Higher education institutions are taking steps to position themselves as local and global leaders in environmental sustainability. They are doing so in support of important institutional values and priorities, as well as in response to student applicants who see the area as integral to their own moral principles. Many students actually consider an institution’s commitment to environmental sustainability when deciding whether to apply or attend (59% according to a Princeton Review survey).
Higher education as a sector finds itself at a crucial moment where leadership must ask the difficult question: Is it our responsibility to be a leader in climate and environmental sustainability?
Many institutions would say yes and have already made environmental commitments such as becoming carbon neutral or embedding the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within their courses, research, and community engagement. However, committing and implementing are not the same, and without the oversight of a strategic leader, sustainability commitments can meet structural barriers that hinder progress.
While many of the growing trends in environmental sustainability will continue to be refined, appointing a Chief Sustainability Officer with the knowledge, energy, and desire to partner with organizational leadership enhances the institution's commitment to these initiatives.
Julian Dautremont, Director of Programs at AASHE, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, wrote that a strong indicator of sustainability as a priority is the presence of a paid, dedicated individual focused on sustainability initiatives. “Otherwise, it’s all people who have other jobs,” he says.
The Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) is emerging as a vital Cabinet-level position that will set institutions apart as the impacts of climate change increase.
Growth in the CSO role is not only evident in higher education. The past years have marked significant growth in the CSO role in the private sector, as investors and corporate leaders acknowledge the substantial impact of environmental sustainability on a company's financial performance. According to research conducted by Strategy&, in one year (2020 to 2021), companies appointed about as many CSOs as in the previous eight years combined.
Similarly, appointing higher education CSOs is a growing trend that is not expected to diminish in the coming years. It may come as no surprise that students today are urging leadership teams and communities to implement programs related to recycling, sustainable energy production, energy efficiency, and healthy and ethically sourced foods, to name a few. Current students, and the students of tomorrow, care deeply about these issues. One or more of these topics may influence their college choices, and they will advocate for these issues when they reach their chosen campus.
In a December 2022 study conducted by Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse, with support from Kaplan, 85% of 2,164 undergraduates surveyed from 114 colleges and universities across the country said that environmental sustainability is at least somewhat important for their campus to prioritize sustainability. Eighty-one percent are at least somewhat worried about climate change.
According to a 2022 Forrester Consulting report developed with Johnson Controls, student expectations are driving environmental sustainability within colleges and universities. The report gathered data from campus sustainability leaders at 105 institutions and found that “campus decision-makers are twice as likely to indicate attracting students who make enrolling decisions based on sustainable corporate values is driving them to prioritize sustainability compared to just addressing regulatory requirements.”
In response to these pressures, some institutions of higher education are expanding their approach to sustainability, moving from a facilities-centric one aimed primarily at enhancing building efficiencies and operations (1980s and 1990s) to one that takes a more holistic view of sustainability and how it can be applied across the full breadth of their institutional landscape.
If we are to learn from the private sector, research from Strategy& revealed that a significant number of companies have “CSOs whose sustainability mandate is limited, based on their role or overall standing in the corporate hierarchy.” Too few CSOs have sufficient access to the board, and therefore, are unable to innovate or effect change.
We are seeing the same trend in higher education. In a 2023 Salaries & Status of Sustainability Professionals in Higher Education study by the AASHE, 54% of respondents in 2023 said that structural barriers including “administrative silos, policies, obstructionist individuals/offices, etc.” were the biggest challenges in their role. Of the survey respondents, 41% said their position is housed in the Facilities or Physical Plant division, and 21% are in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer or in Administration/Finance/Operations. Only 6% are housed in the Office of the President/Chancellor; however, compared to previous years, the number has increased and will likely grow as more CSOs are hired and expected to report directly to the President.
To better accommodate that breadth and the associated need for more comprehensive cross-unit campus planning and enhanced campus visibility, sustainability offices should be elevated to report to the President to more formally recognize the institutional commitment to sustainability and to more fully signify its importance to strategic objectives and outcomes across multiple units.
A Chief Sustainability Officer who is a member of the Cabinet affords a significant advantage to the institution, ensuring that the wide variety of issues that fall under the purview of such a position are receiving institutional-level attention.
The major benefits to the college or university of addressing these issues institutionally span from the mundane, such as having a single recycling program for all parts of campus, to the existential, including preparing the campus for a climate crisis event such as wildfires or a sea level rise.
Generally, the CSO intersects with four main areas: operations, climate planning, student life, and collaborating on curiculum and environmental justice.
The environmental sustainability of campus facilities will continue to be a vital area of influence for the CSO. Many colleges and universities have made significant progress in this area including:
As one of the impacts of climate change is the increased frequency of climate-based emergencies, a CSO overlaps with emergency management programs. Climate planning considerations include risk analysis to examine where institutional vulnerabilities are - from institution-wide deferred maintenance and state and federal environmental mandates, to extreme weather events. CSOs are likely aware of, and know how to leverage, funding from typical capital sources, as well as from sustainability-focused grant programs at the federal, state, and local levels.
With the pressure from students for institutions to prioritize sustainability, student life is a key area for improvement by the CSO. From campus dining to housing to programming, the CSO must evaluate where they can make the most impact and demonstrate to students that real progress is being made.
According to Robert Nelson, CEO of the National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS), dining is a key area for campus sustainability. Students at many institutions including the University of Vermont, Johns Hopkins, Brown, University of California at Berkeley, Indiana University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have signed on to the Real Food Challenge, which audits campus food purchases to understand the current percentage of locally sourced, ecologically sound, fair and humane food being served on their campuses. Many other institutions have instituted hydration stations to encourage reusable beverage containers.
Water bottle refill stations and recycling bins next to trash cans are the most noticeable signs of sustainability initiatives on campus, with 85% of survey respondents being aware of their campus’ efforts in these areas. The next most visible indication was a bike or scooter borrowing program, noticed by 35% of students.
Sustainability extends beyond operations and student life and requires extensive collaboration across various departments. Although CSOs do not oversee curriculum, they will be an important resource for academic leaders who are developing offerings that focus on environmental sustainability.
As environmental and social justice becomes more integrated into curriculum, many institutions are also looking inward to make environmental justice a core value in institutional operations. CSOs will also interface and collaborate with the DEI officer on environmental justice issues and programs.
Chief Sustainability Officers come from a variety of backgrounds. Candidates may have a master's degree and academic background in an area where environmental sustainability has significant impact, such as engineering, environmental policy, facilities management, energy management, architecture, or other similar fields.
When reviewing applicants, assess them for their ability to be an influential leader. CSOs must influence stakeholders at all levels within an institution, from the Board and Cabinet to faculty, staff, and students. They also need to be innovators. Often environmental sustainability initiatives disrupt the status quo, and CSOs must have the courage to advocate for and implement change even when they face pushback.
Similar to the evolving role of the Chief Information Officer, which now is seen as having an institution-wide focus in support of technology, the CSO should be a systems thinker, as environmental sustainability touches all aspects of a campus. A candidate who is a collaborator and connector will be most effective at implementing and integrating a holistic institutional vision for environmental sustainability.
Student and institutional values are the driving forces behind the effort to elevate the Chief Sustainability Officer position for greater influence and impact.
Institutions with a lower-level sustainability officer should consider appointing a Cabinet-level CSO that further highlights the institution’s commitment to being a leader in climate and environmental sustainability. Trends indicate that the Chief Sustainability Officer position will be vital for higher education’s success both in the near-term and in the years to come. If your institution does not have a sustainability officer, now is the time to invest in bringing such a leader on-board.
