Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 53.49
Liaison Julia Angstmann
Submission Date Dec. 20, 2021

STARS v2.2

Butler University
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Jamie Valentine
Assistant Director CUES
Biological Sciences
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution conduct an assessment of sustainability culture?:
Yes

Which of the following best describes the cultural assessment? The assessment is administered to::
The entire campus community (students and employees) directly or by representative sample

Which of the following best describes the structure of the cultural assessment? The assessment is administered::
Longitudinally to measure change over time

A brief description of how and when the cultural assessment(s) were developed and/or adopted:

The assessment was developed by a CUES Intern with the support of CUES Assistant Director based on assessments from other universities. This assessment was sent to colleagues for review and was edited based on their recommendations. The inaugural survey was administered in fall of 2021. It was emailed to all students, faculty, and staff by the Office of Institutional Research twice over a two week period. Students, faculty, and staff that take the survey are assigned a number to track their assessment longitudinally to assess how sustainability culture shifts from sustainability initiatives. Future surveys will be administered annually, every fall, to the entire campus community.


A copy or sample of the questions related to sustainability culture:
A sample of the questions related to sustainability culture or the website URL where the assessment tool is available:
---

A brief description of how representative samples were reached (if applicable) and how the cultural assessment is administered:

The inaugural survey was administered in fall of 2021. It was emailed to all students and employees by the Office of Institutional Research twice over a two week period. Individuals that take the survey are assigned a number to track their assessment longitudinally. Future surveys will be administered every fall, through 2030 per IRB application, to the entire campus community and responses are linked to assess change in literacy over time and via campus initiatives.


A brief summary of results from the cultural assessment:

This survey was sent to students as well as campus employees/faculty. 429 students took the survey and 240 staff/faculty. Many students reported having a car on campus is 'very important' and expressed numerous barriers to using public transportation including it being unsafe, limited in destinations, inconsistent, and unaware of how to use the bus. Students reported low levels of importance in the University's sustainability goals for choosing where to go to college. Many comments involved recycling and composting infrastructure as solutions. When asked how students felt about climate change the most common were: anxious, depressed, angry, and sad. Most students felt climate change would negatively impact their future. There was less awareness of campus sustainability programs outside of the campus farm.
Staff and faculty also highlighted limitations of public transit and show no to low levels of interest in carpooling with a colleague. Most were able to identify the tree pillars of sustainability, although if one was not chosen as a component, it was more often social justice. Many reported sustainability efforts on campus as recycling, reusable to-gos, and water filing stations. Most agreed that human behavior is causing climate change. Staff and faculty also reported negative emotions as a result of climate change including anxious, sad, and depressed. A deeper dive into the results will occur spring 2022.


Website URL where information about the assessment of sustainability culture is available:
---

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
---

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.