Updated May 2021
Engagement Mission
There is important work being done campus-wide to improve the culture of sustainability at UC Berkeley. These measures--campus committees and organizations, grants, newsletters, reports, and other initiatives--serve to ensure that sustainability is institutionalized on campus.
STARS is giving UC Berkeley a new structure by which to gauge our success in a number of categories pertaining to engagement and inclusion. As an example UC Berkeley earned perfect STARS scores in Support for Underrepresented Groups, Student Life and Participation in Public Policy - fields that measure diversity and equity in the campus community.
Campus Performance Overview
Engagement on Berkeley campus is promoted by the Office of Sustainability. The office provides:
- Lists of both credit and informal classes
- Information on over 55 sustainability-related student groups
- Sustainability grant funds for student and campus projects through TGIF.
- Web access to real-time data about energy usage in campus buildings using the Pulse dashboards. When energy consuption becomes visible, students, staff, and faculty see more concrete reason to engage in conservation.
- The Student Environmental Resource Center cultivates a collaborative space to strengthen the collective effectiveness of the sustainability community, and provides resources for students to actualize their visions of a more equitable, socially just, and resilient future.
The Office of Sustainability has developed:
- A Green Walking Tour of sustainable practices integrated into daily campus life.
- Green Certifications for departments and for campus events.
- A new students' guide to sustainable practices at Cal.
Additionally, UC Berkeley faciltates student and employee access to sustainable design information via the campus's membership in the US Green Building Council.
For more information, see this site's Engage pages.
STARS Performance Overview
Engagement Category
According to STARS, "This subcategory seeks to recognize institutions that provide their students with sustainability learning experiences outside the formal curriculum. 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 help integrate sustainability into the campus culture and set a positive tone for the institution."
"In addition," says the STARS report, "this subcategory recognizes institutions that support employee engagement, training and development programs in sustainability. Employees’ daily decisions impact an institution’s sustainability performance and employees can model sustainable behavior for students and the rest of the campus community. Equipping employees with the tools, knowledge, and motivation to adopt behavior changes that promote sustainability is an essential activity of a sustainable campus."
Berkeley's STARS Performance
Campus Engagement Points Available: 19.42
Campus Engagement Points Claimed: 21.00
Breakdown of points--
|
Credit |
Points |
|
Student Educators Program |
4.00 / 4.00 |
|
Student Orientation |
2.00 / 2.00 |
|
Student Life |
2.00 / 2.00 |
|
Outreach Materials and Publications |
2.00 / 2.00 |
|
Outreach Campaign |
4.00 / 4.00 |
|
Assessing Sustainability Culture |
1.00 / 1.00 |
|
Employee Educators Program |
2.17 / 3.00 |
|
Employee Orientation |
1.00 / 1.00 |
|
Staff Professional Development |
1.25 / 2.00 |
- The campus achieved 92% of available points in the STARS Campus Engagement category, compared to 73% of points captured on average by all research and doctoral institutions.
- We earned a perfect score in multiple subcategories, including the Student Educators Program credit, where our response emphasized the range and depth of peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education programs available to students on campus.
- Another highlight found that all campus employees are served by a peer-to-peer sustainability outreach and education program, such as the Zero Waste Building Program spearheaded by Cal Zero Waste.
Shake Up the Status Quo
Make some noise by getting involved!
