Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 66.84
Liaison Stephanie Del Rosario
Submission Date May 26, 2022

STARS v2.2

California State University, Fullerton
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 4.00 John Bock
Professor / Director
Anthropology / Center for Sustainablity
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution conduct an assessment of the sustainability literacy of its students?:
Yes

Which of the following best describes the literacy assessment? The assessment is administered to::
A subset of students or a sample that may not be representative of the predominant student body

Which of the following best describes the structure of the assessment? The assessment is administered as a::
Standalone evaluation without a follow-up assessment of the same cohort or representative samples

A copy of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment(s):
A list or sample of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment or the website URL where the assessment tool may be found:
Please see attached. Sustainability literacy questions are #1 to #13.

A brief description of how the literacy assessment was developed and/or when it was adopted:
The CPFM Office of Sustainability was awarded the 2019-2020 Assessment Inquiry Grant through the Office of Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness (OAIE). The project proposed to help CSUF evaluate the success of its sustainability education initiatives and develop insight into improvements. The survey was developed by a small committee of faculty and staff in 2020. The committee reviewed various similar surveys and put together questions that best serve the University. The survey is largely adapted from Arizona State University.

During Fall 2020, a pilot sustainability survey was administered to the Liberal Studies student population. The survey was made available to the 596 Liberal Studies majors reported in the Fall 2020 census. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey to the entire student body was postponed.

The survey timeframe was from October 5, 2020 to October 16, 2020. The committee then decided to extend the participation deadline through October 26, 2020.

A brief description of how a representative sample was reached (if applicable) and how the assessment(s) were administered :
The committee worked with the Office of Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness (OAIE) to build the survey in Qualtrics. OAIE identified Liberal Studies students through its database. OAIE launched the survey via a recruitment email and several reminder emails along with the survey instrument to 596 Liberal Studies students. The survey received 112 responses (19%). This was the first year administering the survey. The survey included sustainability literacy and culture questions.

Grants funds were used to purchase giveaways to encourage participation. The prizes included various reusable water bottles to promote sustainability and the use of campus refill water bottle stations.

A brief summary of results from the literacy assessment(s):
The Data:
When asked about what the concept of sustainability involves, 46% knew that sustainability relates to society, environment, and the economy.

When asked about the definition of sustainable development, 47% knew the correct response.

When asked about how environmental impacts relate to socioeconomic issues, 55% knew the correct answer.

Optional Fields 

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

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
2019-2020 Assessment Inquiry Grant
http://www.fullerton.edu/data/studies/funded_projects/aig/assessment-i-g-1920.php

The Sustainability Literacy Assessment was administered as an overall assessment of three areas:

Sustainability Literacy
Sustainability Culture
Transportation/Commuting

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.