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
Engaging Students in Measuring Sustainability: Aligning STARS with People, Planet, Purpose
- Northern Arizona University (AZ)
- University of Colorado Colorado Springs (CO)
The role of higher education is to provide education and research as well as leadership by example. With regard to such an important issue as sustainability, it is vital that ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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America's Greenest Campus: Sustainability at Rio Salado College
- Rio Salado College (AZ)
- Scottsdale Community College (AZ)
- SmartPower (DC)
Building a sustainable campus takes good policies - and engagement of students both in and out of the classroom.
In 2009, Rio Salado College won SmartPower's America's Greenest Campus ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Cultivating Sustainable Campuses - One Conversation at a Time
- University of Arkansas at Little Rock (AR)
- Presidio Graduate School (CA)
- EcoChallenge.org (OR)
Description: Our session will engage participants in our sustainability-themed discussion circles and will offer guidance on how to utilize these resources on campus. Presentation will highlight examples of colleges and ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Meeting People Where They Are: Tactics for Campus Culture Change
- Emory University (GA)
- Johns Hopkins University (MD)
Sustainability often gets associated with placing recycling bins or hosting an earth day event, but these small tasks often mask the complexity of developing a comprehensive program at an institutional ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Earth Day and Beyond: Sustainability and Campus Programs
- Green Mountain College (VT)
- Old Dominion University (VA)
Campus events have the opportunity to engage students along with staff, faculty and community members in local and global sustainability issues and activities that are both educational and entertaining. Options ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Best Practices for Green Student Organizations
- Presidio Graduate School (CA)
- Princeton Energy Systems (PA)
This lecture will promote best practices for environmental student organizations. It will highlight how students can market themselves sustainably, convince decision makers, effectively network, and cultivate their own leadership to ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Effective Peer-to-Peer Behavior Change Programs for Universities
- University of British Columbia (BC)
- Simon Fraser University (BC)
A workshop which aims to prepare participants to design and develop effective peer-to-peer behavior change and sustainability leadership programs within a university setting. The majority of peer-to-peer behavior change programs ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Climate Action Planning and Student Engagement
- State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (NY)
- Syracuse University (NY)
Sustainability and Climate Action efforts SUNY ESF first engaged students in a formal way in 2000. Students developed ESF's first assessment of the energy required to educate and undergraduate ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Environmental Sustainability Living and Learning Community
- University of Denver (CO)
The Environmental Sustainability Living and Learning Community (ESLLC) at the University of Denver provides first-year students the opportunity to activate their classroom learning through eco-curricular team learning, experiential education, and ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Student Sustainability Fees: What Do We Do When They Pass?
- Western Michigan University (MI)
In our March 2010 student government elections, after a wide-reaching and creative campaign, Western Michigan University (WMU) students voted to support a fee to finance campus sustainability initiatives. In April ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Carbon Offsets in a Local Setting: Final Results from the Green House Project
- Ohio University (OH)
The Green House Project was a split-incentive and education program which targeted both student renters and their landlords (hence the "split") in the Athens OH area in order to improve ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Promoting and Practicing Sustainability
- Red Rocks Community College (CO)
The panel will present short papers on how we promoted sustainability across the curriculum, set up faculty workshops, but also trained students and faculty to go and participate in helping ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Financing Sustainability Audits, Outreach, and Education: The Greening Operations (GO!) Team
- University of California, Berkeley (CA)
The Building Sustainability @ Cal Program (BS@C) works to reduce the environmental impact of campus buildings by educating students in green building topics, project implementation, and professionalism with the ultimate ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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4 Rs: Residents Reduce, Re-use, & Recycle
- University of Wyoming (WY)
The main goal for our presentation is to educate and inform attendees that young adults are leading the way on the UW campus in recycling, reducing and re-using. This discussion ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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How Passion Inspired the Evolution of Energy Reduction to Sustainability
- Washington University in St. Louis (MO)
The business case for Sustainability is more compelling than ever in tough economic times. Energy costs serve as one of the largest budget items and represent enormous potential savings for ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Campus Success through Collaboration and Student Engagement
- Arizona State University (AZ)
Building student support for university sustainability programs is the fundamental element that will catalyze the necessary culture change to create an aware and engaged society and the resulting long-term programmatic ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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It Won't Decay, Don't Throw It Away!
- Indiana University Bloomington (IN)
Building on the success of an electronic waste collection campaign the previous year, Indiana University organizers expanded the planning, promotion and implementation of the 2010 Electronic Waste Collection Days to ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Measuring Change in Pro-environmental Behavior: SJSU's Ecological Footprint Challenge
- San Jose State University (CA)
In 2009, the Sustainability Initiative at San Jose State University created two unique programs to engage its 25,000 students, faculty, and staff in understanding and taking action on the ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Going Global: Green Guide for Sustainability at Dalhousie, Africa, and beyond!
- Dalhousie University (NS)
The College of Sustainability at Dalhousie University is a new interfaculty unit responding to global concern regarding environmental, economic, and social issues and the achievement of sustainable prosperity. The first ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Eating Our Way to Green
- Northern Arizona University (AZ)
While students are generally recognized as critical to the success of campus sustainability endeavors - many student groups are prime movers, in fact - their rapid turnover and apparent distractability can be ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Catalyzing Student Sustainability Engagement and Leadership with Campus Living Laboratorites
- Portland State University (OR)
Two new Student Affairs programs at Portland State University are creating systems that allow students to engage in campus sustainability through hands-on education. The Sustainability Leadership Center is a new ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Change Starts at “Home:” Promoting Sustainable Living in Residence Halls
- Southern Methodist University (TX)
The Beatles once sang, "You say you want a revolution. Well you know, we all want to change the world." SMU's Residence Life program wanted to help change the ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Student Driven Campus Biodiesel
- State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (NY)
The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) started producing biodiesel for its fleet four years ago. The project was initiated by an undergraduate ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Student Engagement: Supporting and inspiring sustainability leadership on campus
- University of Alberta (AB)
Involving students in Campus Sustainability provides a wonderful opportunity to increase project reach, raise awareness and support the development of sustainability leaders. As Universities continue to grow efforts to create ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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UCLA Action Research Teams: Model for Collaborative Sustainability Research
- University of California, Los Angeles (CA)
The UCLA Action Research Team (ART) program is part of the student-led Education for Sustainable Living Program, run on several UC campuses across California under the umbrella group the California ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Implementing a Local Food Fundraiser on your Campus
- University of Missouri (MO)
This session will provide tools to plan and measure the success of a campus-wide fundraiser. The Local Food for Local People food drive has successfully raised over $1,000 in ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Empowering students for sustainability
- Utah State University (UT)
Three Utah State University students will be presenting on empowering students to become involved in sustainability activities both on and off campus. Special emphasis will be given to a) student ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Baking Sustainability Into Co-Curricular Programs
- Warren Wilson College (NC)
Experiential, co-curricular programs can galvanize campus sustainability action and empower students to make sustainable decisions in a way classroom experiences cannot. Every campus has the opportunity to develop co-curricular programs ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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First-Year Experience: A Cross-Campus Integration of Sustainability Education
- Appalachian State University (NC)
This presentation will highlight a unique cross campus collaboration focused on the integration of sustainability education and service learning into Appalachian State University's First Year Seminar Program and Residential ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Student Green Fee: Lessons Learned from the First Year
- Bowling Green State University (OH)
The number of universities with some form of "Student Green Fee" are increasing each year. Bowling Green State University joined the ranks of these institutions and just completed its first ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Training the next generation of environmental problem solvers
- Colorado State University (CO)
a) Background
The most critical issues facing the world stem from complex interactions between humans and the environment. The School of Global Environmental Sustainability (SoGES) at CSU established 2008 is ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Excellence in Education - the Duke Smart Home Program
- Duke University (NC)
The Duke Smart Home Program began in 2003 when a student had an idea to design a place where students could live and work together on projects of sustainability and ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Got stuff? Chuck it for Charity: A student move out collection initiative
- Florida State University (FL)
Each spring over 6,000 Florida State University on-campus residents move out of the residence halls, leaving behind tons of unwanted "stuff" that is usually sent directly to the landfill ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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E=(LG)2 : Writing Sustainability
- Frostburg State University (MD)
E=(LG)2 is the only student-written and student-edited magazine in the country on sustainability. The magazine is based at Frostburg State University in western Maryland. According to the magazine ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Putting it all together: The Push for Renewable Energy inside & outside the classroom
- Green Mountain College (VT)
In this session, the importance of collaborative campus sustainability efforts will be highlighted. On Earth Day, 2010, Green Mountain College opened its new Combined Heat and Power Biomass Plant. This ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Role of Organizational Structure in Sustainable Student Collaborations
- Indiana University Bloomington (IN)
Student organizations from across Indiana University's Bloomington campus have banded together as the Student Sustainability Council to jointly represent IUB students on sustainability-related matters. Council member organizations vary widely ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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How to Involve 14,000 People in Campus Energy Conservation
- Indiana University Bloomington (IN)
The third annual Indiana University Energy Challenge took place March 25 - April 22, 2010. This month-long competition to conserve energy and water has grown considerably since its inception in 2008 ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Food Composting on Campus: Opportunities for Leadership for Sustainability
- Kean University (NJ)
According to a feature story in The Chronicle of Higher Education, "with great fanfare, universities are trumpeting their efforts to make society more equitable and environmentally healthy." An important question ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Ecovillages as Campuses for Sustainability Education
- Living Routes, Inc. (MA)
Ecovillages are communities striving to create cooperative lifestyles in harmony with their local environments. From appropriate technologies to holistic health; from sustainable agriculture to group facilitation, ecovillages are integrating solutions ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Curriculum in Action: Integrating Sustainability throughout the College Experience
- Loyola University Chicago (IL)
Colleges and universities across the country wrestle with the issues of "Greening" their campuses, making social statements about sustainability, and informing their students about the fundamental scientific, social and economic ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Engaging in reuse: Design & implementation of a student swap shop
- Meredith College (NC)
Meredith College, a small women's institution in Raleigh, North Carolina called for a campus swap shop as one of its long-term waste reduction strategies. This presentation details the planning ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Challenges and successes of an internal certification program and peer-to-peer educator network
- Michigan State University (MI)
Changing behavior at an organization is difficult, particularly when sustainability officers are time and personal limited. One way to communicate to a wide audience is to recruit people in every ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Kick-Start Your Sustainability Program Using Student Funding and Energy!
- North Seattle College (WA)
North Seattle Community College (NSCC) has burst on to the college sustainability scene over the last year by establishing a model for a vigorous Sustainability Program. While other programs boast ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Using STARS as a Co-Curricular Opportunity for Students
- Northern Arizona University (AZ)
The STARS system offers an excellent opportunity to engage students in campus sustainability. By using student teams to collect, verify, and submit STARS data, higher education institutions may not only ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Developing student led initiatives to supplement existing University action
- Northern Arizona University (AZ)
The presenters will include members of the NAU Green Fund, Campus Climate Challenge, and other environmental themed student groups, as well as student leaders from the University of Arizona. The ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Environmental Sciences and Sustainability: Creating Successful Cross-Campus Collaborations
- Oregon Institute of Technology (OR)
Environmental sciences are intimately linked to sustainability efforts. In fact, environmental scientists document the planetary changes to biodiversity, water, soils, human health, and the atmosphere caused by human activity. Five ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Supporting University Sustainability through Student Fellowships
- Pacific Lutheran University (WA)
Pacific Lutheran University supports student sustainability fellowships to promote not only specialized education, but cross campus collaboration. Student Sustainability Fellowships are intended to provide opportunities for students of any discipline ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Park(ing) Day: Turning a Parking Garage into a Park
- San Francisco State University (CA)
SF State inaugurated its first campus PARK(ing) Day event, transforming the top level of the parking structure into a temporary "park" in order to promote alternative commuting options. PARK ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability, Facebook, and Free Food: The Importance of Student-led Initiatives
- Southern Methodist University (TX)
The first time my residents met me, I was elbow-deep in a recycling bin. Their recycling bin. It was an experience I'll never forget as an SMU E-rep. The ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Wear the Sun! Sixteen Texas State University Students Change Campus
- Texas State University, San Marcos (TX)
"Wear the Sun!" Yes, wear the sun. Reduce the amount of your use of electricity, hence coal. Save the fibers in your clothes by choosing to line dry your wet ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 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.