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
New Resources
Partnerships: The Key Accelerant to Fire up Sustainability on and off Campus
- Pittsburg State University (KS)
Since the institutionalization of a campus-wide recycling program in 2012, Pittsburg State University (PSU) has had substantial success in not only becoming a more sustainability-oriented campus, but in developing of ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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UC Berkeley's The Green Initiative Fund: Strategies and lessons learned from renewing a green fund
- University of California, Berkeley (CA)
Campus green funds have become symbols of empowerment for the student body. By providing funding towards sustainability projects and initiatives, green funds promote innovation, student leadership, and help bridge the ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Creating Conscious Cultures through Mindfulness
- Princeton University (NJ)
Better known for its ability to benefit people personally, mindfulness is increasingly being linked to encouraging sustainable behaviors that could lead to more conscious, compassionate cultures. Participants will learn why ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Students For Sustainability: A Transformative Workshop Approach to Student Engagement in Sustainability
- University of Arizona (AZ)
The Students for Sustainability workshop at the University of Arizona (UA) provides a model for how institutions of higher education can guide students in engaging with their communities on environmental ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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SustainaMondays at the University of Virginia: A Personal Approach to Promoting Sustainability
- University of Virginia (VA)
The promotions team of U.Va's Office for Sustainability student employees started an initiative called SustainaMondays. It promotes environmentally conscious eating, sustainable lifestyle choices, and U.Va Sustainability events ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Sustainability Management from Zero to Sixty: Green Competitions for Offices, Buildings, Campuses, and Cities
- Dallas College (TX)
Colleges and universities like to compete by nature. Recycle Mania and Campus Conservation Nationals are competitions on a national scale, with hundreds and thousands of students competing to win. At ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Four Success Stories and One Big Challenge on the Frontline of Zero Waste Implementation
- Sheridan College (Ontario) (ON)
Since our college rolled out the Zero Waste program across all four campuses two years ago, we have made significant progress in our waste diversion and reduction. In this session ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Advancing Sustainability - Green Grants Program
- New York University (NY)
Since 2007 New York University's Green Grants program has awarded funding to students, faculty and staff with ideas or projects that advance sustainability. Improving the university's environmental performance ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Student Internships Mobilizing From Coal to Carbon Neutrality Efforts
- Oberlin College (OH)
Carbon neutrality efforts require high level planning and coordination; meanwhile, sustainability offices often have few staff and full plates. This case study highlights efforts of two Oberlin College students who ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Verdant, Active, Elder-Centered Climate Resilience: Climate-Hardy Community Building For All, Via Senior Centered Programming
- Maryville College (TN)
American communities lag in efforts to respond to climate change stressors, with large gaps found in programs targeting a growing, vulnerable population - the elderly. Expected to nearly double in their ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Making it fun: Orienting new students to the college's sustainability goals with a graphic novel.
- Middlebury College (VT)
The first few days in a new environment are key for establishing the environmental norms and expectations of a new community. At Middlebury, we took this opportunity to use a ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Campus sustainability programs: the role of credibility and motivation
- Pennsylvania State University (PA)
Most universities now have some kind of sustainability program, but little work has been done to understand what leads to these programs' success or failure. We investigated stakeholder perceptions of ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Using a High Tunnel to Extend the Growing Season and Engage the Whole Campus With the Campus Garden
- Concordia College (NY)
Six years ago, students championed the creation of a small organic garden on Concordia College's urban campus in northern Minnesota. Although the garden was successful in attracting student interest ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Leveraging Campus Natural Areas for Urban Ecology Research, Education, and Management
- University of Central Florida (FL)
The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a 1,415-acre urban campus, of which 876 acres (62%) is undeveloped green space that includes 337-acres (24%) of upland and wetland conservation ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Sticky Sustainability: Tapping Untapped Resources on Campus #ULMapleMadness
- University of Louisville (KY)
In spring 2016, a maple sugaring community partner collaborated with faculty, staff & students at the University of Louisville to launch a new Sustainable Community Engagement section of the Intro ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Student Environmental Resource Center at UC Berkeley
- University of California, Berkeley (CA)
The Student Environmental Resource Center (SERC) at UC Berkeley advises 50 environmental registered student organizations and student campaigns and 45 The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) projects, directs the Zero Waste ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Best Practices for Growing Your Green Events Program
- Stanford University (CA)
From small departmental meetings to large-scale campus gatherings, Stanford hosts thousands of events each year. In 2015, Stanford's Office of Sustainability launched the Cardinal Green Event and has since ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Assessment of Community-Engaged Learning
- University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (WI)
To ensure that community engagement maximizes its impact on both student understanding of sustainability concepts and the community's adoption of sustainability principles, assessment strategies are needed to evaluate outcomes ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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UMN Energy Club: Preparing Leaders in Energy and Climate through Connecting and Empowering Students
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
Because energy underpins every aspect of society, it requires a diverse range of perspectives to truly understand its comprehensive role in the world. Energy influences many fields, including technology, policy ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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How to Move Sustainability into the B-School
- Wake Forest University (NC)
Business schools can provide students with a high caliber education and prepare them to enter the workforce or create new ventures to address the social, economic, and environmental demands in ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Curriculum Development, Cross-campus Collaboration, and Industry Engagement in Partnership with the B Corporation Community
- North Carolina State University (NC)
Presenters: - Jessica Thomas, Director, Business Sustainability Collaborative, Poole College of Management, NC State University - Craig Dalen, Senior Fellow, Director of B Corps on Campus, B Lab This session explores: - An ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Business Sustainability 2.0: Moving from Enterprise Integration to Market Transformation and the Necessary Changes in the Business System
- University of Michigan (MI)
Enterprise Integration has been with us since the mid 1990s. It involves integrating sustainability into existing business logics (such as operational efficiency, cost of capital, consumer demand, etc.) and the ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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A Case Example for B-Schools: Energy and Economic Opportunity in Modernizing the Grid
- Skidmore College (NY)
Changing regulatory environments are creating economic (and business higher ed) opportunity. The current re-envisioning the energy (REV) proceeding in New York before the public service commission represents a regulatory proceeding ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Framework for Implementing Change
- Green Whys Consulting (TX)
Business schools seeking to integrate sustainability into business education can benefit from the same change management framework leveraged in corporate transformations. 'Change management' is to business education change what LEED ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Colloquium on Sustainability in Business Higher Education Discussion
- Appalachian State University (NC)
We are agents of change, and realize that sustainability is the future of business and business education. Higher education institutions are in the initial phases of examining this question, with ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Colloquium on Sustainability in Business Higher Education
- Appalachian State University (NC)
Business plays a critical role in confronting the environmental and societal challenges currently facing our world. Business higher education must assist in transforming organizations and creating the needed human capital ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Campus Resilience: Prioritizing Goals and Strategies Through Collaborative Gaming
- Bemidji State University (MN)
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
- Sustainable Endowments Institute (MA)
- LHB, Inc. (MN)
This workshop engages participants in Campus Resilience, an educational and collaborative campus-building game whose goal is to achieve institutional carbon neutrality while maintaining resilience: campus academic, cultural, environmental, and financial ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Learn & Grow - Educational and Community Garden
- Mississippi State University (MS)
The intent of this project is to work with the Boys & Girls Club to create a project that can be developed and maintained as a way to engage young ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Offset: The Card Game
- Duke University (NC)
The Duke Carbon Offsets Initiative (DCOI) educates students, staff, and faculty at Duke University about a variety of topics relating to carbon offsets. However, these topics can be difficult to ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Go Beyond Offsetting by Onsetting Carbon Consciousness
- Living Routes, Inc. (MA)
This poster will describe the pros and cons of Carbon Onsetting and explain onsetting as an alternative system that allows greater student engagement and can support meaningful sustainability projects. It ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Sustainability in Pedagogy: Bridging the Gap Between Influence and Impact
- Aquinas College (MI)
There is an issue at the heart of sustainability education which has proven a formidable barrier to more rapid change in our communities and the policies which shape our future ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Increasing diversion rates in outdoor campus spaces: A case study from Hobart and William Smith Colleges
- Hobart and William Smith Colleges (NY)
This poster will highlight findings from a student-led campus sustainability intervention project completed during the year-long Sustainable Living and Learning Community (SLLC) Program for first-year students at HWS. Using a ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Team Up With Your Campus Library for Sustainability Education and Outreach
- Colorado Mountain College (CO)
- University of Arizona (AZ)
For a winning 'season', add your library to the team to enhance the implementation of sustainability solutions on campus and beyond! In this poster, we will highlight some of the ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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How to Visually Share your Story in the Age of Social Media
- Texas A&M University (TX)
Do you ever find it challenging to cut through the noise and share your sustainability message? Making outreach visual and branding your material is key to staying relevant in a ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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To Bee or Not to Bee: A Beekeeping Community
- Central Community College (NE)
This poster will describe the process Central Community College used to engage its service area in the responsible management of honeybee populations. Starting with a beginner beekeeping course, the college ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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The Sustainable Bookstore: Giving New Life to Discarded University Library Books
- Appalachian State University (NC)
When the Appalachian State University library culled its stacks, close to 80,000 books were slated to be recycled. Many of these books, some dating back to the late 1800s ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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The College of Charleston - Zero Waste Initiative
- College of Charleston (SC)
In 2012 the College of Charleston adopted the goal to dramatically reduce waste from processes on campus, and become a certified Zero Waste Institution by 2025. To achieve this goal ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Sustainable Greek Initiative: Making the Campus Community Sustainable One Sorority and Fraternity at a Time
- College of Charleston (SC)
In the Fall of 2012, the Sustainable Greek Initiative was started at the College of Charleston's Office of Sustainability. The initiative works with all three Greek councils at the ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Conversations That Matter: A Discussion on Connecting Sustainability and Diversity in Higher Education
- California State University, East Bay (CA)
- Princeton University (NJ)
- University of Missouri (MO)
- AASHE (MA)
Are you facing challenges on your campus related to connecting diversity and sustainability? AASHE's Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee is a group of directors, managers and coordinators that are helping ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Consolidating the foundation of sustainable solutions: Rice University's Environmental Science program
- Rice University (TX)
To address environmental challenges new generations are required not only to have a solid scientific or technological basis, but to propose sustainable solutions. We often look at sustainable solutions as ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Bee Nice: Creating a Community of Beekeepers
- Central Community College (NE)
Community education departments provide a variety of programs that work to educate the population that a college serves. As concerns related to Colony Collapse Disorder increase awareness of the dangers ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Greek Sustainability Leadership Network
- GreeniPhi (VA)
This networking meeting invites Greek alumni and conference attendees from institutions sustaining Greek life to convene for structured and unstructured conversations about our capacity to accelerate the advancement of sustainability ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Launching your Student Outreach Team
- Johns Hopkins University (MD)
- University of Denver (CO)
- University of Maryland, College Park (MD)
Students have been involved with sustainability offices since the beginning, working as interns, lobbying for operational and administrative change and supporting our events and outreach. Increasingly, students are providing the ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Rethinking Service Immersion: Engaging Students for Systemic Change on Campus and in the Community
- Gonzaga University (WA)
An experiential service-learning program inspired three students at Gonzaga University to make measurable change on their campus. After a week of sustainability volunteerism, students returned to school with ideas for ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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The Living Building at Georgia Tech - A Campus-Wide Engagement Approach
- Georgia Institute of Technology (GA)
In partnership with The Kendeda Fund, Georgia Tech will build a fully certified Living Building Challenge 3.0 building to support instruction, research, campus engagement, and community outreach on its ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Interactive Freshman Orientation - 'Living Sustainably'
- University of Mount Union (OH)
In 2015 the Sustainability Assistants at the University of Mount Union, called Green Raiders, conducted a 45-minute interactive session called 'Living Sustainably' during Freshman Orientation. This was the first time ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Quadrupling Student Employment Without Increased Supervision--Too Good to be True?
- Beloit College (WI)
As the Sustainability Coordinator at Beloit College, a liberal arts college of 1300 undergraduates, I have historically hired 2-3 students each year due to limited supervision bandwidth, despite greater student ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Cedar Valley College a Center of Excellence of Sustainability: How we embedded sustainability into our college
- Dallas College (TX)
Come to this session if you want to know how Cedar Valley College became a Center of Excellence of Sustainability in southern Dallas, TX. We will share: How we utilized ...
- Posted Nov. 18, 2016
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Transitioning from 'Greeks Going Green' to 'Greek is Green'
- 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 Nov. 18, 2016
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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.