Date Thesis Awarded
5-2011
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Arts (BA)
Department
Environmental Science and Policy
Advisor
John P. Swaddle
Committee Members
David Feldman
Randolph M. Chambers
Abstract
The need for sustainability in both the education and operations of colleges and universities has inspired many to launch sustainability programs on their campuses. As institutions of higher education invest in creating and expanding their campus sustainability programs, there is a need to identify the most effective institutional structure for achieving campus sustainability goals. This comparative study analyzed the sustainability programs at eight colleges and universities. I selected these institutions to be somewhat similar to my own, The College of William and Mary. Personal interviews and in-depth research were conducted to gather detailed information on the structure of each campus' program. This information was used to score the institutions on a series of twenty variables. These variables were then correlated to a measure of the program's success, adapted from their score on the Sustainable Endowments Institute Green Report Card. Through quantitative and qualitative analyses, the factors most strongly associated with program success were: the amount of funding it received; the reliability of that funding; the program's size; the physical space allocated to the program; and the source of its initiation. The greatest success correlated to large amounts of reliable funding, a large program size, dedicated space for the program, and a bottom-up initiation. Based on the results of this research, when colleges and universities decide to take up sustainability goals, they need to make serious investments in their sustainability programs while also fostering strong student support. Both institutional investment and grass-roots student support appear crucial for enacting effective sustainability initiatives.
Recommended Citation
Edmonds, Lauren C., "An Evaluation of Effective Structures for Campus Sustainability Programs At Institutions of Higher Education" (2011). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 428.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/428
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Comments
Thesis is part of Honors ETD pilot project, 2008-2013. Migrated from Dspace in 2016.