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
What About Accessibility? The Intersection of Sustainability and Accessibility on College Campuses
- University of Illinois Chicago (IL)
In 2013, the United Nations defined accessibility as '... an inherent right that benefits all. It is not derived from special legislation; nor is it a concern solely to persons due ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Increasing Diversity in a Sustainability Internship Program
- University of California, Santa Barbara (CA)
Institutionalized forms of oppression such as racism, sexism, and homophobia are embedded throughout our society. One of the many ways that this materializes is in the hiring process and in ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Moving Past Tokenization: Integrating Social Equity Internally and Programmatically
- University of California, Berkeley (CA)
What does environmental justice programming really look like in higher education? How do we avoid tokenization of marginalized groups within the environmental movement and move beyond buzzwords such as diversity ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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A New Hope: Training Social Sustainabilistas
- Texas A&M University (TX)
In past AASHE presentations, our office highlighted how we weave social sustainability into our hiring, training, outreach, and planning efforts. This time, our focus will be the ways we implement ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Food and Housing Security Among NC State Students
- North Carolina State University (NC)
The UN Sustainable Development Goals provide a comprehensive framework for approaching sustainability from a global perspective. The goals are also incredibly relevant for higher education not only in teaching, research ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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An Introduction to the Role of Race, Class and Gender Issues on Campus Sustainability Work
- Hackman Consulting Group
This introductory session explores the powerfully important ways that dynamics of race, class and gender (RCG) impact the efficacy of our campus sustainability work, and then suggests how a racial ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Developing and Utilizing a Social Justice Lens in Order to Achieve Global Goals for Sustainability
- Hackman Consulting Group
As evidenced by this national moment, a lack of critical understanding of social justice (SJ) issues makes achieving global sustainability goals near impossible. Conversely, thoughtful attention to SJ issues affords ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Integrating Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Into Higher Ed Sustainability Work
- Bucknell University (PA)
- University of Vermont (VT)
Better understanding, supporting, and addressing social sustainability work in higher ed is paramount in creating institutions that welcome and nurture intellectual and personal growth among a diverse campus community. The ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Turbulent Winds: Addressing 'Climate' at the Intersections of Diversity and Sustainability
- California State University, East Bay (CA)
- California State University, San Marcos (CA)
This session explores the intersection between diversity and sustainability efforts within two California State University campuses. Beginning with a focus on the forces that divide the sustainability and diversity communities ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Environmental Social Justice's Role in the Sustainable Development Goals
- University of Arizona (AZ)
At the University of Arizona campus, the Environmental Social Justice (SoJo) committee of the student government-sponsored program Students for Sustainability works on projects that raise awareness for environmental justice issues ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Decolonizing a College's Farm-to-Table Dinner
- University of North Carolina, Asheville (NC)
This interactive workshop will explore how Whiteness and other form of dominant social power structures can be inadvertently reproduced within farm-to-table events when embedded assumptions in regards to the program ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Preliminary Assessment of the Impact of Changes in Campus Sustainability Efforts on Student Environmental Knowledge and Behaviors
- Pittsburg State University (KS)
At Pittsburg State University, efforts to promote sustainability and environmental awareness has increased substantially since 2012. A formal Recycling Services Department was created, the number of activities by a campus ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Win-Win-Win: Incorporating Authentic Sustainability Learning Into Technical College Courses
- Western Technical College (WI)
Incorporating sustainability in the curriculum need not be a one-off or a stretch to fit in any curricula, even those not typically associated with sustainability. Hear one example of how ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Sustainability in the Visual Arts, Design and Creative Fields
- University of San Francisco (CA)
Designers make the most beautiful trash. Educators in Design, Visual Arts, and other creative fields are challenged with educating our students on how to create high impact messages with low ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Academia as a Platform for Student Sustainability Action on Campus and in Your Community
- University of Pittsburgh (PA)
Students at the University of Pittsburgh have been driving environmental and sustainability changes on campus and in the Pittsburgh community for more than a decade through classes designed to engage ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Worry & Hope: Results from a Focus Group Study on Students and Sustainability Curriculum
- University of Hawaii System Office (HI)
The University of Hawaii used a focus group study across ten campuses to better understand student perspectives on global and local environmental issues, climate change, and sustainability, and how these ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Planning and Implementing a University-Wide Curriculum Disruption to Teach About Climate Justice
- The New School (NY)
From February 26-March 2, 2018, The New School will invite all 14,000 faculty, staff, and students to participate in a university-wide curriculum disruption entitled 'Disrupt Climate Injustice.' This means ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Laudato Si and UNSDGs: An Ignatian Framework for Teaching Human Geography
- St. Louis University High School (MO)
St. Louis University High School created an innovative Human Geography course incorporating the AP Human Geography curriculum with studies of Ignatian values based on Pope Francis' 'Laudato Si: On Care ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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High Impact Pedagogical Practices for High Impact Sustainability Learning
- Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) (IN)
In the face of a rapidly-changing planet, sustainability is one of the most promising solutions to address social, economic, and environmental problems. Through IUPUI's Themed Learning Community (TLC), 'Sustainability ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Campus Sustainability 101 - A New Course for First Year Students
- DePauw University (IN)
Due to their complex and global nature, modern environmental problems like climate change, water scarcity, or mass extinction events can be overwhelming and really, really scary, especially for college students ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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How Do We Meaningfully Integrate Sustainability Into Global Studies Curricula?
- Champlain College (VT)
As higher education increasingly acknowledges the necessity of producing a globally-engaged student body, it has a responsibility to create a high-quality and relevant global studies curriculum. Former iterations of global ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Advancing Sustainability: Student-led Projects, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Inter-Silo Teamwork
- Carleton College (MN)
Carleton College's study abroad program titled 'Sustainable Energy Principles and Practices in India' exemplifies how higher education institutions can foster experiences and skills that students can use to promote ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Teaching Sustainability and Environmental Stewardship Through Contemporary Art
- Beloit College (WI)
What role can art play in solving current environmental challenges? What should artists do to promote awareness? Is it ethical for artists to make more objects in a world already ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Building on the NAE Grand Challenges Scholars Model to Incorporate the UN SDGs in Higher Education
- Bucknell University (PA)
As sustainability becomes a more and more popular addition in the higher education system, attempts to incorporate it into existing curricula and campus life diversify and too often lose their ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Pulling the Paradox of the SDGs down to Uneven Ground: A Transdisciplinary Learning Journey
- University of New Hampshire (NH)
- University of Vermont (VT)
Advocates of the Sustainable Development Goals see them as an important improvement over the Millennium Development Goals, that expired in 2015, that represent an inspiring and inclusive framework for international ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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A New Resource To Engage Your Chemistry Department In Sustainability
- Beyond Benign (MA)
Despite the underlying fundamental reliance on chemistry innovations for a more sustainable future, undergraduate chemistry teaching laboratories still use traditional experiments that are resource-intensive and employ hazardous reagents. It is ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Escaping the Silos and Generating Collaborations: A Sustainable Faculty Development Program
- Furman University (SC)
The Faculty Affiliates Program gives faculty from all departments on our campus opportunities to meet monthly during the academic year to share ideas, generate resources and foster interdisciplinary connections throughout ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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How to Create an Innovative and Interdisciplinary Sustainability Major
- University of Virginia (VA)
This case study examines several innovative degree programs that create unusual disciplinary alliances with sustainability. Integrating sustainability across the curriculum is an important goal for AASHE members. While many universities ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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The Sustainability Exchange at Washington University - Interdisciplinary Focus on Real World Issues
- Hellmuth + Bicknese Architects (MO)
The Sustainability Exchange, founded in 2014 by Bill Lowry and Liz Kramer, brings together students from across the academic spectrum to focus on and seek solutions to real world issues ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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From the 3Es to the SDGs: Updating Sustainability Frameworks Used as Educational Tools
- Ramapo College of New Jersey (NJ)
- Swarthmore College (PA)
- Unity Environmental University (ME)
With the 2015 announcement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Climate Agreement, and the multitude of research projects, policies, and frameworks of Sustainable ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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From Theory to Practice: Applied Community Projects in Environmental Capstone Courses
- Earlham College (IN)
Over the past five years, Environmental Studies and Environmental Sustainability seniors at Earlham College have completed an 'integrated research project (IRP)' in collaboration with a community partner. The IRP is ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Service and Community Engaged Learning for Social and Environmental Justice
- Champlain College (VT)
- Southern Oregon University (OR)
- University of Hawaii Kapiolani Community College (HI)
- Villanova University (PA)
Service-Learning / Community Engaged Learning is a common practice in higher education and is increasingly found being paired with sustainability. This networking session will allow practitioners to share best practices, learn ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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AIM2Flourish: Transforming Management Education Through Positive Business Innovation Stories
- Case Western Reserve University (OH)
The UN Global Goals are the 'World's Must-Do List' to end poverty, combat climate change, protect life on land, and ensure a livable future for all people. Many business ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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STARS Reporting as an Undergraduate Educational Opportunity
- University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (IL)
The University of Illinois, a STARS Gold Campus, has a strong focus on expanding its campus sustainability efforts. Since our 2017 report, administrators have made an increased effort to align ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Leveraging the Campus Sustainability Committee: Zombie Committees vs Robust Change Agents
- Cornell University (NY)
- Duke University (NC)
- North Carolina State University (NC)
- University of Massachusetts Amherst (MA)
What is the secret to successful sustainability committees? Is there a magic formula for long-term effectiveness or do the committees need to evolve over time? Once sustainability programs become more ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Go Green or Get Gone: Teachers College as a Case Study
- Teachers College, Columbia University (NY)
What is the role of graduate schools of education in the face of local and global environmental challenges? This session explores this question by presenting the development process and implementation ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Preaching Beyond the Choir: How to Institutionalize Sustainability Into Organization-Wide Culture
- Denison University (OH)
It is easy to get caught up in and become comfortable in a group that shares the same views. We know the people who have our back and who will ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Inducing Paradigm Shifts through Complementary Curricular and Co-curricular Program Engagement
- College of Charleston (SC)
The Office of Sustainability (OoS) at the College of Charleston offers a unique work environment. Housed in Business Affairs & led by 2 Staff who also serve as College Faculty ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Integrating Social Equity: Texas A&M's 2018 Sustainability Master Plan
- Texas A&M University (TX)
- Ayers Saint Gross (MD)
Released in the Spring 2018 semester, Texas A&M's new Sustainability Master Plan has three primary objectives: to better integrate social equity objectives with environmental and economic efforts, to balance ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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What is a Residence Life Sustainability Plan?
- Texas A&M University (TX)
- Ayers Saint Gross (MD)
The Department of Residence Life at Texas A&M operates as an auxiliary enterprise to provide student housing to approximately 12,000 students annually. Concurrent to the University's update to ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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A Framework for Sustainability Competencies for Your Campus
- Pennsylvania State University (PA)
- Stanford University (CA)
Last fall we published a study on competencies for sustainability, 'Developing a framework for sustainability meta-competencies,' based on interviews and focus groups with Penn State University employees serving in a ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Mapping the Pathway to STARS Platinum
- University of California, Santa Barbara (CA)
- University of California, Davis (CA)
- University of California, Merced (CA)
AASHE's Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS) is the leading North American green/sustainable campus rating system developed by colleges and universities for colleges and universities. STARS provides ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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AASHE STARS: Field Notes From New Adopters
- Case Western Reserve University (OH)
- University of Chicago (IL)
- Gordian (SC)
The AASHE STARS program is invaluable. It provides higher education institutions a unified platform for assessing and reporting their contributions towards the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals. However, obstacles ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Got Plans? Perspectives on Developing and Implementing Campus Sustainability Plans
- East Carolina University (NC)
- Emory University (GA)
- Harvey Mudd College (CA)
- Marquette University (WI)
- University of Tennessee at Knoxville (TN)
Panelists and audience members will share diverse perspectives on and experiences with sustainability strategic planning. To serve a broad audience, our panelists (and, hopefully, audience members) represent the following perspectives ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Notre Dame's Success in Developing a Sustainability Strategy Aligned to SDGs and Its Mission
- University of Notre Dame (IN)
In response to Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical Laudato si', the University of Notre Dame leadership championed a committee out of the Executive Vice President's office to take action. Using ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Leveraging the SDGs to Build a System-Wide Higher Education Sustainability Strategy
- University at Albany (NY)
- University at Buffalo (NY)
- State University of New York at Geneseo (NY)
Sixty-Four schools, nearly half a million enrolled students, 33,000 faculty and 96,000 degrees granted annually--the higher education scope and impact of the State University of New York system ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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How to Create Sustainable Solutions in Your Community
- GreenLight Solutions Foundation (AZ)
Want to learn how to implement sustainability projects with local businesses in your community? Join GreenLight Solutions Foundation for an interactive brainstorming session to create a strategic framework for catalyzing ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Imposters, Insiders, and Collaborators: Bringing Outside Expertise to the World of Sustainability
- Dickinson College (PA)
- University of Florida (FL)
- West Chester University of Pennsylvania (PA)
- University of California, Merced (CA)
Sustainability is often viewed as a field reserved for those with expertise gained through an academic background in Environmental Science, Ecology, Sustainability or similar areas, and individuals from outside of ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Abandoned Bikes on Campus: Redistribution and the Sustainable Development Goals
- Eastern Mennonite University (VA)
- Virginia Commonwealth University (VA)
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, VA and Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) in Harrisonburg, VA are presented with a number of bikes abandoned by students each year. As cycling gains ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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Resiliency: A Platform for Institutional Change, Case Study Cal State University San Bernardino
- California State University, San Bernardino (CA)
Historically, California State University San Bernardino (CSUSB) has embraced sustainability through faculty curriculum, students initiatives, and facilities management retrofitting projects, however, sustainability efforts are not coordinated and transformational change is ...
- Posted Nov. 5, 2018
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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.