Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) as a tool to implement university social responsibility (USR) in higher education institutions (HEIs). Using the University of Sharjah (UoS) as a case study, this analysis demonstrates how USR principles can be applied by consistently targeting key performance indicators (KPIs) related to social sustainability. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative case study methodology is used by collecting data from internal STARS reports from 2021 and 2025, official institutional policies and initiatives and other global sustainability awards. The UoS’s progress in each STARS category was then analyzed, and category-specific KPIs were aligned to USR dimensions and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Findings The findings of this study showcased that UoS’s progress from 2021 to 205 was attributed to applying USR into academic, operational, engagement and administrative sectors of the institution. With the most apparent category being engagement, the results of this study demonstrated that USR can be impactful to both internal and external stakeholders of a HEI when sustainability is applied campus-wide, rather than in separate initiatives. Practical implications This study provides category-level guidance for HEIs that seek to implement USR principles and improve overall social sustainability through improving their performance in STARS and other global sustainability rankings. Originality/value By conducting a case study analysis within the Middle East, this study presents a unique perspective on USR applications in an underrepresented region. This study shows that there are both challenges and advantages of applying global sustainability rankings as frameworks for social development in a specific, regional context.
Ibrahim et al. (Mon,) studied this question.