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.

4175 resources

Breaking Boundaries in Sustainability Education

  • University of Minnesota, Duluth (MN)
  • University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)

What brings together faculty in Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Sports Management and Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies? A new cohort-based fellowship program, hosted by the University of Minnesota's Institute ...

  • Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Learning the Language of Executive Leadership to Increase Sustainability's Value

  • Pennsylvania State University (PA)
  • U.S. Green Building Council (DC)
  • Purdue University (IN)

With higher education facing a new political landscape, ongoing budget cuts and an affordability crisis, among other challenges, sustainability professionals must be able to define and communicate sustainability's value ...

  • Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Greeks Go Green: Engaging the Collegiate Greek Community in Sustainable Practices

  • Davidson College (NC)
  • University of Arizona (AZ)
  • University of Nebraska - Lincoln (NE)
  • University of Washington, Seattle (WA)

Greek and other social organizations are a potent force on many college campuses, yet there has been little discussion about best practices for engaging these organizations in sustainability initiatives. Case ...

  • Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Sustainability Summer Camps on Campus

  • Central College (IA)
  • Macalester College (MN)
  • University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)

This workshop highlights examples from two schools utilizing the resources of campus during the summer months through sustainability-focused day camps for kids. At the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Sarita Wetland ...

  • Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Communicating Sustainability Through Social Media

  • Colgate University (NY)
  • Lehigh University (PA)
  • University of Maryland, College Park (MD)

In order to reap the full benefits of engaging your campus community and the public in sustainability through social media, it is important to think about strategies to better leverage ...

  • Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Sustainability and the Arts

  • Colgate University (NY)
  • State University of New York at Geneseo (NY)
  • University of Georgia (GA)

A major challenge for sustainability in higher education is effectively engaging the campus and surrounding community. The arts allow us to visualize and vocalize the hidden and complex into narratives ...

  • Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Prioritizing Sustainable Learning

  • Loyola University Chicago (IL)
  • University of South Alabama (AL)
  • University of Texas at Austin (TX)
  • CannonDesign (NY)

Many of today's colleges and universities have prioritized sustainability and, as a consequence, highly sustainable buildings and landscapes. And, without a doubt, both prospective and current students have expressed ...

  • Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Athletics as a Resource for Advancing Campus Sustainability Goals

  • The Ohio State University (OH)
  • University of Colorado Boulder (CO)
  • Green Sports Alliance (OR)

In 2016, with the support of the White House, the Green Sports Alliance announced October 6th as the inaugural Green Sports Day to celebrate the power of sports as an ...

  • Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Building a Culture of Sustainability through 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 ...

  • Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Exploring the Web-based Promotion of Sustainability in KBOR Institutions: Strategies for Design & Implications for Practice

  • Pittsburg State University (KS)

To more fully understand how the concept of sustainability is represented by institutions of higher education in the state of Kansas, a scoping review of web-based content through university websites ...

  • Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Meatless Monday on Campus: How to VEG (or BEEF) up Your Campus Sustainability Efforts by Connecting to Students Through Food

  • Johns Hopkins University (MD)
  • Bon Appétit Management Company
  • The Monday Campaigns (NY)
  • Changing Tastes (MA)

At the AASHE conference, Meatless Monday is how we connect sustainability through our food choices. In this session, we'll explore how to use the same approach to leverage Meatless ...

  • Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Comparing Move Out Programs: Sharing Perspectives on Waste Diversion, Campus & Community Collaboration, & Sustainability Goals.

  • Colorado State University (CO)
  • University of Iowa (IA)
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI)
  • Wilfrid Laurier University (ON)

Be part of an interactive discussion where 4 universities share their move out program from the perspectives of Housing, Sustainability, Facilities & Surplus & learn ways to advance sustainability, reuse ...

  • Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Strategic Alignment: Communicating Sustainability's Contributions and Value to Mission Level Priorities

  • Harvard University (MA)
  • Pennsylvania State University (PA)
  • University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
  • Second Nature (MA)
  • Purdue University (IN)

Given the challenges facing higher education, from ongoing budget cuts and an affordability crisis to new political realities, sustainability professionals must identify and make a case for the ways in ...

  • Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Next Generation Campus Green Funds

  • Appalachian State University (NC)
  • New York University (NY)
  • Evergreen State College, The (WA)
  • Mohawk College (ON)

Through the use of green funds, colleges and universities have the ability to empower students who are passionate about bringing clean energy and sustainable projects to their campuses. This joint ...

  • Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Less & Better Meat in University Dining Services

  • University of Massachusetts Amherst (MA)
  • Real Food Challenge (MA)
  • Farm Forward (OR)
  • Friends of the Earth (DC)

Reducing the quantity and improving the quality of the meat we eat can help mitigate climate change, improve our health, set a higher standard for the treatment of animals and ...

  • Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Engaging Tech-Savvy Students in Curricular and Co-Curricular Sustainability Programs for Social and Environmental Change

  • Georgia Institute of Technology (GA)
  • HTS Enterprise, LLC (GA)

Sustainability education can meaningfully build and enhance relationships with diverse stakeholders while engaging students in learning that promotes social and environmental change. Leaders from Georgia Tech will share their experiences ...

  • Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Sustainability in Residential Life

  • Concordia College (NY)
  • New York University (NY)
  • Northern Arizona University (AZ)
  • Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (IN)

Looking to build campus connections? Consider working with your institution's Residence Life Department! This session will highlight four different case studies of engagement with Residence Life, a department that ...

  • Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Organizing for Sustainability: How Student Sustainability Groups Make a Difference

  • Northern Arizona University (AZ)
  • The Ohio State University (OH)
  • Trinity University (TX)
  • University of Arizona (AZ)
  • University of Northern Iowa (IA)

From clubs to official classes, internships to independent volunteering, students are often the primary drivers of campus sustainability efforts. Yet student organizations can also face real challenges, including group continuity ...

  • Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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A Journey to Real Food: Growing an Intersectional Food Movement through Student Involvement and Empowerment

  • Fort Lewis College (CO)
  • Gonzaga University (WA)

Empowered communities yield brilliant minds. Empowered, well fed communities allow for meaningful growth in all areas. The intersectional nature of sustainable food, thought, and community driven enterprises brought the Real ...

  • Posted Dec. 1, 2017
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Beyond the Right Thing to Do: The Value of Sustainability in Higher Education

  • AASHE (PA)

This document is intended to help higher education sustainability practitioners more powerfully articulate the value of sustainability to higher education leaders as well as the general public. As different points ...

  • Posted Nov. 28, 2017
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Making College Affordable: Providing Low-Income Students With the Knowledge and Resources Needed to Pay for CollegeState Flagships

College can seem out of reach for many low-income students. Too often they believe college is unaffordable and unattainable. It is no surprise then that students from the bottom socioeconomic ...

  • Posted Nov. 16, 2017
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Is students’ energy literacy related to their university’s position in a sustainability ranking?

  • University of Plymouth (Devon)

University rankings are increasingly important internationally, and in the UK include a sustainability ‘Green League’. However, there is little evidence about experiences of studying in ‘sustainable universities’. We report an ...


Learning Our Way Toward Resilience

  • Island Press (DC)
  • Post Carbon Institute (OR)

This is an excerpt of Chapter 14 from The Community Resilience Reader: Essential Resources for an Era of Upheaval. Resilience education is about building our individual and community capacities to ...


Engaging Stakeholders in Education for Sustainable Development at University Level

This book discusses the role of ESD stakeholders at university level, involving civil society and the private sector and public sectors (including local, national and intergovernmental bodies). In particular, it ...


Higher Education’s Anchor Mission: Measuring Place-Based Engagement

  • University of Missouri-St. Louis (MO)
  • Virginia Commonwealth University (VA)
  • Drexel University (PA)
  • Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Newark Campus (NJ)
  • SUNY Buffalo State (NY)
  • Cleveland State University (OH)

The report examines how an ongoing—and expanding—effort to track the impact of colleges and universities on the financial and social well-being of their surrounding neighborhoods is helping these ...

  • Posted Oct. 25, 2017
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UVic's Green Lab

  • University of Victoria (BC)

Bates College Students Install Solar

  • Bates College (ME)

Working with local solar installer Revision Energy, Bates College students work on the roof of our Shortridge Research Facility to install enough solar panels to cover 100% of the building ...


W&M Park Rx

  • College of William & Mary (VA)

Madelyn Phillips, a Student Park Ambassador for the Campus Park Rx program at William & Mary, prescribes time outside to her fellow students with the goal of improving mental and ...


Fresh Press Paper Making

  • University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (IL)

Two students prepare paper at the University of Illinois' Fresh Press Fiber Program.


UVM Eco-Reps educate peers about composting

  • University of Vermont (VT)

All University of Vermont undergraduates now take at least one sustainability course, and 20 Eco-Reps extend that educational experience by teaching their peers sustainable behaviors as part of daily life ...


Macalester College highlighted in AASHE's 2017 Sustainable Campus Index!

  • Macalester College (MN)

Caption: Kira Liu '17, left, and Emily Sylvestre '16, right, winterizing the bee hives with Pollinate Minnesota staff at Macalester College's Katharine Ordway Natural History Study Area. The photo ...


JMU’s Cultivating the Globally Sustainable Self Summit Series Promotes Transformative Teaching and Learning in Research and Practice

  • James Madison University (VA)

The Cultivating the Globally Sustainable Self Summit Series has brought together leading scholars, educators, and practitioners from around the world to address the crucial problems facing modern society.

https://www ...


Concordia Sustainability Action Fund and the Faculty of Arts & Science Sustainable Curriculum Project

  • Concordia University (QC)

Sustainability Curriculum Co-Creation Teaching & Learning Festival


SOU Students Celebrating Arbor Day

  • Southern Oregon University (OR)

SOU students and the community came together to celebrate Arbor Day and Bee Campus USA by planting 6,000 native plants for pollinators throughout campus.


Healthy Herd Team Facilitators

  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA)

The Healthy Herd Wellness Group at Worcester Polytechnic Institute is a staff-developed and managed program that goes well above and beyond a typical wellness initiative. The award-winning program incorporates nutrition ...


Stanford Be Cardinal Green photo

  • Stanford University (CA)

Launched in April 2017 the My Cardinal Green individual action program at Stanford University provides an online engagement tool and incentive program to encourage conservation among the Stanford community.


Stanford 2017 Lab Swap Meet

  • Stanford University (CA)

Stanford hosts a biannual lab swap meet that invites lab users to donate items no longer needed for their own research and find items of use donated by others.


Leadership in Environmental Stewardship E-badge at Central Community College, NE

  • Central Community College (NE)

Speech faculty Brent Adrian showing students the campus bee hives.


Niagara College Sustainability Engagement

  • Niagara College Canada (ON)

The following images depict various events and initiatives that take place at Niagara College that can be used towards students' Co-Curricular Records, and the LEAD Sustainability stream. These events include ...


NAU - Sustainable Campus Index - Bookstore Bag Pictures

  • Northern Arizona University (AZ)

Northern Arizona University’s Bookstore (operated by Follett) is the latest concessionaire to stop handing out plastic bags for retail operations, opting instead for a more environmentally friendly paper bag ...


Sustainability Scholar 2016 - University of Alberta

  • University of Alberta (AB)

The Sustainability Scholars program provides University of Alberta graduate students opportunities to work on applied research projects with the City of Edmonton, campus units and other institutions. Successful projects provide ...


Sustainability Scholar 2015 - University of Alberta

  • University of Alberta (AB)

Research Report - Executive Summary

The Sustainability Scholars program provides University of Alberta graduate students opportunities to work on applied research projects with the City of Edmonton, campus units and other ...


Cornell University Ithaca Campus: Energy Direct Billing

  • Cornell University (NY)

A new Energy Direct Billing budget model went into effect at Cornell University in 2014, making each college/unit on campus responsible for its own utility bill. This model provides ...


Smith College Study Group on Climate Change

  • Smith College (MA)

Here are several photos that we were utilized in the Report of the Smith College Study Group on Climate Change to illustrate campus work and initiatives in sustainability, including the ...


Loyola Chicago's Water Conservation Carnival

  • Loyola University Chicago (IL)

As part of a water conservation grant, Loyola hosted a Water Conservation Carnival featuring the 97 year-old face of water conservation, Sr. Jean Schmidt. As part of the project, water ...


Core Concepts for Teaching Sustainability: Using “Tips” to Deepen Learning across the Disciplines, Grade Levels and Cultures

  • Colorado State University (CO)
  • AASHE (PA)

Sustainability is one of those big, complex concepts that defy easy definition or simple responses yet demand attention to our collective well-being. Some Native Americans would judge the worth of ...

  • Posted Sept. 28, 2017
  • Videos & Webinars
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#EKULocal Festival

  • Eastern Kentucky University (KY)

On September 7th, 2017, the Office of Sustainability at Eastern Kentucky University hosted its second annual #EKULocal Festival. The festival featured live music, fun activites, fresh produce, and a variety ...

  • Posted Sept. 28, 2017
  • Photographs
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Campus and Community Involvement in Move-Out Programs

  • University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI)
  • Wilfrid Laurier University (ON)
  • AASHE (PA)

Classes end and our students vacate the rooms in their residence halls, cleaning up so that other students may become the new occupants. In the process, students discard lots of ...

  • Posted Sept. 22, 2017
  • Videos & Webinars
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AASHE Award Winner Webinar – Generating and Maintaining Hope and Agency through Sustainability Education

  • Colorado Mountain College (CO)
  • AASHE (PA)

Indigenous educator Gregory Cajete articulates the motivations and questions that drive the presenter’s research. For Cajete, effective education entails ‘finding heart,’ an active process within and beyond the person ...

  • Posted Sept. 14, 2017
  • Videos & Webinars
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University community responses to on-campus resource recycling

  • Massey University

In order to gain a better understanding of the attitudes and behaviour of a campus community toward a university concourse-based recycling scheme, a survey of 1400 students and staff, at ...

  • Posted Sept. 5, 2017
  • Publications
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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

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