Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 62.57
Liaison Kylee Singh
Submission Date Feb. 16, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

California Polytechnic State University
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 1.00 Kylee Singh
Sustainability Coordinator
Energy Utilities and Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution conduct an assessment of sustainability culture (i.e. the assessment focuses on sustainability values, behaviors and beliefs, and may also address awareness of campus sustainability initiatives)?:
Yes

Which of the following best describes the cultural assessment? The assessment is administered to::
A subset of the campus community or a sample that may not be representative of the entire community

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:

In 2013 a faculty member in the College of Liberal Arts performed an assessment on attitudes of students with regards to sustainability efforts on campus. In order to measure change over time a group of 10 faculty from various academic departments will be conducting a new survey in Winter of 2017 with plans to conduct these surveys every 3-4 years.


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:

The attitude survey asked the students to consider the impacts of our society’s shift toward sustainability on their personal life, society and the world. Attitudes toward sustainability were measured on a five-point scale from very negative to very positive.
http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1250&context=focus


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

In the 2013 survey, Professor Levi asked psychology students from various classes to participate which allowed him to gather data from 106 students, 51 male, 55 female, with a median age of 20.14 years old. For the 2017 upcoming survey the group of faculty will work to collect data from a much broader cross section of campus with a goal of 1,000 responses.


A brief summary of results from the cultural assessment, including a description of any measurable changes over time:

Dan Levi's research presents an assessment of the sustainability attitudes and behaviors of Cal Poly students. Students recognized the environmental aspects of sustainability, but often did not acknowledge the economic and social aspects of sustainability. They had positive attitudes toward sustainability and believed our society’s transition to a sustainable future will be good for society, but they were less certain of its benefits to their life and careers. The students performed many environmentally responsible activities, but few were taking classes on sustainability or engaging in campus sustainability activities. The norms of the people in the students’ lives were positive, but positive attitudes were more prevalent than positive behaviors. The attitudes and behaviors of their friends had a significant impact on students’
willingness to engage in sustainable behaviors.


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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