Performance in higher education institutions sustainable operations

Abstract

Study’s goal: The general goal of this paper is to create a conceptual framework that allows for the assessment of sustainability practices in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).

Methodology/approach: In order to meet the goal set, a systematic survey of the scientific literature about sustainability assessment models in HEIs was conducted, which allowed for the identification of characteristics and functionalities of the existent models. The systematic literature review developed adopts the Knowledge Development Process-Constructivist (ProKnow-C) method complemented by a procedure known as snowball sampling to create a portfolio of articles to be reviewed.

Originality/Relevance: This paper reviews a considerable number of sustainability assessment models for higher education, identifying correlated axes in existent models and contributing to further research about the theme of sustainability assessment in higher education.

Main results: The results generated a summary chart composed of 10 thematic axes that describe sustainable operations in HEIs. They are as follows: governance and policy, laws, ethics and integrity, teaching, purchases, transportation, energy, water, food, innovation, and hazardous waste.

Theoretical/methodological contributions: This paper is based on the literature review, particularly adopting systematic review techniques.

Conclusion: The systematic survey of scientific literature generated a summary chart composed of 10 thematic axes. This paper is limited to ascertaining the thematic areas that may develop criteria to assess service operations in HEIs. The thematic axes found by this paper may be employed by future studies to obtain specific criteria and their applicability in HEIs.