Institutional sources of practice variation: Staffing college and university recycling programs

In this paper, I examine how variation arises in the staffing of recycling programs at colleges and universities. Through initial fieldwork, I identif ied two basic recycling program forms. Some schools adopted recycling progr ams that entailed the creation of new, full-time recycling manager position s that were filled by ecological activists. Other schools adopted more mini malist programs that were staffed by current employees who were more ecolog ically ambivalent and assumed recycling management responsibilities as a pa rt-time, additional duty. Results of a subsequent survey of a population of colleges and universities show that this variation in staffing was importa ntly shaped by the Student Environmental Action Coalition, a national socia l movement organization that provided resources and support to student envi ronmental groups at particular schools. Implications for the study of how f ield-level organizations shape the content of organizational practices are discussed.