Green Mountain College
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture

Green Mountain College's Sustainability Culture Assessment assesses all GMC students, staff and faculty on their behaviors, actions, and beliefs related to environmental, social, economic sustainability. The assessment was first used to track the impact and actions of Green Mountain College alumni as part of an alumni survey starting in 2013. In the fall of 2017, the survey began to be used as an assessment tool for all current Green Mountain College students, staff, and faculty, in addition to alumni. The survey is given annually to recent alumni and will moving forward will be given to all current GMC students and employees every two years. The next sustainability culture assessment for current GMC students and employees is scheduled for Fall 2019.

What is the approximate size of your home? How many people reside in your home for a majority of the year? During the past month, what mode did you use to travel to your primary occupation, whether it be work, school, or other? During the past month, what was the approximate distance of your typical round trip commute distance in miles to your primary occupation, whether it be work, school, or other? Approximately how many hours do you fly each year? How many of your meals per week include meat? What percentage of your food is grown within 250 miles and/or certified organic? In the past month during your paid work and unpaid volunteer time, how many hours per week, total, did you spend deliberately enhancing the social fabric of a community so that it may thrive sustainably now and into the future? To what extent do you feel your life’s activities (work, co-curricular, etc.) are meaningful? To what extent are you financially able to cover your monthly expenses? During the past month, how connected did you feel to your community? For example, did you feel like you had enough trust and connection with others in your community in order to feel supported after a shock from a tragedy (death of a loved one, a hurricane, or an economic recession, etc.)? Please check all that apply: -I recycle regularly -I compost food scraps regularly -I maintain a vegetable garden -I purchase local, organic, and/or fair trade for at least one quarter of your total purchases -Spend over $10,000 per year on non-work related items such as vacations, electronics for leisure, extra clothing, or other items that do not include basic food, shelter, transportation and clothing? -Acquire a majority of your electricity from a renewable energy source such as wind, solar, geothermal, or biomass? -Acquire a majority of your heat and hot water from a renewable energy source such as solar, passive solar, geothermal, wood, or other biomass? -Live in a home made primarily from sustainably-certified materials and/or materials sourced locally from within 250 miles? -I commute more than 20 miles to your primary occupation(school, work, or other) -I have more than one vehicle per driver in my household

All faculty, staff, and students receive multiple e-mails requesting participation in the assessment and a link to the survey. In addition, sustainability staff meet with office directors to request that they take the survey and encourage their staff to take the survey. The assessment utilizes the on-line survey tool, SurveyMonkey, to collect date. Alumni are sent the survey via e-mail through GMC's Career Services.

The assessment was completed by 204 respondents including 141 students, 37 staff, and 26 faculty members. Behaviors that were tracked included percentages of respondents who: -eat no meat on a weekly basis (26%) -feel their life’s activities (work, co-curricular, etc.) are meaningful? (75% quite a bit or very much) -are financially able to cover your monthly expenses (68% all of the time or most of the time) -recycle regularly (97%) and compost food scraps regularly(82%)