskevi)
Deree Science Day 2025 brought together students, faculty, and science enthusiasts for a dynamic day of discovery, innovation, and hands-on learning. Featuring engaging workshops, interactive experiments, and expert-led discussions, the …
- Posted April 17, 2025
- Photographs
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Clean up & Climbing Event - Earth Month at IE University
- Instituto de Empresa SL
Earth Day Cleanup & Climbing Event On April 5th, from 10:00 to 12:00, students, staff, and community members came together for a cleanup initiative followed by a climbing activity. The …
- Posted April 17, 2025
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From STARS Points to Impactful Teaching: The Role of TASK
- AASHE (MA)
- HEC Montréal (QC)
- KEDGE Business School (Bordeaux)
- University of Sussex (Sussex)
- Sulitest
Integrating sustainability into education is both essential and challenging. Institutions must balance transdisciplinarity with the need for specialized expertise, engage faculty and staff who may have varying levels of familiarity …
- Posted April 10, 2025
- Videos & Webinars
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University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA)’s Green Fee Board evaluates student sustainability awareness and engagement through their Campus Sustainability Survey
- University of Alaska Anchorage (AK)
University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA)’s Green Fee Board evaluates student sustainability awareness and engagement through their Campus Sustainability Survey
Sustainability awareness and engagement are imperative for creating a greener campus. …
- Posted April 8, 2025
- Conference Presentations
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Waste Management, Recycling, and Responsible Consumption
- Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
Waste Management, Recycling, and Responsible Consumption
- Posted April 3, 2025
- Photographs
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Washington Students Taking Action All Earth Month Long!
- Cascadia College (WA)
- University of Washington, Bothell (WA)
- University of Washington, Tacoma (WA)
- GetGreen (WA)
Starting today and throughout Earth Month, students from the University of Washington and Cascadia College are taking part in a campus-wide sustainability challenge.
Using the GetGreen app, teams earn 'leaves' …
- Posted April 3, 2025
- Photographs
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Making the Most out of an Interdisciplinary Introduction to Sustainability
- AASHE (MA)
- MacEwan University (AB)
In the session we will be looking through the resources. Attendees will be able to try out some of the activities in the open resource and explore teaching opportunities with …
- Posted March 27, 2025
- Videos & Webinars
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Inflation Reduction Act Lessons Learned
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
- AASHE (MA)
- Deloitte Consulting LLP (TX)
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) offers higher education institutions an unprecedented opportunity to receive cash refunds ranging from 6% to 70% of qualified clean energy investments. In this webinar, Deloitte …
- Posted March 26, 2025
- Videos & Webinars
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Sustainability Data Activism and Experiential Learning through USC’s Sustainability Data Hub
- University of Southern California (CA)
- AASHE (MA)
In this webinar, we highlight the University of Southern California’s (USC’s) Sustainability Data Hub as a tool for sustainability data activism and experiential learning. USC’s Sustainability Data Hub was built …
- Posted March 14, 2025
- Videos & Webinars
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Getting to "I Do"- Exploring Engagement with a Distributed Student, Staff and Faculty Population
- Southern New Hampshire University (NH)
While every campus is unique in developing engagement programs geared to their culture and population, common challenges and strategies exist. Hearing new perspectives can spur your own creativity and help …
- Posted March 3, 2025
- Conference Presentations
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Conflict Management and Leadership Engagement
- AASHE (MA)
This proposal outlines an engaging online course series designed to equip sustainability professionals in higher education with essential skills in conflict management and leadership engagement. Participants will explore conflict dynamics, …
- Posted March 3, 2025
- Videos & Webinars
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Campus as Lab Managers, Coordinators and Faculty
- Duke University (NC)
Find your "Campus as Lab" people! Want to meet others in a similar role and "talk shop" about using your institution's infrastructure and operations for applied student learning? Come say …
- Posted Feb. 28, 2025
- Conference Presentations
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STARS and Student Engagement for Sustainable Colleges and Universities
- Colorado Mountain College (CO)
- Seattle University (WA)
- Binghamton University (NY)
- AASHE (MA)
The combined session features interactive discussions of three educational cases related to using STARS as a Living Lab. The first session, titled “STARS as Our Curriculum: An Institution as a …
- Posted Feb. 28, 2025
- Conference Presentations
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Student Sustainability Leadership Development at the College of Charleston
- College of Charleston (SC)
Leadership is a concept that has many definitions and can be a very difficult thing to understand, yet so many people seek to understand it. The same can be said …
- Posted Feb. 28, 2025
- Conference Presentations
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Engage Intentionally: An Examination of Campus Engagement Practices
- University of Utah (UT)
Sustainability engagement on campus can be an elusive concept to apply. In this session, learn about strategies and methods for implementation and get a holistic view of sustainability engagement in …
- Posted Feb. 28, 2025
- Conference Presentations
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Developing and Implementing Online Sustainability Trainings to Engage Students, Staff, & Faculty
- University of Southern California (CA)
To inform and engage the campus community about USC's sustainability efforts, the USC Office of Sustainability developed and implemented online sustainability trainings: the Student Sustainability Training module in April 2023 …
- Posted Feb. 28, 2025
- Conference Presentations
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Cats Optimizing Recycling Education: Research Informing Operations
- University of Arizona (AZ)
Are you struggling with recycling contamination? For many schools, each year brings a new group of students to the dorms and recycling education starts over from scratch. Our data show …
- Posted Feb. 28, 2025
- Conference Presentations
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Living Tapestry, Native Plant Corridor Planning, Designing, and Social Engagements Opportunities
- Oklahoma State University (OK)
Oklahoma State University’s Native Plant Corridor covers almost a quarter of a mile, consisting of native plantings, art, and native topiary nestled in the busy campus. Stretching between two main …
- Posted Feb. 28, 2025
- Conference Presentations
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Mountain West Higher Ed Sustainability Networking
- Colorado State University (CO)
A session for higher ed institutions in the Mountain West region to network
- Posted Feb. 28, 2025
- Conference Presentations
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A Comparative Study of the Sustainability Behavior of International Students
- College of Charleston (SC)
Previous research has documented the lack of studies centered around students’ sustainability behavior at higher education institutions and the gap of studying international students’ behavior change once they start their …
- Posted Feb. 28, 2025
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Storytelling as Reclamation: Establishing a justice-centered sustainability narrative
- University of Washington, Seattle (WA)
The stories we tell and the ways we tell them signify who is welcome into the conversation, and more importantly, who belongs. Throughout the history of student-led movements, design activism …
- Posted Feb. 28, 2025
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Measuring the Impact of Student-Led Sustainability Projects
- University of Washington, Seattle (WA)
The Campus Sustainability Fund (CSF) is a student-run and student-funded grant program at the University of Washington working towards justice-centered sustainability. Student-led sustainability projects on campus are great ways to …
- Posted Feb. 28, 2025
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Tracking and Driving Progress in Sustainability Goals through Data and Dashboards
- University of Southern California (CA)
Want to use data to leverage your institution's sustainability goals? Here we'll discuss how the University of Southern California (USC) is leveraging sustainability data for transparency, collaboration and progress with …
- Posted Feb. 28, 2025
- Conference Presentations
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Interactive Networking Session with the Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability
- University of South Dakota (SD)
- Western Technical College (WI)
Are you a sustainability leader (student, staff, faculty or community partner) in the Upper Midwest? Join us for an informal and interactive networking hosted by the Upper Midwest Association for …
- Posted Feb. 28, 2025
- Conference Presentations
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Inspiring Future Leaders: Developing Sustainability Literacy in First Year Classrooms
- University of Maryland, College Park (MD)
At the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), the latest students are more knowledgeable about sustainability and passionate about solving the climate crisis. Or so we thought. Despite growing media …
- Posted Feb. 28, 2025
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Sustainability and Student Affairs: Aligning to Improve Involvement
- University of California, Irvine (CA)
- University of Missouri (MO)
Striving to improve student engagement, advance functional collaborations, and promote inclusion? Consider aligning sustainability and student affairs. Despite less than 3% of sustainability professionals working out of divisions of student …
- Posted Feb. 28, 2025
- Conference Presentations
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Please Like Me: Engage an Audience with Student-Led Social Media
- University of Arizona (AZ)
The University of Arizona's Office of Sustainability has transformed its social media strategy by adopting a student-centered and student-driven approach, yielding significant engagement and collaboration across the university. By involving …
- Posted Feb. 28, 2025
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Aggie Eco-Reps Swap Shop: Highlights and Challenges
- Texas A&M University (TX)
The Texas A&M Residence Life sustainability organization, the Aggie Eco-Reps', "Sustainable Swap Shop" is a free event aimed at providing our community with clothes and resources they need while also …
- Posted Feb. 28, 2025
- Conference Presentations
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Developing a Strong Sustainability Brand Identity: How & Why
- Boston University (MA)
- Lehigh University (PA)
Have you ever wondered what goes into developing a brand or want to learn how to better implement one at your sustainability office? In this interactive session, participants will be …
- Posted Feb. 27, 2025
- Conference Presentations
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Campus as Lab: Successes, Challenges & Future Collective Impact Directions
- Princeton University (NJ)
- The University of British Columbia (BC)
- University of Calgary (AB)
Over the last eight years, 200+ members from primarily US and Canadian campuses have joined an international Campus as Lab Community of Practice (CaL CoP). The CaL CoP has served …
- Posted Feb. 27, 2025
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The Carnegie Elective Classification for Sustainability: Development Process and Updates
- Morehouse College (GA)
- American Council on Education (DC)
- BF Environmental Consultants
This session will provide an update on the development of the new Carnegie Elective Classification for Sustainability, an initiative designed to recognize higher education institutions that demonstrate a deep commitment …
- Posted Feb. 27, 2025
- Conference Presentations
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No Time, No Problem: Solutions to low engagement experiential learning
- College of Charleston (SC)
This discussion will be about how to have low-stakes engagement opportunities with many students, staff, and faculty throughout a university. The sustainability movement is so large that it is important …
- Posted Feb. 27, 2025
- Conference Presentations
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Decarb Buy-In: Creating a Culture of Decarbonization
- California State University, Chancellor's Office (CA)
- University of California, Davis (CA)
- University of Washington, Seattle (WA)
- WRNS Studio (CA)
Decarbonization sits at the nexus of integrated planning. It requires thinking big and working together. Universities are uniquely positioned to model innovative planning approaches to decarbonization, revealing what's possible at …
- Posted Feb. 27, 2025
- Conference Presentations
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"Campus as a Living Lab" Through the Lens of Internships, Grants and Courses
- Duke University (NC)
- University of Georgia (GA)
"Living Lab" or "Campus as Lab" programs position students as sustainability and climate change leaders on campus. This interactive session invites sustainability stakeholders (students, staff, faculty, and more) to explore …
- Posted Feb. 27, 2025
- Conference Presentations
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Enhancing Experiential Learning with On Campus Residential Energy Assessments
- University of Dayton (OH)
The Student Neighborhood at the University of Dayton (UD) is a unique living arrangement for students to live in a mini “neighborhood” located on campus surrounded by their peers. UD …
- Posted Feb. 27, 2025
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Developing Effective EcoReps: Organizational Structure and Management
- Princeton University (NJ)
Are you looking to expand your campus circle of influence or create a self-sufficient student team? Princeton University's Office of Sustainability will share its expanding EcoReps team model and how …
- Posted Feb. 27, 2025
- Conference Presentations
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Why Aren’t Faculty More Engaged on the Climate Crisis? (Spoiler: It might be the tenure process)
- Smith College (MA)
- AASHE (MA)
Do you ever wish that more faculty at your institution were working on sustainability? Many leaders have called for improved support for engaged scholarship(ES) to better connect the academy with …
- Posted Feb. 20, 2025
- Videos & Webinars
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Considering the Accessibility of Compostable Straws
- Williams College (MA)
- Post-Landfill Action Network (NH)
While plastic straws have drawn attention in the past few years as having negative environmental impacts, organizations looking to make progress at the intersection of diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and …
- Posted Feb. 14, 2025
- Case Studies
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Redesigning Assessment for Equity Through Alternative Grading
- AASHE (MA)
- MacEwan University (AB)
Alternative grading offers a lot of potential for improving equity in the classroom and ensuring students achieve key competencies for sustainability. However, getting started can be intimidating. In this session, …
- Posted Feb. 13, 2025
- Videos & Webinars
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Observing Earth Day 2025 On your Campus
- Appalachian State University (NC)
- AASHE (MA)
- Earthday.org (DC)
Learn about the theme of Earth Day 2025: “Our Power, Our Planet,” focused on promoting renewable energy and the power of advocacy! Lee and Libby will introduce you to the …
- Posted Jan. 30, 2025
- Videos & Webinars
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B.Y.O. Campaign and Romeoville Repair Cafe: Reducing Waste by Promoting a Circular Economy through Single Use Waste Reduction and Product Repair
- Joliet Junior College (IL)
American throwaway culture is rapidly expanding garbage landfill around the world; majorly, it’s caused by planned or perceived obsolesces and daily disposables. Many people unknowingly throw away items that could …
- Posted Jan. 27, 2025
- Case Studies
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So Local It Has an Accent: Vanderbilt University Campus Dining’s Local Suppliers Program
- Vanderbilt University (TN)
Vanderbilt University Campus Dining has long been a major advocate for increasing its local supplier purchasing. Officially beginning in 2010, VU Campus Dining has held partnerships with a wide variety …
- Posted Jan. 27, 2025
- Case Studies
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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
- Percent of students served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program
- Description of the student educators program (1st program)
- Description of the student educators program (2nd program)
- Brief description of the student educators program (3rd program)
- Hours worked annually by trained student sustainability educators per students served
- Website URL - Student sustainability educators programs
EN 2: Student Orientation
- Percent of entering students that have an opportunity to participate in sustainability-inclusive orientation activities and programming
- Description of how sustainability is included prominently in new student orientation
- Website URL - Information about sustainability in student orientation
EN 3: Student Life
- Description of the active student groups focused on sustainability
- Description of student gardens, farms, CSAs, fishery programs, and/or urban agriculture projects
- Description of the student-run enterprises
- Description of student sustainable investment funds, green revolving funds or sustainable microfinance initiatives
- Description of sustainability-focused conferences, speaker series, symposia, or similar events for students
- Description of sustainability-focused cultural arts events, installations, or performances
- Description of the wilderness or outdoors programs that follow Leave No Trace principles
- Description of sustainability-focused themes chosen for themed semesters, years, or first-year experiences
- Description of the programs through which students can learn sustainable life skills
- Description of sustainability-focused student employment opportunities offered by the institution
- Description of graduation pledge(s)
- Description of other co-curricular sustainability programs and initiatives
EN 4: Student Life
- Website URL - Central sustainability website
- Description of sustainability newsletter or social media platform(s)
- Description of the signage that highlights campus sustainability features
- Description of the sustainability walking map or tour
- Description of the guide for green living and/or incorporating sustainability into the residential experience
- Description of other comprehensive sustainability outreach materials and publications
EN 5: Student Life
- Description of the first sustainability outreach campaign
- Description of the second sustainability outreach campaign
- Description of other sustainability-related outreach campaigns
EN 6: Assessing Sustainability Culture
- Description of how and when the cultural assessment(s) were developed and/or adopted
- Copy or sample of the questions related to sustainability culture (upload)
- Copy or sample of the questions related to sustainability culture (description)
- Website URL - Assessment of sustainability culture
EN 7: Employee Educators Program
- Percent of employees served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program
- Description of the employee educators program (1st program)
- Description of the employee educators program (2nd program)
- Hours worked annually by trained employee sustainability educators per employees served
- Website URL - Employee sustainability educators programs
EN 8: Employee Orientation
- Percent of new employees that have an opportunity to participate in sustainability-inclusive orientation activities and programming
- Description of how sustainability is included prominently in new employee orientation
- Website URL - Information about sustainability in employee orientation
EN 9: Staff Professional Development & Training
- Estimated percentage of regular, non-academic staff that participates annually in sustainability professional development and training
- Description of any internal sustainability professional development and training opportunities
- Description of any external professional development and training opportunities in sustainability that are supported by the institution
- Estimated percentage of staff for which sustainability is included in performance reviews
- Description of how sustainability is included in staff performance reviews
- Website URL - Information about staff professional development and training in sustainability
Additional analysis on scores and quantitative fields can be conducted using the STARS Benchmarking Tool.