UBC Undergraduate Research

AMS lighter footprint strategy Baird, Chris; Chen, Alice; He, Celia; Miller, Aidan; Tso, Ellen

Abstract

The Alma Mater Society (AMS) of the University of British Columbia (UBC) is experiencing low awareness and participation among students and staff despite the wide array of sustainability initiatives and services offered. This is largely due to the lack of unified branding and consistent marketing promotions. The current strategies employed by the AMS to promote its sustainability initiatives were researched through interviews with the AMS Food and Beverages Manager, as well as various sustainability program coordinators at UBC. The current level of awareness for existing sustainability initiatives was measured through surveys that were distributed to students, faculty, and staff. After thoroughly analyzing survey results and conducting further secondary research with similar organizations, this proposal consists of the following recommendations: 1. Maximize awareness by bringing all current AMS sustainability initiatives underneath one consistent and unified “AMS” brand. 2. Enhance the online presence of the AMS‟s sustainability initiatives 3. Offer sustainability volunteer positions and opportunities 4. Increase internal AMS staff awareness By implementing the changes proposed above, the AMS will benefit from the following: •Improved communication, awareness, and participation of existing sustainability initiatives from students, faculty, and staff. •A foundation for a strong and consistent “AMS Sustainability” brand presence on the UBC campus. The long term benefit from the proposed recommendations will exceed the initial cost of the implementation. After the implementation, the AMS should conduct annual surveys to monitor the level of awareness and attitude of students, faculty and staff. It is critical to obtain feedback from target audiences on a regular basis. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada