Drivers for and Barriers to the Implementation of Sustainability Initiatives at Small Colleges in the Midwestern United States

Author

Hannah Weber, Southern Illinois University CarbondaleFollow

Date of Award

5-1-2025

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Geography and Environmental Resources

First Advisor

Duram, Leslie

Abstract

Sustainability is important to higher education institutions and has many benefits such as cost savings, an increase in student interest and engagement, and advancement towards a sustainable future. Past studies have examined the drivers and barriers to successful implementation of sustainability initiatives; however, these studies have focused almost exclusively on large universities. This research focuses on small colleges because they have the potential to foster a sense of community and a closer connection between faculty, students, and administration, which may lead to fewer barriers to the implementation of sustainability initiatives. Specifically, this research focuses on small colleges with fewer than 3,000 enrollments and with a current AASHE Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS) status. Developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), STARS is a comprehensive framework designed to evaluate and measure sustainability performance in HEIs. The focus on colleges with AASHE STARS status is made because it is widely used, shows a commitment to campus sustainability, increases chances that there are suitable experts for interviews, and increases the chance of finding engaged and innovative staff to interview. Through expert interviews with sustainability professionals and a qualitative data analysis approach, this study identifies key institutional drivers and barriers shaping sustainability efforts at these institutions. Expert interviews reveal that strong administrative commitment, student engagement, and integration of sustainability across academics and facilities emerge as drivers of sustainability success. By contrast, limited financial resources, administrative turnover, and competing institutional priorities often act as significant barriers. In addition to the qualitative analysis, descriptive statistics and correlation were used to evaluate the relationship between institutional investment in sustainability and sustainability performance. This analysis used STARS scores as an indicator of sustainability success and assessed whether factors such as dedicated sustainability offices, paid sustainability staff, and endowment size correlated with higher scores. Findings reveal that colleges with dedicated sustainability offices, paid sustainability staff, and dedicated annual budgets tend to achieve higher sustainability performance. A composite index of sustainability support was developed to assess institutional commitment. The findings of this analysis suggest that while financial investment influences sustainability outcomes, other factors such as whether the college campus is urban or rural or how integrated the sustainability office is within the college may influence sustainability success. The results of this study were compared against the existing literature and resulted in a collection of best practices that can be used to aid other small colleges in their efforts to implement sustainability measures.