Credit Language
EN 1: Outreach & Communications – version 3.0
Indicators
- 1.1. Sustainability outreach and communications
- 1.2. Percentage of campus stakeholders reached through sustainability outreach and communications
Questions & Answers
How has this credit changed between STARS Version 2 and Version 3?
- Outreach materials, campaigns, and orientation activities for both students and employees have been consolidated into a single indicator.
- A new indicator requires that the reach of the institution’s sustainability outreach and communications be estimated or measured.
- A comprehensive list of differences can be found in the STARS 3.0 Summary of changes.
How does an institution go about assessing and estimating the percentage of campus stakeholders reached through sustainability outreach and communications (Indicator 1.2)?
Reach may be evidenced by the measured extent of stakeholder awareness of the institution’s sustainability initiatives (e.g., as demonstrated in survey responses) and/or by active newsletter subscriptions, email open rates, social media followers or group members, unique annual website visits or video views, campaign sign-ups, or the equivalent.
An institution may take one of three approaches in pursuing this indicator:
- Survey or assessment results. Report the results of an institution-wide survey or sustainability culture assessment that includes one or more items on respondent awareness of the institution’s sustainability initiatives.
- Communications analytics. Report on the analytics associated with the sustainability-focused communications medium or platform that has the greatest reach (e.g., newsletter subscribers or social media group members).
- Conservative estimate based on mixed/limited data sources. Report on the most credible sources of data that are available, taking steps to minimize double-counting. For example, an institution may use the single best data source for students (e.g., membership in a student-focused social media group) and the single best data source for employees (e.g., staff newsletter subscribers) and/or adjust figures downward to account for the anticipated extent to which individuals may be counted more than once.
Suggestions for Institutions
- Design upcoming sustainability engagement programs and activities with assessment in mind to facilitate reporting under Indicator 1.2.
Potential Data Quality Issues
- Indicator 1.1. Sustainability outreach and communications – Affirmative responses must be supported by information provided in descriptive fields.
- Indicator 1.2. If claiming that 80% or more of campus stakeholders are currently reached through sustainability outreach and communications efforts, the descriptive response and documentation should affirm how a relatively proportion of stakeholders were engaged.