Amherst College
EN-4: Sustainability Culture Assessment

The Office of Sustainability, together with the Office of Institutional Research, conducted a campus wide sustainability survey that included a dedicated section to sustainability culture as well as separate sections on transportation and sustainability literacy. The qualtrics survey was pushed out to the entire campus community through November and December 2023, with three follow up reminders sent to those who had not completed the survey. A total of 888 campus members completed at least 50% of the survey. A copy of the survey is included below.

Of the 888 campus members who completed the survey, 371 were students (19.5% response rate), and 517 were staff members (46.1% response rate). A detailed overview of survey responses is available here.

Attitudes

In general, our survey results indicate that the community has strong opinions about the importance of sustainability work and the presence of sustainability on campus. When asked about the perceived impact of climate change, 83% of community members said they believe that climate change will negatively impact their generation's quality of life. 

Many also indicated a personal connection to sustainability: 70% of community members indicated that sustainability is important to how they live their life, and 60% indicated an interest in integrating sustainability into their professional career. 

Community members also expressed a desire to see the college act stronger on climate issues. While 97.6% said it is important to them that Amherst "operate sustainably (around energy, waste, water, etc.)," only 69.1% agreed that "Amherst considers sustainability a priority and is committed to its sustainability efforts." 

Finally, our survey results reveal a strong interest in integrating sustainability into Amherst’s curriculum and research arms. Around 91% said they believe it’s important that Amherst "offer sustainability-related courses" and 94.8% said it's important that Amherst "conduct sustainability-related research."

Engagement and Communications

When asked how respondents typically hear about sustainability-related activities on campus, the most common response was through the Daily Mammoth (556), our digital campus newspaper. Word of mouth (302), flyers/posters (260), and the Office Newsletter (212) were the next most selected options. 

Of the 371 students who responded, 36% have taken a sustainability-related course, 27% have participated in a sustainability-related club, 16% have completed sustainability-related research, and 12% have completed a sustainability-related internship. 

Most students said they have used or were aware of the campus bike share program (307) and bike repair shop (243). While many students indicated being aware of the Office of Sustainability’s EcoReps program (239), significantly fewer students said they were aware of the Office’s Sustainability Fellows program (93). 

The most popular events hosted by the Office of Sustainability were the free clothing giveaway and move-in yard sale. Our results also highlight a high staff participation rate in the Green Office program and the faculty/staff field trip.

Transportation

Respondents were asked a different set of questions depending on whether they indicated on-campus or off-campus residency. 

The vast majority of on-campus residents indicated not owning a car or any other form of transportation (bike, skateboard, scooter) on campus.

Community members living off-campus were asked a series of questions about their typical commute:

• A majority of these respondents (456) indicated that they use a single-occupancy vehicle for commuting. The next most common mode of transportation was walking (60) then biking (34) and skateboarding/scootering (34).

• Among those who own a vehicle on campus, 387 own gas powered vehicles, 54 own hybrid vehicles, and 19 own zero-emissions vehicles.

• The mean estimated distance traveled for one-way commutes is 13.2 miles and the mean mpg of commuter vehicles is 29 mpg (excluding zero-emissions vehicles). 

The survey was administered to the entire campus community. The results provide a great snapshot of the current state of campus sustainability culture, and constituted a representative sample of the campus community. The survey was confidential, but not anonymous. Each survey had its own unique link that allowed us to track which faculty, staff, and students completed the survey, and as such provide a mechanism to track longitudinal change through time of these individuals. We intend to conduct our assessment every 2 - 3 years.

The sustainability survey was distributed through the Office of Institutional Research to the entire campus community (faculty, staff, and students) Spring 2023. The survey was open for 1 ½ months and administered as a Qualtrics survey. Three reminders were automatically sent to those who had not completed the survey. A total of 888 campus members completed the survey, including 371 students (19.5% response rate) and 517 staff members (46.1% response rate).

A more detailed analysis of the culture assessment participants is available here. The analysis includes the demographics of those who completed the survey. The racial demographics of the student participant pool reflect the overall student body demographics and are considered representative.

This percentage represents full-time staff only. 484 employees completed at least 50% of the survey. So 46.1% of the staff completed the survey. Less clear how representative the sample is, and so we are only reporting based on the actual % of the college's total staff that completed the survey eventhough it was distributed to the entire staff population.