| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 74.46 |
| Liaison | Ciannat Howett |
| Submission Date | Oct. 9, 2024 |
Emory University
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
4.00 / 4.00 |
Cyrus
Bhedwar Director Office of Sustainability Initiatives |
Does the institution conduct an assessment of the sustainability literacy of its students?:
Which of the following best describes the literacy assessment? The assessment is administered to::
Which of the following best describes the structure of the assessment? The assessment is administered as a::
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:
A faculty committee developed an instrument focused on 4 areas of information:
a. knowledge of areas of sustainability behavior change that are relevant to student lives;
b. knowledge of Emory’s topical sustainability initiatives;
c. sustainability identity and students’ commitments as persons who care about sustainability (to assess shift over their time at Emory);
d. and knowledge of sustainability topics and challenges.
The actual survey questions are attached. Emory uses a single assessment for both literacy and culture.
A brief description of how the literacy assessment was developed and/or when it was adopted:
Faculty from Sociology, Nursing, and Anthropology met in May 2014, to develop a brief sustainability literacy survey for Emory undergraduate students. Additional faculty in Sociology/Oxford, Biology/Oxford, Japanese, and Public Health supported the efforts. The goal was to develop a pilot survey, to test whether we can get meaningful results, using the research generated by Drs. Karen Hegtvedt and Cathy Johnson on the sustainability-themed residence hall over the last decade. The 2014 pilot initial and follow-up surveys provided meaningful results, so starting in 2015, faculty slightly revised the survey to ask more current questions. In 2016, the faculty added a new section to meet the criteria for both sustainability literacy and cultural assessments, and in 2018 additional faculty convened to revise the survey to be inclusive of employees.
A brief description of how a representative sample was reached (if applicable) and how the assessment(s) were administered :
An online survey was distributed to all faculty, staff, and students of Emory University and Emory Healthcare in March 2024 to assess 2023 sustainability literacy and culture. This was the fourth assessment of employees, but a survey of students has been conducted annually since 2014. The combined literacy and culture survey will continue will be administered each year to the entire campus and healthcare communities to assess change over time. In this way, the entire student, faculty, and staff bodies are surveyed and followed up with. To enhance participation, we offer a raffle for three $100 gift cards.
A brief summary of results from the literacy assessment(s):
Part III of the survey addresses “Knowledge of Sustainability Issues” which included two sections. In the first section, eight of the twelve questions were answered correctly by 80% of respondents or more. Issues most likely to be answered incorrectly were whether:
- High water use in the city and on campus reduces water available to downstream communities and fisheries.
- Choosing Fair Trade coffee supports democratic cooperatives of small farmers through fair pricing and support for economic development projects.
- Personal action to reduce, reuse, and recycle diminishes the public health and environmental harms related to raw materials extraction.
- Overall, the federal Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act have led to cleaner air and improved water quality across the US over the last 50 years.
In the second section, participants were asked how familiar they were with several concepts. The percentage reflects the number who could either “give a definition of this concept” or “Give a definition and explain how it connects to sustainability.”
- Climate change (95%)
- Biodiversity (78.8%)
- Inter-generational equity (54.9%)
- Precautionary principle (20.2%)
- United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (38.8%)
- Climate Action (71.5%)
- Climate Justice (65.9%)
Optional Fields
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Survey was conducted in March 2024 for responses related experiences in AY 2022-2023.
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.