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.
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Transitioning from Sustainability Planning to Meaningful Implementation
- Ohio University (OH)
With the formal adoption of the Sustainability Plan occurring in Summer 2011 and the Climate Action Plan in Winter 2012, Ohio University is in its first year of transitioning from ...
- Posted May 9, 2013
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Jones County Junior College Energy Conservation Program
- Jones County Junior College (MS)
We have implemented a campus wide behavior based program along with the addition of electrical sub-metering and water/sewer irrigation advanced controls. We have also teamed with the U.S ...
- Posted Jan. 9, 2013
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BHCC Health and Wellness Center
- Bunker Hill Community College (MA)
- DiNisco Design Partnership (MA)
The Health and Wellness Center at Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) is a e 48,000 square-foot structure provides "smart classrooms," spacious offices, student study lounges, flexible state-of-the-art "sim" labs ...
- Posted July 27, 2012
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Providing a Framework for Student Driven Sustainability in the Residence Halls: The Green Room Certification Program
- Indiana University Bloomington (IN)
The Green Room Certification Program (GRCP) is designed to provide students living in the residence halls an individual or room-by-room framework for 1) reducing their energy and resource consumption, and ...
- Posted July 10, 2012
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The Student Sustainability Summits
- University of Cincinnati (OH)
The Student Sustainability Summit (Summit) at the University of Cincinnati (UC) began in the spring of 2011. Its ever-evolving aim is to train the next generation of students to become ...
- Posted July 9, 2012
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Behind the Shower Curtain: How UC Merced Saved a Million Gallons of Water
- University of California, Merced (CA)
In the fall of 2011, in the agricultural center of California, UC Merced assembled a broad coalition of students, faculty, organizers, and administrators to implement a campus-wide dormitory competition to ...
- Posted July 9, 2012
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Implementing UBC's Climate Action Plan
- University of British Columbia (BC)
The University of British Columbia (UBC)'s comprehensive Climate Action Plan, launched in 2010, is the result of a multi-year planning process that involved over 200 students, staff and faculty ...
- Posted July 9, 2012
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We Conserve: A Campus Wide Campaign
- University of Wisconsin-Madison (WI)
The University of Wisconsin - Madison initiated the aggressive We Conserve program in 2006 to further strengthen its environmental stewardship practices and to promote education and motivation to the community on ...
- Posted July 8, 2012
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Baylor Energy Awareness Program: Engaging the Campus Community
- Baylor University (TX)
- Aramark (PA)
Baylor Facility Services, along with ARAMARK Higher Education and Baylor University, has embarked on a ground-breaking energy engagement program for the campus, leading Baylor's staff, students and community in ...
- Posted July 2, 2012
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Duke University's Sustainability Communications - Making the Campus Climate Action Plan Personal
- Duke University (NC)
In 2007, Duke University signed the ACUPCC and embarked on a journey to assess institutional greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, develop strategies to impact the campus footprint and become a carbon ...
- Posted July 2, 2012
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Weaving Sustainability into New Employee Orientation
- University of Louisville (KY)
At the University of Louisville, we took advantage of an existing, mandatory day-long New Employee Orientation to begin educating all new full-time employees about the fundamentals of sustainability, our institutional ...
- Posted July 2, 2012
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Groundmaking: Class of 2010 Green Roof at Rensselaer
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (NY)
In the spring of 2011, after almost 16 months of planning, members from the entire Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute community joined hands in planting 18,000 small plants on a 6 ...
- Posted June 25, 2011
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Centennial Solar Panel System
- Northwestern University (IL)
- Engineers for a Sustainable World (CO)
The Centennial Solar Panel System (CSPS), a 17 kW solar photovoltaic array at Northwestern University, is a partner project between Engineers for a Sustainable World and the Northwestern Sustainability Fund ...
- Posted June 24, 2011
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Greeks Go Green LEAF Rating System
- Cornell University (NY)
The Greeks Go Green LEAF Rating system rates chapters and keeps track of their progress related to sustainability initiatives. This system provides for an objective, consistent evaluation of over 70 ...
- Posted June 24, 2011
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The Campus Sustainability Fund at the University of Washington
- University of Washington, Seattle (WA)
The Campus Sustainability Fund (CSF) is a student-funded and student-led initiative which launched in the fall of 2010 at the University of Washington (UW) with the mission of fostering campus ...
- Posted June 24, 2011
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A Comprehensive Strategic Communications Plan for NYU's Office of Sustainability
- New York University (NY)
Crowdsourcing the collective wisdom of the NYU Sustainability Task Force's all-volunteer Outreach and Engagement working group, with assistance from the Office of Sustainability, team members were able to develop ...
- Posted June 24, 2011
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Deliberation on Campus Sustainability (DoCS)
- University of Alberta (AB)
The Deliberation on Campus Sustainability (DoCS) project was a campus-wide, student-initiated series of events that engaged hundreds of students, staff and faculty in creating recommendations for sustainability across the University ...
- Posted June 24, 2011
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A New Educational Landscape- Transforming Campus Grounds through Non-Traditional Collaboration
- James Madison University (VA)
During the 2010-11 academic year, faculty, students, campus facilities staff, a dean, the campus environmental stewardship director, and community representatives collaborated with a Scholar-In-Residence to develop a naturalized landscape on ...
- Posted June 24, 2011
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University Recycling at work! Case study in Puerto Rico
- Ana G. Méndez University System (PR)
In 2006, Undergraduate Environmental Science students sparked the Recycling Program at the Universidad Metropolitana, Puerto Rico with a simple question "Why we do not recycle at the University?
Since then ...
- Posted June 23, 2011
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The College of William and Mary Carbon Offset Program
- College of William & Mary (VA)
William and Mary has developed an in-house carbon offset program that provides full transparency. Energy-reducing capital projects, such as HVAC upgrades, were identified and offset prices were determined by calculating ...
- Posted June 21, 2011
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Behavior Matters—A Business Case for Behavior-Based Conservation Programs
- Stanford University (CA)
The link between energy retrofits and cost savings is well established, but occupants are often unaware of "behind the scenes" improvements. How can universities educate building occupants to optimize efficiency ...
- Posted June 14, 2011
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The Living Demonstration: A student demonstration home to create a culture for sustainability
- University of Montana (MT)
The UM FLAT is a University-owned residence occupied by students who embody and promote sustainable living practices. The UM FLAT provides hands-on opportunity for students to work with each other ...
- Posted July 2, 2010
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Harvard Green Office Program
- Harvard University (MA)
The Green Office Program's offers staff practical solutions needed to meet Harvard's GHG reduction goal and fulfill our Sustainability Principles, and a fun, competitive way for offices to ...
- Posted July 1, 2010
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The Environmental Caucus: Breaking Down Silos to Promote Sustainability at Northern Arizona University
- Northern Arizona University (AZ)
The Environmental Caucus (EC), a voluntary campus association, formed in 2008 as a grassroots approach to engage students, faculty, staff, and administrators in strengthening a culture of sustainability at NAU ...
- Posted July 1, 2010
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Student and Staff Cooperative Implementation of a Residential Recycling Program at Iowa State University
- Iowa State University (IA)
The Department of Resdidence (DoR) and student leaders teamed up together to implement a residence hall wide recycling program. The program is intended to reduce waste of recyclables in residence ...
- Posted July 1, 2010
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Just Tap It: Reducing Bottled Water Consumption at Muhlenberg College
- Muhlenberg College (PA)
The Just Tap It project at Muhlenberg College successfully reduced bottled water purchases on campus by 95%, by limiting the availability of bottled water at Muhlenberg and encouraging the college ...
- Posted July 1, 2010
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Harvard Green Carpet Awards
- Harvard University (MA)
The Harvard Green Carpet Awards were held for the first time this year to honor and recognize Harvard faculty, students, and staff who have made significant contributions to greenhouse gas ...
- Posted June 30, 2010
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The University of Minnesota's Power Police Project: Philosophy, Psychology and Power Strips
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (MN)
- Minnesota Public Interest Research Group (MN)
Power Police student volunteers help campus office workers save power - especially the "vampire" power that electronic devices draw even when they're turned off. Volunteers make simple changes to offices ...
- Posted June 30, 2010
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Phillips Brooks House Student Weatherization Project
- Harvard University (MA)
On May 2nd, more than 50 Harvard students took a break from studying for finals and picked up caulk guns to help improve the energy efficiency of the Phillips Brooks ...
- Posted June 30, 2010
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Friday Night Lights: Social Networking Meets Energy Savings
- Bowling Green State University (OH)
Students gathered every Friday evening at 6:30pm at the Union. They armed themselves with clipboards and checklists, and divided into teams. Lights left on in classrooms and hallways in ...
- Posted June 30, 2010
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Implementation of ZotWheels Automated Bikeshare at the University of California, Irvine
- University of California, Irvine (CA)
ZotWheels bikeshare is the first automated bikeshare program in California and only the second at a university in the United States. ZotWheels was designed and implemented by Parking and Transportation ...
- Posted June 29, 2010
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40 Days of Change- Coordinating Campus and Community Events for Maximum Impact
- University of Florida (FL)
40 Days of Change was a campaign hosted by the UF Office of Sustianability to provide an opportunity for campus and community members to learn more about sustainability initiatives throughout ...
- Posted June 29, 2010
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Engaging Catholic Colleges and Universities with Sustainability as a Moral Issue
- University of Notre Dame (IN)
In October 2009, we hosted "Renewing the Campus: Sustainability and the Catholic University", the first conference dedicated to enhancing understanding, activism, and cooperation among Catholic universities in the area of ...
- Posted June 28, 2010
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Planet Blue: Saving Energy, Saving Money and Saving the Planet at the University of Michigan
- University of Michigan (MI)
The Planet Blue program was developed as part of the University of Michigan's 6-point Environmental and Energy Initiative to help reduce energy consumption on the Ann Arbor campus in ...
- Posted June 28, 2010
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Student Residents Save Energy at LSU
- Louisiana State University (LA)
Sponsored by the LSU College of Engineering, UNPLUG sought to promote an understanding throughout the LSU on-campus community of what energy conservation entails. The goal was to empower students to ...
- Posted June 28, 2010
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A Sustainable Thanksgiving Feast: Preserving Heritage Turkeys
- Emory University (GA)
For the second year in a row Emory has partnered with Heritage Foods USA to present the Thanksgiving Heritage Harvest Feast. The Feast features Heritage turkeys, an older breed of ...
- Posted June 16, 2010
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Student Activism Leads the Way to Clean Energy at Green Mountain College
- Green Mountain College (VT)
On April 22, 2010, Green Mountain College opened a new biomass facility to replace the power station that previously burned number six fuel oil. This new facility will reduce greenhouse ...
- Posted June 14, 2010
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Launching the Social Innovation Incubator at Portland State University
- Portland State University (OR)
The Portland State University Social Innovation Incubator (SII) accelerates the impact of social innovations by addressing the specific needs of a growing cadre of social entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs (i.e ...
- Posted June 8, 2010
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UO vs OSU Energy Civil War
- University of Oregon (OR)
The University of Oregon (UO) and Oregon State University (OSU) staged a human-powered energy generation contest to see which school could produce the most energy from their Recreation Centers' ReCardio ...
- Posted June 8, 2010
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Get-on-the-Map: Mapping Sustainability at Ball State University
- Ball State University (IN)
We have developed a web-based technique for collecting and sharing STARS reporting information. This "get-on-the-map" web site uses the STARS reporting categories to structure a display of icons as informational ...
- Posted May 27, 2010
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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.