Transcript p521592

Barriers and Opportunities
for Communicating
Sustainability on Campus
Aurali Dade, PhD
Division of Research,
University of Nevada,
Las Vegas
US IHEs & Sustainability
• US Colleges & Universities
–Over 4,000
–$350+ billion/year industry
–Educate future workforce
–Environmental impacts
–Community impacts
IHE Structure & Sustainability
Complex organizational structures & diverse
physical environments
– Low funding
– Highly conservative & immutable
– Diffuse hierarchical structures, power is
dispersed (Eckel & Kezar, 2006)
– Many stakeholders (Duderstadt & Womack, 2003)
– Hundreds of buildings with multiple functions
including housing, dining, teaching & research
(Uhl, 2004)
– Various uses of hazardous materials
Groups Evaluated in Research
• Operational Decision Makers
– Facilities Maintenance and/or Planning &
Construction
– Purchasing
– Health & Safety
• Academic faculty with responsibility for a
laboratory
Method
Sampling
– Random stratified sampling of all accredited
IHEs in US
Content Analysis
Over 700 websites analyzed – groups of interest
plus central sustainability site
Survey
Approximately 500 respondents
Analysis using nonparametric statistical techniques
Key Findings about
Communication
• Majority were able to define sustainability
& had positive feelings about it. Majority
of websites did not mention sustainability.
• Attitudes differed significantly between different
groups of respondents.
– Facilities/research faculty differed the most,
– Followed by facilities/safety and facilities/purchasing.
Campus sustainability is prioritized by me personally
Key Findings about
Communication
• Primary source of sustainability
information:
– 49% Off-campus sources
– 23% On-campus sources.
When making decisions about campus sustainability where
do you obtain your information?
Key Findings about
Communication
• Only 4% of websites indicated that they have an
important role in campus sustainability.
• Central sustainability sites indicated:
– 31% safety & purchasing
– 76% facilities & research faculty
Key Findings about
Communication
• 18% indicated that they do not receive
information about sustainability at their
campus.
• Facilities, academic faculty, and safety
were each more likely to rely on their own
department when compared with other
respondents.
What is your primary on-campus source for sustainability
information?
Conclusions about
Communication
• Faculty were more likely to rely on faculty
than on any other group.
• Purchasing, facilities, and safety
respondents were unlikely to rely on
faculty for information about sustainability.
• Possible lack of trust or information about
academic part of campus by operational
part of campus and vice versa.
Conclusions about
Communication
• The respondents to this study rated
student involvement and influence as
significantly lower than involvement and
influence of “administration”
• Not clear from survey who the
respondents considered to be
“administration”
In your opinion, which on-campus group has the most
influence on campus sustainability?
Conclusions about
Communication
• Large institutions (>15,000 students) were
significantly more likely to communicate
about sustainability on all of their websites.
Conclusions about
Communication
• Websites were most likely to reference
non-profit organizations for the information
they posted about sustainability.
• AASHE, ACUPCC, Second Nature, WWF,
and local non-profits were frequently
referenced and linked.
Recommendations
• Emphasize and promote communicating
about sustainability on websites by various
stakeholders – even if it is just a sentence
and link to the central sustainability site.
Communication between
academic and operational units
• Communication gap between the academic and
operational units on many campuses:
– Top response from faculty about where they received
information about campus sustainability was “I do not
receive information about campus sustainability on
my campus”
– Top response from faculty about which department
they would rely upon for sustainability information was
“None of these departments” with second place
answer of “an academic department”
Recommendations
• Possible solutions:
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Council that includes all types of members
Activities involving both areas
Joint “ownership” of campus sustainability
Class projects – learning by action
Lectures for broad audience and interest
Challenges
• Sustainability only being mentioned on central
website
• Academic faculty and operational decision
makers may speak a very different “language”
• Each group may be hesitant to trust information
from other group and/or give up control
• Individuals may be hesitant to become involved
in activities that do not support P&T or merit
raises
Opportunities for better
communication
• Carefully define what you mean by campus sustainability
• Involve all stakeholders with expertise and provide
incentives
• Communicate clearly about how sustainability impact
daily work operations
• Don’t make arbitrary divisions
• Publicize your successes to all parts of the campus
community
• Encourage collaborations across campus
• Take a proactive approach to reporting
• Communicate support for sustainability from the highest
levels of the IHE
UNLV
• University of Nevada Las Vegas
– 28,000 students, 3,100 faculty & staff
– Main Campus, Biomedical/Dental Campus &
Campus in Singapore
– Site of Brookings Institute Mountain West
– Recycling program since 1995, sustainability
focus approx 5 years
Communication Successes at
UNLV
• The Road to Stars
– Interdisciplinary Researchers, Staff, and
students on Sustainability Council
– Core Group
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Director of Urban Sustainability (Faculty)
Recycling/Sustainability Coordinator (Facilities)
Sustainability Intern (UG Student)
Doctoral Student/Professional Staff in
Research Division
PM Concept for STARS
completion
• Initiation – decision to pursue and purchase
STARS
• Planning & Design – meetings with Council and
Core Group Strategy Sessions
• Conduct of Project – Requests for Information,
Access to Key Individuals
• Monitoring – Review-o-Rama and final review by
Core Group
• Completion!
Communication Successes at
UNLV
• Sustainability List serve – anyone can join
• Annual Conferences on various topics –
open to entire campus community
• National Clean Energy Summit
Future areas of opportunity
• Increased engagement with broad student
population
• Increased engagement with diverse faculty
• Subcommittee/working groups for action
The single biggest problem in
communication is the illusion
that it has taken place
-George Bernard Shaw