A strategic communication model for sustainable initiatives in higher education institutions
Author
Faculty Advisor
Date
2017
Keywords
strategic communication model, sustainability, higher education
Abstract (summary)
Communicating sustainable initiatives in higher education institutions presents a challenge, given
that few to no universities possess or maintain a strategic communication plan that addresses the
need to share this information effectively to stakeholders (students, faculty, staff, administrators,
and community advocates). Drawing on secondary and primary research across universities in
three countries, each representing distinct regional and national orientations – Canada, Ecuador,
and Ukraine – the authors explain a sustainability/environmental communication model designed to
be flexible enough for universal application, while providing strategic guidelines tailored to higher
education institutions in each of its four described steps. The strategic communication model is
informed by the critical synthesis of secondary research into two main areas of literature: (1)
strategic communication theory and best practice; and (2) the organizational dissemination of
sustainability initiatives, particularly within post-secondary institutions. Such secondary literature
informs, and is in turn contributed to by, the authors’ primary research that was conducted, which
consists of three parts: (1) discourse analysis of relevant institutional documents and promotional
materials; (2) interviews about current practices in sustainability-related communication,
conducted with higher education sustainability administrators; and, (3) focus groups with students,
examining participant awareness and assessment of their institution’s sustainability
communications. Based on such study, the authors advance a strategic communication model for
sustainable initiatives, which comprises a four-step process based on a series of eight questions,
with the first step providing comprehensive explication of a seven-component strategic planning
framework that scales downward from the most abstract considerations to concrete tactics. In
summary, the primary- and secondary-research data suggests that most universities, even if they
implement sustainability initiatives or officially incorporate environmentalism into their
institutional identity statements (mission, vision, etc.), fail to communicate these actions
informatively and persuasively, thereby establishing widespread need for this paper’s offered
strategic guidance.
Publication Information
Macpherson, I., & Mazo, L. (2017). A strategic communication model for sustainable initiatives in higher education institutions. Athens Journal of Mass Media and Communications, 3(4), 321-342. https://doi.org/10.30958/ajmmc/3.4.3
Notes
Item Type
Article
Language
English
Rights
All Rights Reserved