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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Empowering Community Engagement Through Event Organization: Connecticut Campus Sustainability Week
- Eastern Connecticut State University (CT)
- Yale University (CT)
Encompassing all parts of university life, sustainability can be a unifying force on college campuses. Since 2015, Connecticut universities have collaborated on Campus Sustainability Week, a week-long celebration held in …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Bridging the Gap: Strategies for Sustainability-Athletics Partnerships
- University of Colorado Boulder (CO)
- Green Sports Alliance (OR)
Expanding sustainability goals and programming to include collegiate athletics provides opportunities for unique engagements across the campus community. Doing so requires building relationships and coordinating cross-pollination between campus sustainability professionals, …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Protest Meets Policy Change: Practical, Local Politics As Key to Building Community Solidarity and Sustainability
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
- Elected Officials to Protect America (SC)
This dynamic workshop challenges participants to engage in politics in ways that build community solidarity and sustainability. In times of great division at the national level, practical projects and local …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Students in the Food Movement: A Vision Deeper than the Problem
- Real Food Challenge (MA)
Even as the campus sustainability movement has grown, the issues in our food system have continued to deepen. Federal policy is failing to protect small farmers, while family fishermen are …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Joining Forces to Restore Urban Woodland and Reconnect Students with Nature: A Model for Campus-Community-Commerce Collaboration
- Indiana University Bloomington (IN)
The Bloomington Urban Woodlands Project brings campus, community, and business together to achieve on-the-ground conservation results, enhanced awareness of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and behavioral change that supports sustainability. Working …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Facilitation for Organizational Change
- GreenerU (MA)
One of the most important, yet often understated skills of any profession is the ability to be a strong group meeting facilitator. Whether it is a small internal meeting with …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Greeks Going Green: How and Why to Foster a Lasting Green Greek Life
- College of Charleston (SC)
- GreeniPhi (VA)
Greek life has a legacy of producing the change makers, leaders, and power brokers of the future. Consequently, educating Greeks about sustainability, and leading them to adopt sustainability measures as …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Social Justice Coffee Hour
- College of Charleston (SC)
Social justice coffee hour is a forum for educated and informal dialogue about different social justice issues by presenting students and attendees with different viewpoints and voices on a certain …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Campus Energy Savings S.P.A.R.K. a Student-Led Recycling Revolution
- Kutztown University of Pennsylvania (PA)
- NORESCO (NC)
Over the past decade, Kutztown University in Pennsylvania has continually worked to retrofit and upgrade campus buildings and services to make them more energy efficient with the help of NORESCO, …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Campus as Classroom at Smith College
- Smith College (MA)
This poster is a unique opportunity for attendees to engage with students who are actively using 'Campus as Classroom' methods for their respective research projects. Campus as Classroom is an …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Energizing Campuses & Communities Through More Meaningful and Applied Learning
- Skyline College (CA)
- Strategic Energy Innovations (CA)
This networking meeting is open to all campus stakeholders interested in the Energize Colleges program. Current and potential future campus partners are invited to discuss year one successes and challenges, …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Ten Years of Including Wellness in the Sustainability Model
- Bemidji State University (MN)
Bemidji State University's Sustainability Office created a unique model for sustainability that includes a wellness component. The mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health of every person matters. Reducing anxiety, eating …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Climatepedia: A Climate Action Network for the Nation
- University of California, Irvine (CA)
Climatepedia was founded by undergraduate students in 2011 by UCLA students. It is now an emerging 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with chapters at UC Irvine, UCLA, and Yale University. Our organization …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Environmental Arts: How Sustainability and Art Can Create Meaningful Community Relationships
- University of Arizona (AZ)
Art in the environment is a constant evolving idea that challenges the notion of how we approach sustainable practices. Using fine arts practices like painting and drawing express creativity that …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Developing Community Solidarity Through Beekeeping
- Central Community College (NE)
This presentation will cover how a college beekeeping course resulted in an informed community of concerned honey bee supporters. Central Community College started a beekeeping course that drew participants from …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Implementing an Environmental Sustainability Badge Program: Best Practices for Co-Curricular Learning and Community Engagement
- Central Community College (NE)
Integrating environmental sustainability across a community college's curriculum requires more than interest from administration and faculty. Integration needs employees across the entire college capable of communicating, implementing, maintaining and modeling …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Oral History and Sustainability: Campus and Community Engagement Through Student Research in the Humanities
- Central College (IA)
This session introduces oral history as a tool for students to investigate and influence the cultures of sustainability on campus and in the community. Since 2015, Central College in Pella, …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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From the Iowa Caucus to the Iowa State House: Strategies for Sustained Civic Engagement
- Central College (IA)
In 2015-16, leading up to the Iowa caucus and presidential election, Central College focused sustainability education efforts strongly on civic engagement, hosting a mock caucus, debate watch parties, guest speakers, …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Senior Leadership Summit: Positioning Sustainability as Your Ultimate Innovation and Strategy Driver
- Harvard University (MA)
- Millersville University (PA)
AASHE's 2017 Senior Leadership Summit is an intensive professional development opportunity for senior leaders and their teams to accelerate their sustainability leadership impact by increasing the flow and adoption of …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Forming campus collaborations to support student advocacy skills
- University at Albany (NY)
The recent Presidential election has inspired a new activism in our students. They want to be heard by not only campus administration, but by local, state and federal representatives, but …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Foundations of Sustainability
- Colgate University (NY)
Foundations of Sustainability is an interactive discussion seminar facilitated by the Colgate University Office of Sustainability Green Raider Interns that students may take to engage in conversations about sustainability and …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Engaging Students in Sustainable Living Without Social Media/Internet. Discussion for Sustainability Staff in Student Housing.
- Stanford University (CA)
Stanford University's Residential & Dining Enterprises in partnership with students and academic departments have performed cutting edge research on student behavior and facility efficiency. Within just a few years studies …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Sustainability in the apparel discipline: The layers of ESRAP
- Baylor University (TX)
- University of Wyoming (WY)
Social responsibility and sustainable fashion are two topics that have emerged as prominent themes in courses within textiles and apparel curriculums around the globe. As important as these topics and …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Green Career Toolbox: Skills Workshops for More Effective/Employable SustainaStudents
- University of Virginia (VA)
This session will allow attendees to discuss some of the specific skills that make students more effective agents for social change. For example, many sustainability offices already incorporate community-based social …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Nourishing U: Reclaiming Food, Alleviating Hunger, Redressing Health Inequities, and Serving up Food Justice
- University of Utah (UT)
Salt Lake Excess, created by University of Utah Honors College students, is a novel real-time food recovery model focused on eliminating the transportation and coordination barriers to food recovery. Via …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Data Mapping Academia's Voluntary Commitments to the United Nations' Ocean Conference 2017
- Tarleton State University (TX)
The purpose of this research is to examine academic institutions voluntary commitments to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals as published in the Partnership Data for the Sustainable Development …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Engaging Senior Leaders in Organizational Design and Idea Flow: Lessons learned from Corporate & Higher Education Sector Leaders
- Harvard University (MA)
- Swarthmore College (PA)
This session will present key findings from a landmark corporate CEO study along with applied leadership engagement case stories from higher education institutions to help advance our collective efforts to …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Mapping Your Campus Metabolism: Taking a Systems Approach to Understanding Material Flows on Your Campus
- Furman University (SC)
As campuses strive to become increasingly more sustainable, a comprehensive, integrated systems understanding of a university's campus metabolism and key material flows (water, energy, food, and materials) is essential for …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Campus Gardens: Increasing Sustainability and Lowering Food Insecurity
- West Chester University of Pennsylvania (PA)
In this session, we will focus on the role campus gardens can play in educating faculty, students, and staff about sustainable food systems as well as their role in alleviating …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Compost and Collaboration: Reaching Zero Waste at UCI in Dining Commons and Residence Halls
- University of California, Irvine (CA)
- Aramark (PA)
The University of California system and UC Irvine have committed to reaching Zero Waste, or 95% diversion from landfill by 2020. In 2016, UCI reached 83% diversion, the highest rate …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Employee Outreach: Creating a Culture of Sustainability in all Stakeholders at Arizona State University
- Arizona State University (AZ)
- Aramark (PA)
Arizona State University is committed to being a leader in all areas of sustainability in Higher Education. A vital role in accomplishing this is to create awareness, educate, and integrate …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Engaging Partners in Source Reduction
- Aramark (PA)
40% of food produced in the U.S. is lost or wasted each year (FAO, 2014). Through data capture, staff training and guest education, University of California, Irvine (UCI) Hospitality & …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Models for Collaborative and Implementable Pan-Campus Sustainability Plans
- Georgia Institute of Technology (GA)
- North Carolina State University (NC)
Taking sustainability to the next level, for many higher education institutions, requires a strategic, long-range, and comprehensive sustainability plan. The process by which you develop content, engage the campus community …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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How to Expand a Recycling Program for Future Years
- University of Nevada Las Vegas (NV)
With a barren desert, no political will to implement policy nor financial incentive to push Nevadans to recycle, recycling in Nevada is virtually nonexistent. Currently, due to low landfill tipping …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Leveraging Living Building Challenge Standards across Campus Operations
- Georgia Institute of Technology (GA)
- Hampshire College (MA)
How do you show faculty, staff and students that a building is alive and empower them to keep it healthy? As the most stringent green building certification in the world, …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Southwestern University Campus as a Living Laboratory
- Southwestern University (TX)
As a small liberal arts school in the middle of conservative Central Texas, Southwestern provides a unique example of a case study for increasing the sustainability of an institution of …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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The Campus Climate is Heating up!: A Case Study of Student Activism at a Liberal Arts University
- Southwestern University (TX)
Campus communities are a particular type of environment, uniquely affected by the political state of the surrounding area. Just as a politician's constituents should determine her platform, students at a …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Empowering Solidarity Through Shared Sustainability Vision and Leadership
- Iowa State University (IA)
Solidarity unifies diversity, creativity and passion toward a common goal. Through a shared sustainability position, Iowa State University's Office of Sustainability and the City of Ames, Iowa, unite together to …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Plants on the Plate: Meeting Student Demand for Sustainable Plant-Based Dining.
- Cornell University (NY)
- The Humane Society of the United States (MD)
Market forces are shifting the ground beneath institutional food services, and most of them are far beyond what operators have the power to control. While they are hard to predict, …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Green Labs at The University of Texas at Austin
- University of Texas at Austin (TX)
The Office of Sustainability's Green Labs program at The University of Texas at Austin is a student-led initiative that serves as a resource to help researchers run a more sustainable …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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UT Austin Campus Environmental Center: Student-led Environmental Action
- University of Texas at Austin (TX)
Bridging the gap between student interest and administrative support can be challenging in a bureaucratic university, especially when students seek operational changes towards sustainable practices. The UT Austin Campus Environmental …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Nudging commuters, big data and bold partnerships: A research-based approach to impacting commuter mode choice at MIT
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA)
Researchers at MIT's Transit Lab, alongside MIT's operational decision-makers, have been examining commuter patterns at MIT for years. They helped launch a pilot collaboration between MIT and the Massachusetts Bay …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Benefits for Transitioning to in-House Dining - A Panel Discussion
- Sewanee - The University of the South (TN)
This panel will explore the process, benefits, and challenges of using an in-house dining service. The panel will examine how a switch from an outside provider to an in-house dining …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Building Blocks for Assessing the Impact of Energy Dashboards
- Princeton University (NJ)
Energy Dashboards can be effective tools in communicating about sustainability by providing real-time feedback on campus energy usage. The challenge many schools are faced with is how to use their …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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A study-away experience in Costa Rica through the eyes of students and faculty from Trinity University.
- Trinity University (TX)
Few places in the world are as biologically diverse as Costa Rica and as such it is a captivating and educational place to visit for students interested in sustainability. Trinity …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Visual Art and Poetry in Environmental Education
- Trinity University (TX)
The presenters, an artist and a poet, have co-taught several courses incorporating student production of art and poetry in environmental education. The presentation will describe and show how specific experiences …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Sustainability Council-- Collaboration Among Student Organizations Is Key to Sustainable Success at Ohio State
- The Ohio State University (OH)
As a major land-grant institution, The Ohio State University offers many opportunities for student involvement in sustainability. The University has over 100 sustainability-oriented organizations-- each with is own mission. Recently, …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Leveraging Student Activity Fees to Catalyze High Impact Sustainability Projects
- Bowling Green State University (OH)
- Gordian (SC)
According to the AASHE Campus Sustainability Revolving Loan Funds Database, the growth of Green Revolving Funds (GRFs) has exploded to include over 80 institutions representing over $100 Million. Techniques behind …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Sustainable Collaboration: Solving the Commuter Crisis
- University of Houston (TX)
Minimizing the number of vehicles traveling to and parking on campus, while also reducing Houston's carbon footprint and improving the region's air quality is a critical goal of the University …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Sustainability Ambassadors: Modeling a Culture of Sustainability at New Student Orientation
- Boston University (MA)
The mission of the Sustainability Ambassadors program is to motivate, inspire, and lead Boston University's efforts in supporting a culture of sustainability during new student orientation. The approach to incorporating …
- Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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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.