| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 75.90 |
| Liaison | Deborah Steinberg |
| Submission Date | Dec. 6, 2021 |
Carnegie Mellon University
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Melissa
Baker Assistant Director IR Institutional Research and Analysis |
Does the institution conduct an assessment of sustainability culture?:
Which of the following best describes the cultural assessment? The assessment is administered to::
Which of the following best describes the structure of the cultural assessment? The assessment is administered::
A brief description of how and when the cultural assessment(s) were developed and/or adopted:
Assessment questions were developed by the Provost’s Sustainability Council and Institutional Research and Analysis to gauge awareness, knowledge, and importance of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to our entire campus community, both students and employees. Responders were also asked to gauge their interest in engaging in each SDG. This was followed up with focus groups in spring 2021, again for both students and employees. The group settled on a qualitative approach for the focus groups, allowing for a more in-depth examination into the phenomenon of faculty, staff, and student awareness of and engagement with the SDGs.
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:
Sustainability culture of the SDGs addressed in the survey were: awareness, importance, involvement (via education, research, and service and practice (both inside and outside of CMU)), and interest in future engagement. Sample questions include:
How important are the SDG's to you?
How involved are you in any SDG area through education?
How involved are you in any SDG area through research?
How involved are you in any SDG area through service or practice at CMU?
How interested are you in engaging with CMU on each SDG?
A brief description of how representative samples were reached (if applicable) and how the cultural assessment is administered:
In February 2020, the university Provost distributed a Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice survey to all students, faculty, and staff, at all locations, to take stock of the CMU community’s understanding of and interest in the Sustainable Development Goals. Follow-up focus groups from the responding population were conducted in spring 2021. Due to a high level of interest in focus group participation, the originally planned eight sessions were expanded to twelve to accommodate more faculty, staff, and students.
A brief summary of results from the cultural assessment:
Results have been analyzed from the survey and student focus groups. The results from the employee focus groups will be completed by the end of October 2021.
About half the Pittsburgh undergraduate students who completed the survey indicated they had heard of the SDGS prior to the survey. This response was slightly lower for Pittsburgh Masters students and slightly higher for Pittsburgh Doctoral students who responded to the survey. Respondents indicated that the SDGs are somewhat important to them.
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.