Developing a sustainability reporting assessment tool for higher education institutions: The University of California

Businesses have integrated sustainability reporting into their corporate responsibility efforts. However, universities, as the hubs of sustainability awareness, have been struggling with reporting their sustainability practices. The purpose of this study is to examine sustainability assessment tools in higher education institutions and develop a sustainability reporting assessment tool suitable for evaluating sustainability reporting in these institutions. The study attempts to fill the research lacuna in sustainability reporting in these institutions. In doing so, this study proposes a tool for assessing sustainability reporting in higher education institutions and applies the framework to the University of California. The result of the study shows that University of California is performing stronger in environmental and educational dimensions while social and governance/economic dimensions are lagging behind. Finally, it is concluded that assessment tools have failed to recognize reporting as an integral part of sustainability in universities and sustainability reporting among these institutions is still embryonic.