Campus Sustainability Working Group (SWG)

Studying Sustainability Performance at Purdue University

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) can play a critical role in advancing sustainability and climate goals by fostering awareness, education, discovery, and investment while providing professional development and career readiness opportunities for students. Sustainable universities not only function as models for other institutions and communities but can also contribute to the creation of a more sustainable campus and local community. Universities promote economic growth, value creation, and innovate in critical areas to improve our lives. At the same time, universities can be large users of energy, water, and chemicals, which presents challenges and opportunities for universities to not only empower campus communities to address sustainability issues through research, teaching, and engagement, but to implement sustainable practices to reduce their environmental impact and provide healthier living and learning environments for all.

Purdue is well positioned to educate future leaders, conduct innovative research, and collaborate with governments, industries, and social groups to advance campus sustainability. In summer 2024, Purdue, coordinated through the Institute for a Sustainable Future (ISF) and supported by the Offices of Research (OOR) and the Provost, along with Administrative Operations (AO), initiated an effort to identify and analyze current campus sustainability activities, including academic and research opportunities, across campus while undertaking activities and efforts to engage with faculty, staff and students to better understand their knowledge and behaviors. The effort includes several outputs including the recently released Purdue Sustainability Performance Analysis (SPA), a comprehensive Purdue University Campus Sustainability Self-Study (CaSS), and a Purdue Guide to Sustainable Living. This project aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), central to ISF's mission, and the AASHE STARS framework.

Background

At Purdue, ISF organized an initial Campus Sustainability Working Group in spring 2024. This group included interested staff and faculty who worked to ensure the success of the first “State-wide Campus Sustainability Networking Workshop” supported by ISF. This event brought together faculty and professional staff from multiple universities across the state (and, virtually, across the US) to discuss current challenges and opportunities in campus sustainability.

In summer 2024, under the coordination of ISF, a proposal to conduct a year-long Campus Sustainability Self-study (CASS) was drafted, submitted and approved by the Offices of Research (OOR), the Provost, and Administrative Operations (AO). The goal is to engage faculty, students, and staff, improve sustainability initiatives on campus, and outline ways to increase university rankings in STARS and other ranking programs. This self-study will identify areas for potential advancement that can contribute to a healthier, more resilient campus and community that builds on Purdue’s legacy of innovation while responding to growing opportunities to enrich initiatives in sustainable education. The strength of this approach lies in the integration of individuals from across the university and the ability of the members of the team to leverage current institutional knowledge while being open to innovation.

The SWG for the self-study project includes representatives from all three organizations as well as representatives from various faculty, student, and staff groups. The group meets every month while sub-groups working on topics such as student, faculty and staff surveys and sustainability education meet separately. Together, the group helps support the full-time work of ISF research scientist, Valentina Negri. The work is overseen by ISF’s Senior Managing Director, Lynne Dahmen, as well as Anthony Gillund, Director of Sustainability for AO. The work on the SPA, also under the supervision of Lynne Dahmen, was conducted by part-time doctoral researcher Kayla Gurganus.

Several events and activities are occurring in Spring 2025, as described below.

Let’s Talk…Sustainability Education: This event brought together faculty, grad students and staff to discuss how we can define sustainability education, how Purdue can support teaching efforts, and what support faculty and teaching staff would like to see.

Sustainability in Pre-College Science Education: For this lecture, Dr. Lynn Bryan, Professor Emerita of Science Education and inaugural director of Purdue’s Center for Advancing the Teaching and Learning of STEM (CATALYST), discussed how sustainability is embodied in the Next Generation Science Standards [NGSS] and current K-12 Indiana Academic Standards, as well as how students can and should engage in sustainability education at the pre-college and undergraduate levels.

Supporting Innovation: A Workshop on Sustainability Education: This one-day workshop brought together over 100 faculty and grad students from Purdue and Indiana University to engage, learn, and think about ways to innovate in their classrooms around the topic of teaching sustainability both in person and online. The event included a keynote lecture, faculty presentations, a nation-wide hybrid lecture and afternoon break-out sessions.

Undergraduate Student Survey on Sustainability Literacy and Culture: This first-of-its kind survey was developed based on several models designed to evaluate current knowledge about sustainability and gain input to help identify gaps in knowledge and guide future development of sustainability goals on campus in areas including transportation, education and training, research and energy use.

This survey will be open to undergraduate students from April 10-20, 2025. Results will be analyzed and published as part of the CaSS.

Campus Sustainable Living Guide: With the input of students, this guide was developed in spring 2025 to be a resource for undergraduates living on and off campus. It serves as an introduction to many aspects of campus sustainability including recycling, energy conservation, campus life and community resources.

Campus Sustainability Working Group (SWG)

Studying Sustainability Performance at Purdue University

Background

What is STARS?

What is the SPA report?

What's happening in Spring 2025?

Members of the Sustainability Working Group