Student ~ Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama
Hollen is a junior majoring in Global Studies. She is largely responsible for creating a report that will have a significant and long-lasting influence on Auburn’s role as an agent for positive change. That report is titled Auburn University and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
In 2015, 193 nations agreed on seventeen global grand challenges and established seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to address them. These goals form a common bond of peoples and nations working together to create a better future.
It was understood that teaching, outreach, and research related to the SDGs were happening across campus, but there was no way to know the depth or breadth of Auburn’s engagement. As a result, the College of Human Sciences, the Academic Sustainability Program, and the Office of Sustainability decided to develop a report to document Auburn’s engagement.
With the Hunger Solutions Institute’s support in the College of Human Sciences, Hollen was chosen to author the report, a task and accomplishment worthy of any polished graduate student.
Hollen worked with the Academic Sustainability Program to develop an inventory of SDG-related teaching, research, and outreach within every college, school, and department. AASHE STARS data supported inventory development. Hollen then coded and analyzed the data.
After completing data analysis, Hollen authored, designed, and formatted the comprehensive report, including an executive summary, introduction, methods, and detailed information for each of the 17 SDGs. Content for each of the 17 SDGs included a summary and graphical depiction of the data as well as three highlights from around campus. Hollen identified and coordinated development for each of the 51 highlights.
Hollen’s initiative and exceptional effort in developing the SDG report enables the campus community to see and appreciate how Auburn University contributes to the resolution of these global grand challenges locally, regionally, and internationally. The report reveals how the SDGs are being addressed in courses, majors, minors, graduate programs, departmental research, centers and institutes, student organizations, and other campus activity areas.
Hollen’s project will serve as a model for many institutions considering such an informative and impactful report. This was an extraordinary accomplishment.
