Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 55.58
Liaison Stephen Ellis
Submission Date April 26, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Boston University
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Dennis Carlberg
Associate Vice President for Sustainability
BU Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

The percentage of students assessed for sustainability literacy (directly or by representative sample) and for whom a follow-up assessment is conducted:
100

The percentage of students assessed for sustainability literacy (directly or by representative sample) without a follow-up assessment:
0

A copy of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment(s):
The questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment(s) :

See FY16 Sustainability Literacy Assessment


A brief description of how the assessment(s) were developed:

The survey was designed to gauge progress on sustainability awareness at Boston University. Having information about the community's understanding and activities regarding sustainability helps sustainability@BU plan future efforts, programs and communications initiatives. Consistent with the guidelines of STARS, the survey was conceived to contain questions on general sustainability literacy. 26% of survey questions relate to literacy, 55% of questions are BU-specific, and 18% are behavioral.


A brief description of how the assessment(s) were administered:

The sustainability survey is conducted online early in the spring term each year. This year's survey was sent out via email in February to all Boston University undergraduate students, graduate students, staff and faculty. Out of 29 total questions, 26% of questions related to literacy, 56% of questions were BU-specific, and 18% were behavioral. Students, as well as staff and faculty members who responded to it constitute the representative sample.


A brief summary of results from the assessment(s):

Out of the 2,170 total survey respondents:
- 86% correctly agreed that the definition of sustainability is ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’
- 80% thought that slowing climate change was extremely important from a global perspective more so than other issues such as economic prosperity, biodiversity loss, public health, and access to education.
- 68% thought that recycling was extremely important from a Boston University perspective more than other issues such as waste reduction, preparing for climate change, green buildings, and sustainable purchasing
- 40% of respondents strongly agreed that they were aware of Boston University’s efforts in reducing our environmental footprint overall


The website URL where information about the literacy assessment(s) is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Answers to the survey are available online (see website URL above).


Answers to the survey are available online (see website URL above).

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.