Colorado Mountain College
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

Our survey included questions for the sustainability literacy assessment (AC-6; questions 5-15), the commute modal split (OP-16; question 20), and the assessment of sustainability culture (OP-16; questions 16-30). All questions are included below.

 1. I am a: (select all that apply):

1. faculty member -staff member


2. student 2. What is your goal? (select all that apply)
   
   
   
   • 4-year degree
   
   
   • 2-year degree -Certificate
   
   
   • Personal Learning (Not seeking a credential)
   
   
   • Other 3.
   
   
   
   


3. Which is your primary CMC campus?
   
   
   
   • Dillon
   
   
   • Breckenridge
   
   
   • Leadville
   
   
   • Salida
   
   
   • Aspen
   
   
   • Carbondale
   
   
   • Rifle
   
   
   • Glenwood Springs
   
   
   • Spring Valley
   
   
   • Vail Valley (Edwards)
   
   
   • Steamboat Springs
   
   
   • Distance
   
   
   • Central Services
   
   
   
   


4.  What is your housing status?
   
   
   
   • on-campus
   
   
   • off-campus
   
   
   
   


5. The most significant driver in the loss of species and ecosystems around the world is:

• 
  
  
  
  • Over-utilization (e.g. overhunting, overharvesting)
  
  
  • Conversion of natural spaces into human developments (farmland, cities, etc.)
  
  
  • Acid rain
  
  
  • Breeding of animals in zoos
  
  
  • Don’t know
  
  
  
  

Ozone forms a protective layer in the earth's upper atmosphere. What does ozone protect us from?

• Acid rain


• Climate change


• Sudden changes in temperature


• Harmful UV rays


• Don't know

7. Which of the following is an example of sustainable forest management?

• Setting aside forests to be off-limits to the public


• Never harvesting more than what the forest produces in new growth 


• Producing lumber for nearby communities to build affordable housing


• Putting the local communities in charge of forest resources


• Don’t know

8. Many economists argue that electricity prices in the U.S. are too low because:

• They do not reflect the costs of pollution from generating electricity


• Too many suppliers go out of business


• Electric companies have a monopoly in their service area


• consumers spend only a small part of their income on energy


• Don’t know

9. What is a potential effect of global climate change?

• Loss of habitats


• Less severe weather


• Decrease in sea level


• Don’t know


• Loss of the ozone layer

10. Which of the following is the best example of environmental justice?

• Urban citizens win a bill to have toxic wastes taken to rural communities


• The government dams a river, flooding Native American tribal lands to create hydropower for large cities


• All stakeholders from an indigenous community are involved in setting a quota for the amount of wood they can take from a protected forest next to their village


• Multinational corporations build factories in developing countries where environmental laws are less strict


• Don’t know

11. Which of the following would be considered living in the most environmentally sustainable way? -Recycling all recyclable packaging

• Reducing consumption of all products


• Buying products labeled "eco" or "green"


• Buying the newest products available


• Don't know

2. Imagine that we had to pay for all the costs associated with the goods we use every day. What would go into calculating the true costs of a product?

• The cost of raw materials to make the product


• The cost of environmental damage caused by production


• The cost of health care for employees who manufacture the product


• All of the above


• Don’t know

13. Which of the following statements about water is true?

• Globally, water for personal use (such as washing dishes, doing laundry, and bathing) is the major use of water resources


• Globally, freshwater reserves (aquifers) are used faster than they are replenished


• Floods and severe weather will increase the availability of clean drinking water


• Because water is a free and abundant resource, it is not a major concern for most countries

14. Workers around the world face a variety of social injustices, including low wages, poor working conditions, and lack of access to education. To help improve conditions for these workers you can: -Support corporations that do not allow workers to join labor unions 

• Buy the newest products to keep factories around the world open


• Purchase products from companies that conduct business in a socially responsible manner -Support large corporations because they generally have more money to pay their workers


• Don’t know

15. Where do you get information about sustainability? (select all that apply)

• Classes


• News sources


• Friends/family


• Social media


• Other

16. How important do you think sustainability will be for the future well-being of society and the planet?

• Not at all important


• Slightly important


• Moderately important


• Very important


• Extremely important

17. How important is it to you that CMC reflects sustainability values in how it functions and operates? 

• Not at all important


• Slightly important Moderately important


• Very important


• Extremely important

18. Drag and drop to rank the following goals for CMC in order of importance (1-MOST important) -Renewable energy powering CMC’s campuses (wind, solar, other)

• Zero waste campuses


• Carbon-neutral campuses


• A “green” scholarship for student research/study in sustainability


• Locally sourced, organic, non-GMO food service


• Increased focus on diversity and equity

19. Please mark how concerned you are with each sustainability category:

• Climate change


• Access to food and clean water


• Use of non-renewable resources


• Transferring to renewable resources


• Recycling


• Reducing consumption


• Waste minimization


• Habitat degradation


• Human rights


• Social justice


• Extremely Concerned


• Very Concerned


• Somewhat Concerned


• Slightly Concerned


• Not at All Concerned

20. Which best describes your main mode of transportation for getting to and from campus/classes at CMC? -Single occupancy gas, diesel, or hybrid-powered car, truck, SUV, or van Carpool in a gas, diesel, or hybrid-powered car, truck, SUV, or Van (2 or more occupants)

• Zero emissions vehicle (with any number of occupants) 


• Bus, campus shuttle, or another mode of public transportation


• Motorcycle, moped, e-bike, motorized scooter, skateboard, or wheelchair


• Walk, bike, or non-motorized skateboard, scooter, or wheelchair


• I almost always use distance learning and/or telecommuting and hardly ever travel to campus/class 21. Which of the following statements best describes your level of interest in sustainability?


• Not Interested at All


• Slightly Interested


• Moderately Interested


• Very Interested


• Extremely Interested

22. How interested are you in learning more about sustainability through classes?

• Not Interested At All


• Slightly Interested


• Somewhat Interested


• Very Interested


• Extremely Interested 

23. Have you attended sustainability events at your campus?

• Yes


• No

24. How many sustainability events have you attended?

• One


• Multiple


• I regularly attend sustainability events

25. Are you interested in attending future sustainability events at your campus?

• Yes 


• Maybe


• No

26. Why haven't you attended any sustainability events yet? (select all that apply)

• I wasn't interested in attending events


• I wasn't aware of the events


• I wasn't available to attend the events


• Other


• Events were inconvenient to attend

27. Do you participate in any sustainability clubs at your campus?

• Yes


• No

28. Are you a member of the employee green team at your campus?

• Yes


• No 

29. Why don't you participate in sustainability clubs at your campus? (select all that apply)

• I’m not interested


• I am unaware of any sustainability groups on my campus


• The sustainability clubs at my campus have inconvenient meeting times


• The sustainability clubs at my campus have inconvenient meeting locations


• Other 

30. Why aren't you a member of the employee green team at your campus? (Select all that apply)

• I'm not interested in being a member of the employee green at my campus


• I don't know how to become a member of the employee green at my campus


• I didn't know my campus had an employee green team -Other

Development: The sustainability literacy assessment for Colorado Mountain College was developed with input from faculty members and students and by drawing on examples from other institutions that completed STARS reports. The first step in conducting the survey was to see what other institutions had done. We looked at various institutions to gain a better understanding of what questions we would include and how to format the survey. Once we determined what questions we would use from other institutions, it was crucial to develop questions that were unique to CMC, such as demographics and opinionated questions. In addition, developing questions that assessed the literacy of the interconnectedness between social, economic, and environmental aspects of sustainability was necessary. The literacy assessment was adopted and administered during the Fall 22 term from Nov. 3rd-14th. In addition, we also reached out to Crystal Simmons (STARS) for clarity about the legitimacy of questions based on criteria in the technical manual. 

The sustainability literacy assessment was administered through Qualtrics via email on November 3rd and closed on November 14th, 2022. Qualtrics is a survey software system that Colorado Mountain College uses to administer its surveys. An invitation to participate in the survey was then sent out to the entire student body, faculty, and staff at Colorado Mountain College, and they had the option to take the literacy assessment if they chose to. We chose to administer the survey to the entire body of students at CMC, as we found this to be the easiest and most representative approach. In addition, the survey was administered to faculty and staff for further institutional research. There was an initial email to introduce the literacy assessment survey and another was sent out as a reminder. Only one survey was administered and we did not create a post-survey.

The sustainability literacy survey that the STARS team, students, and faculty created was administered to 5,723 students and had a participation rate of 2.95% (169). The survey was administered to the entire student body, faculty, and staff through Qualtrics, an online survey software that Colorado Mountain College uses. The survey consisted of 30 questions that aimed at gathering demographic information, behaviors/opinions, and assessing the knowledge of students, faculty, and staff regarding sustainability and its interconnected pillars: economy, environment, and social equity.

Out of 30 questions, 4 questions were geared towards understanding the demographics of students, faculty, and staff, 10 were focused on sustainability knowledge, and 16 focused on the behaviors and opinions of the participants. The survey results showed that out of 331 participants, 45 are faculty members (13.60%), 116 are staff members (35.05%), and 170 are students (51.36%). In addition, we observed that there were participants from all 11 campuses, central services, and online students, which ensured diversity of data across the Colorado Mountain College community. Sustainability Knowledge Questions: Out of 10 questions that assessed the sustainability knowledge of participants, on average, 78.35% of participants answered correctly. On average, 7.82% said they did not know the answer. On average, 14.69% of participants answered incorrectly. Results for questions that included opinions are not included.

Data Source: Data was acquired using Qualtrics, which is the survey system used to administer the questions to the entire CMC student body, staff, and faculty.