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

UT Farm Stand

  • University of Texas at Austin (TX)

UT Farm Stand is a student-led project that provides local and organic fresh foods to the University of Texas at Austin students, faculty, and staff. Our mission is focused on ...

  • Posted June 16, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Atlanta People's Climate March and Climate Summits

  • Georgia State University (GA)

Sustainable Energy Tribe (SET), the largest student environmental group on Georgia State University's campus, worked to make climate change and environmental justice major themes for the year. These efforts ...

  • Posted June 16, 2016
  • Case Studies
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ReCycle Bikes

  • Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TX)

ReCycle Bikes is a bike rental program designed to allow students, who demonstrate a need, access to free, eco-friendly transportation in exchange for sustainability project-related volunteer hours and peer-to-peer education ...

  • Posted June 11, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Rescued Food Feast

  • Arizona State University (AZ)
  • Aramark (PA)

The Rescued Food Feast was an event held at Arizona State University and was a collaboration between the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, Aramark Higher Education, Sprouts Farmers ...

  • Posted June 11, 2016
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Students and Sustainability: Mechanism for making Green Leaders

  • Ball State University (IN)

Introduction: Lead primarily by student initiative, a sustainability program has evolved into a new program whose mechanics are meant to make action, foster sustainable leaders, and educate a sustainable culture ...

  • Posted June 11, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Students for Sustainability

  • University of Arizona (AZ)

The University of Arizona’s Students for Sustainability program empowers students, builds leaders, and pursues institutionalized sustainability. The program embodies the University’s 100% student engagement model through its organizational ...

  • Posted June 11, 2016
  • Case Studies
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UCLA is the Largest Public University in the U.S. to achieve Fair Trade Status

  • University of California, Los Angeles (CA)
  • Fair Trade Colleges & Universities

University of California, Los Angeles, part of a national initiative by Fair Trade Campaigns to engage college/university students in issues of global poverty, officially received designation as a Fair ...

  • Posted June 11, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Point of Departure: Place Making and Identity Via Integrated, Didactic & Sustainable Transit Shelters

  • University of Kentucky (KY)

The College of Design (CoD) & The Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) saw an opportunity to advance the University of Kentucky’s sustainability agenda by developing real world projects ...

  • Posted June 11, 2016
  • Case Studies
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UW Green Greek Representative Program

  • University of Washington, Seattle (WA)

Officially launched in November 2015, the Green Greek Representative Program (GGRP) is a student run program working through UW EcoReps and supported by UW Sustainability to make the Greek Community ...

  • Posted June 11, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Sustainable Carolina Leadership Program

  • University of South Carolina (SC)

The Sustainable Carolina Leadership Program is a sustainability-focused, student professional development program at the University of South Carolina, . It was conceived and developed over the course of six years to ...

  • Posted June 11, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Mohawk College Environmental Management Plan

  • Mohawk College (ON)

In 2011, Mohawk College was the first college in Ontario, Canada to release a comprehensive Environmental Management Plan (EMP) that laid out steps to enhance campus sustainability and set a ...

  • Posted June 11, 2016
  • Case Studies
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The Sustainable Office Program - SOP

  • California State University, Northridge (CA)

The Sustainable Office Program (SOP) is designed to assess department offices all over campus and categorize each office into four levels of sustainability. The four levels are Bronze, Silver, Gold ...

  • Posted June 11, 2016
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The Shawneetown Gardens: a Sustainable Campus Community Garden Cultivated through Creation of Place

  • University of Kentucky (KY)

Rooted in the revitalization of a community garden on the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington, Kentucky, this project impacts a culturally diverse, multigenerational community through a multi-disciplinary effort led ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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The Cinnamon Roll Challenge: Promoting Reductions in Energy Consumption Through Energy Dashboards and Behavioral Influence

  • Rice University (TX)

With an understanding of buildings as major sources of energy waste, our team set out to reduce student consumption in dorm rooms, the area that we have the most control ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
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Empowering Students, Sustaining the University: The Southwestern Environmental Studies Capstone Experience

  • Southwestern University (TX)

Southwestern University’s Environmental Studies department has created a unique curricular program for their capstone students that allows them to identify aspects of the university where the social, economic, and ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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First Student Sustainability Symposium

  • Stevens Institute of Technology (NJ)
  • New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability (NJ)

Innovation of Sustainable Communities was a unique symposium organized by students who are passionate about sustainability. Anyone who shares the same passion with them, was welcome to attend! The symposium ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
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Implementing Single Stream Recycling at Bryant University

  • Bryant University (RI)

The problem is that students don’t understand what single stream recycling is, and as freshman students enter Bryant University they are taught to throw both their trash and recycling ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Ohio University's Professional Development Program for the Advancement of Sustainability

  • Ohio University (OH)

Ohio University's Office of Sustainability designed a Professional Development Program to advance the university's sustainability profile, particularly with its built environment. On a monthly basis staff from Architecture ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Duke Water Reclamation Pond

  • Duke University (NC)

After a severe drought in 2007, Duke spearheaded water reclamation projects across campus. The 5.5 acre reclamation pond collects storm water from 22% of Duke's main campus, over ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
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Integrated educational food garden and composting

  • California State University, Northridge (CA)

Striving towards zero waste and with a close-the-loop philosophy, CSUN students are diverting over 35,000 pounds of pre-consumer waste/year and turning it back into food via an on ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
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Plant-Powered Dining @ Cornell University

  • Cornell University (NY)

Student Sustainability coordinators sought to do something in line with these initiatives at Cornell. Many universities have adopted versions of a “Meatless Monday” program, or have an all-vegetarian dining hall ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Composting for a Greener Campus: the Texas State University Bobcat Blend program

  • Texas State University, San Marcos (TX)

Bobcat Blend is a faculty managed, student-run and grant-supported research and teaching-oriented waste management campus composting program at Texas State University. The goals of the organization are to teach students ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Zero Waste Game Day at Duke University

  • Duke University (NC)

Leading up to the 2014 Duke Football season, a formal partnership was created between Duke Athletics, Duke Recycling, Duke Stores, and the Duke Sustainability Office in order to successfully achieve ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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UW–Madison Receipt Reduction Project

  • University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI)

Over a span of two years, teams of students, faculty, and staff at the University of Wisconsin–Madison eliminated mandatory receipt printing at campus dining centers, restaurants, markets, and cafes ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
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Fostering the incorporation of sustainable development in higher education. Lessons learned from a change management perspective

  • UC Leuven-Limburg
  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology

In research and literature about integration of sustainable development in higher education, particular attention is given towards barriers for change and critical success factors, mainly with a focus on organisational ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
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Carbon footprint analysis of student behavior for a sustainable university campus in China

  • Drexel University (PA)

Sustainable urban design, systems-level organizational planning, and human behavior have all been recognized for their potentially important roles in helping to reduce energy costs and associated environmental impacts, including greenhouse ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Publications
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Hawaii Pacific University Loa Campus: Promoting Energy Efficiency and Conservation in the Office

  • Hawaii Pacific University (HI)

In order to promote sustainability throughout campus and engage in a behavior change process that is both research intensive and action oriented, the Green Office Program of Hawaii Pacific University ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Union College's Presidential Green Grants: Empowering our community to make a more sustainable world

  • Union College - NY (NY)

Our greatest resource as an institution is the creativity and energy of our community. Union College’s Presidential Green Grant (PGG) program leverages this creativity and energy by supporting novel ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Academic staff engagement in education for sustainable development

  • University of Southampton

The research presented in this paper emerged from the need to identify the factors influencing academic staff members when engaging in Education for Sustainable Development in real practice. The aims ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
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Encouraging sustainability in the workplace: a survey on the pro-environmental behaviour of university employees

  • Wageningen University

In order to enhance more sustainable behaviour in households, recent research focuses on the identification of factors that have an impact on sustainable or pro-environmental behaviour. The aim of this ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
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Sustainable universities – a study of critical success factors for participatory approaches

Participatory approaches can be seen as a requirement, but also as a benefit to the overall paradigm change towards sustainable development and contribute towards the integration of sustainability concept into ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
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Changing Norms by Changing Behavior: The Princeton Drink Local Program

  • Princeton University (NJ)

Unprecedented levels of global bottled water consumption present a major challenge for the environment and water conservation initiatives. Educational institutions are in a unique position to promote conservation behavior by ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
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Implementation of sustainability in universities as perceived by faculty and staff – a model from a Swedish university

Education for sustainable development creates new challenges for universities where faculty and staff are expected to prepare students to meet complexities in society and take responsibility for sustainability, which scientists ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
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Participatory Development of Key Sustainability Concepts for Dialogue and Curricula at The Ohio State University

  • The Ohio State University (OH)

The Ohio State University (OSU) is one of the many universities committed to sustainability within its operations, traditions, and university framework. The university continues to evolve in relation to its ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
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Cedar Valley College a Center of Excellence of Sustainability in South Dallas, TX.

  • Dallas College (TX)

The Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) consists of seven campuses enrolling 85,000 students from Dallas County and beyond. Cedar Valley College (CVC), one of the seven DCCCD campuses ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Sustainability Reporting in Higher Education: Interconnecting the Reporting Process and Organisational Change Management for Sustainability

  • Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Madrid)
  • Utrecht University
  • KU Leuven

Although there has been a considerable increase in the publication of sustainability reports in the corporate world in the last decade, sustainability reporting in higher education institutions is still in ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Publications
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Learning about Sustainability—What Influences Students’ Self-Perceived Sustainability Actions after Undergraduate Education?

Changing societies’ minds about sustainability requires knowledge about the situation, awareness of what needs to be done and actions to change today’s unsustainable behaviors. Universities are challenged to develop ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
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Institutional Framework for Student-Led Sustainability Initiatives

  • University of Nebraska - Lincoln (NE)

The Environmental Sustainability Committee (ESC) is a self-sustaining committee within the Association for Students of the University of Nebraska (ASUN), otherwise known as UNL’s Student Government. The framework of ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Environment Week at UAlberta

  • University of Alberta (AB)

From June 6–10, the University of Alberta hosted a series of free events to celebrate Environment Week and engage our community in sustainability. UAlberta partnered with local organizations such ...


UBC Okanagan Whole Systems Infrastructure Plan - Aspiring toward Regenerative Sustainability

  • University of British Columbia (BC)

This case study describes how UBC Okanagan created and leveraged an opportunity to develop an innovative, holistic campus sustainability plan that responds to UBC’s regenerative aspirations; what the Plan ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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The Learning Garden at Virginia Commonwealth University

  • Virginia Commonwealth University (VA)

Virginia Commonwealth University's Office of Sustainability has created a new, urban, Learning Garden that produces fruits and vegetables exclusively for donation. The garden was created in response to a ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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The Virginia Tech Green RFP Program

  • Virginia Tech (VA)

Student engagement is an important factor in advancing sustainability at Virginia Tech. The University created the “Request for Proposal for Sustainability Initiatives from Student Organizations Program (Green RFP Program)” to ...


CPS Café – Sustainable Food Service Operation

  • University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (WI)

The CPS Café is an eatery operated mainly by students across campus and is a unique food service business open to the public. It is a program within the College ...


Worcester Polytechnic Institute Bike Share Program

  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA)

In 2014 a student group researched transportation alternatives on campus and recommended a community bike share program. In 2015, another student group further developed the bike share option by conducting ...


Ohio University Move-Out Sustainability Project

  • Ohio University (OH)

Each year during student Move Out week, Ohio University's Department of Recycling and Zero Waste partners with the City of Athens, Athens Hocking Recycling Center, local businesses, community non-profit ...


Permaculture in higher education: Opportunities and challenges

  • University of Victoria (BC)

There is growing agreement that integrative “whole person” approaches promoting transformative learning are important aspects of sustainability education. Increasingly, universities are using permaculture in teaching sustainability. Permaculture is an ecological ...


The EcoRep Program at the University of South Carolina: How to Engage Students in On-Campus Environmental Activities

  • University of South Carolina (SC)

This senior thesis focused on determining how much the undergraduate student population is aware about current environmental problems, their impression of them, and how they act accordingly. In addition, through ...


Living labs and co-production: university campuses as platforms for sustainability science

Living labs and co-production are increasingly popular strategies for universities to address sustainability challenges and yet the links between them remain largely implicit. This paper discusses the potential of living ...


Western's Water Management Program

  • Western University (ON)

Western University has over 90 buildings and most of them didn’t have a water meter. Only those buildings with a direct feed from the City had a meter. In ...


Love Food, Hate Waste: Analyzing Food Waste and Reduction at Rice University

  • Rice University (TX)

It is known that about 30% of food produced worldwide is ultimately wasted (Gunders 2012). Rice University is not immune to this phenomenon, and past research has shown that Rice ...

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