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
Green Certifications as Stealth Training Tools
- University of California, Berkeley (CA)
Faced with a large, decentralized campus and a mandate to encourage a culture of sustainability, UC Berkeley launched new green department and green event certifications in April 2009. We wanted ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Students teaching students to save energy in their homes
- University of Colorado Boulder (CO)
Many students living on their own for the first time are on financial aid or work to cover living expenses; making ends meet can be tough. Yet most are not ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Stimulating Behavioral Change through Visual Media Campaign
- University of Colorado Denver - Anschutz Medical Campus (CO)
Auraria's Sustainable Campus Program (SCP) is funded and led by students at Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State College of Denver and the University of Colorado Denver which all ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Standards of Sustainability Practice for Student Affairs Administrators
- University of Denver (CO)
This concurrent workshop session introduces the Standards of Sustainability Practice for Student Affairs Administrators. The workshop begins with an introduction to the key concepts and definitions of sustainability and how ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Move Out Madness - End of Year Waste Reduction and Donations
- University of Guelph (ON)
There's so much going on, it's Madness! Learn the details of a successful program designed to capture useful stuff left behind by students in undergraduate residences and in ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Creating broad support for campus sustainability through collaboration
- University of Hawaii - West Oahu (HI)
The new University of Hawaii West O‘ahu campus in Kapolei, opened in summer 2012, is a place where sustainability practices are integrated in the development and operation of the ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Administrative advocacy: fostering sustainability champions at the top
- University of Missouri (MO)
Having administrative champions on your side can help your campus sustainability efforts to move faster, receive more support, and be more effective. But how do you develop a rapport with ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Garbage on the Green Creates Recycling Awareness on Campus
- University of North Florida (FL)
In a campaign to create awareness about waste reduction and recycling, the University of North Florida Environmental Center created Garbage on the Green. This all day event incorporates an exhibitor ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Harvesting the Wind: Productive Student Engagement in Campus Sustainability
- University of Texas at Austin (TX)
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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Changing Behavior, One Phase at a Time
- University of Virginia (VA)
After watching Colin Beavan's Documentary "No Impact Man", our Earth Week planning team tried to fit his "No Impact Experiment" into a week but due to overcrowding and the ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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SustainaUnity: Campus Collaboration with Sustainability
- University of Virginia (VA)
In 2008, University Unity Project was started by Student Council to bring the University of Virginia together. Each year the student body voted on a theme around which to unite ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Connecting the Past to a Sustainable Future: Exploring Local Histories
- University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (WI)
When first year students arrive on campus, they learn how to introduce themselves. They repeatedly recite their hometowns and tentative majors. College students care about the places they consider home ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Lessons from the Heap: Five Years of Move-Out Reuse Efforts
- Yale University (CT)
Inspired by increasing global demand for sustainable practices, colleges and universities around the world are taking the lead in developing systems and policies that achieve a higher environmental standard. One ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Green Campus 101- Empowering Tomorrow's Energy Efficiency Leaders
- Alliance to Save Energy (CA)
Colleges offer prime opportunities to address energy issues, as demonstrated by the Alliance to Save Energy's Green Campus Program. This session will showcase transferable best practices of a student-driven ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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How to Kick the Bottle with Bottled Water Alternatives
- American University (DC)
Learn how to replace bottled water with alternatives in order to cut solid waste, reduce upstream water consumption, save money, ensure human health, and protect the public water supply. Many ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Friday Night Lights: Dialing Down Energy Use
- Bowling Green State University (OH)
The phenomenon known as "Friday Night Lights" at Bowling Green State University was created in the fall of 2009. A student approached the Sustainability Coordinator with an idea he had ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Bottom-Up Facilitation Needed For Student Sustainability Initiatives
- California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (CA)
Student-led environmental coalition creates an ambitious agenda for 2009-10 school year complete with sustainability forums, films, Earth Week events, and local food fairs. Student clubs generally run a slate of ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Institutionalizing Zero-Waste Events
- Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
University events that generate the most waste tend to include food or drink. Universities, their departments, and student groups host events with food and drink for many reasons. Food and ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability courses for students with busy schedules: "The Environment Today"
- Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
Carnegie Mellon University has instituted environmental education across its curriculum over the past five years. The latest course addition, "The Environment Today," was spearheaded by student organizations at Carnegie Mellon ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Tapping into Sustainability
- Coastal Carolina University (SC)
Think Outside the Bottle is a campaign working to promote, protect and ensure public funding for our public water systems. We're working with tens of thousands of public officials ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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A Collaborative Approach to Creating a More Sustainable Campus
- Eastern Connecticut State University (CT)
As an early signatory of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, (ACUPCC), Eastern Connecticut State University made clear its ongoing commitment to leadership in environmental responsibility. We are ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Fostering Student Leadership of Campus Sustainability Work
- Fleming College (ON)
Our presentation will focus on our efforts to work collaboratively with our students on campus sustainability. Active student engagement in campus sustainability initiatives has been the cornerstone of our Frost ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Chuck it for Charity: FSU's 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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Advocating Sustainability: Learning from Campus, Teaching the Community
- Furman University (SC)
The dissemination of campus-based sustainability efforts provides both general knowledge and specific updates to several audiences, on campus and beyond. This communicated information is critical for evaluating and assessing sustainability ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Campus Wide Waste Audit
- Furman University (SC)
Diving into the Depths of the Desolate Dumpster 2.0: A Campus-Wide Waste Audit of Furman University
Erika Baldwin, Will Stallings, and Weston Dripps
Furman University, Earth and Environmental Sciences ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The GREEN Room at Furman University
- Furman University (SC)
The Green Room Energy and Environmental Initiative (GREEN) Showcase room is a green model residence hall room at Furman University intended to foster and promote eco-friendly lifestyle choices and product ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Service-Learning and Sustainability: Engaging Students in Sustainability Action
- Georgia Southern University (GA)
Service-learning engages students in service in order to improve understanding of course concepts with hands-on learning. Campus sustainability programs often seek to engage students in sustainability action projects in order ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Student Internships as the Driver for Campus Sustainability
- Indiana University Bloomington (IN)
In its first six months of existence, the Indiana University Task Force on Sustainability established the Internship Program in Sustainability. Utilizing campus as a living laboratory, the program enlists undergraduate ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Effects of submetering on individual behavior at Lynchburg College
- University of Lynchburg (VA)
Attendees will achieve the following: 1) Understand the research-supported elements that should be incorporated into pledge programs to increase participation and sustain behavior change; 2) Be familiar with challenges and ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Student Sustainability Internship Program: Creatively Involving Students in Sustainability Efforts
- Oregon Institute of Technology (OR)
Sustainability initiatives on college campuses, whether education campaigns or tracking and reporting for STARS, require significant time commitments that often cannot be met by sustainability personnel. Simultaneously, students are seeking ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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unPLUg: How an Energy Competition Can Permanently Change Behavior
- Pacific Lutheran University (WA)
Many colleges have implemented residential hall competitions to reduce energy; however do these competitions create long-term change in behavior? Too often after the tally is counted many will return to ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Hydration Stations: How perception influences Portland State University's water sustainability
- Portland State University (OR)
While universities often talk about sustainability, how do we actually measure the impact of our actions? How are the outcomes of campus initiatives influenced by students' perspectives? The social and ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Green Auto Show
- Presbyterian College (SC)
Recognizing that vehicle choice by young buyers has a profound and lasting effect on consumption of fossils fuels, pollution, and our nation's national security, Presbyterian College sponsored a Green ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Journal of Sustainability Education
- Prescott College (AZ)
The Journal of Sustainability Education (JSE) serves as a forum for academics and practitioners to share, critique, and promote research, practices, and initiatives that foster the integration of economic, ecological ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Student Housing as a Catalyst for a Sustainable Campus
- Stony Brook University (NY)
The design of sustainable student housing can positively impact the experience of living and learning on a higher education campus. Incorporation of sustainable design features serve as an educational tool ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Engaging Students in Sustainability Efforts on College Campuses
- University of Central Missouri (MO)
How many times has your office wanted student input on sustainability projects and didn't know how to engage students? Perhaps you are having trouble rallying students around a proposed ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Sustainability Hut at the University of Florida
- University of Florida (FL)
The Sustainability Hut at the University of Florida is a moveable education tool that aims to educate our campus community about sustainability. This session will include highlights and lessons learned ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Student Sustainability Initiative: Linking Students and the Administration
- University of Michigan (MI)
The University of Michigan has recently expanded its commitment to sustainability, establishing an Office of Campus Sustainability in 2009 and launching a campus-wide assessment to understand current sustainability practices and ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Creating a Bike Culture On Campus
- University of Minnesota, Duluth (MN)
Cycling is a dependable mode of transit and offers students, staff, and faculty a healthy choice that reduces the overall carbon footprint of campuses. The University of Minnesota Duluth is ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustained! Keeping student environmental organizations running
- University of Missouri (MO)
In a dynamic and transient campus environment, leadership changes and long-term plans often get lost in the tussle of action and planning. To enact lasting change on a college campus ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Greening a University Tradition
- University of North Texas (TX)
During the Fall of 2009, the University of North Texas began a concerted effort to increase the sustainability of our athletic events. Many faculty, staff and students became involved in ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Putting the Pieces Together: Engaging Your University Community for Sustainability
- University of North Texas (TX)
This presentation will focus on recruiting and retaining "people resources" for your sustainability program. As each of our institutions strives toward a future of sustainability, we are all faced with ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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RecycleMania: The Race to Zero Campus Waste
- University of Oregon (OR)
Join a dynamic panel of representatives from campuses large and small, public and private, who will discuss how they have used this EPA-sponsored, Keep America Beautiful-administered tournament to promote recycling ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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How to engage people in behavioural change for sustainable development
- University of Ottawa (ON)
The University of Ottawa, Canada, has been advancing sustainable development through its communications and outreach strategies. Considering the budget, and the problem faced by any institutions of its size, the ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Greening Campus Sustainability Organizations Themselves: Creating a Green Organizational Culture
- University of South Carolina (SC)
Traditional organizational structures are an impediment to the full realization of the mission of most campus sustainability offices. At the University of South Carolina, applying green values across the campus ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Conducting a Waste Audit at a Large Urban Campus
- University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (WI)
In spring 2010, a comprehensive waste audit was conducted at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh by the students in Environmental Studies 390: Topics of Campus Sustainability. In order to fully ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability through a Holistic Approach to Student Wellbeing
- Washington State University, Pullman (WA)
The Wellbeing program at Washington State University (WSU) views student health using a holistic model. One of the eight dimensions in that model used to illustrate individual and community wellbeing ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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First Impression: Freshmen Orientation Sustainability Efforts
- Western Colorado University (CO)
Western State Campus of Colorado has declared 2010_2011 its "Year of Sustainability". The ideal place to create an environmental commitment is with incoming students, thus laying the foundation to encourage ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Moving Ideas into Action: Creating a Year of Sustainability
- Western Colorado University (CO)
A critical step to creating more sustainable higher education campuses is to enable cultural change through education. One method for accelerating cultural change is to have a campus endorse a ...
- Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Green Orientation: Starting Freshmen on a Sustainable Track
- Whitman College (WA)
Green Orientation is an institution-specific program designed to orient freshmen to their role in the school's sustainable practices. After Green Orientation, freshmen should be equipped with the knowledge and ...
- 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.