| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 75.15 |
| Liaison | Laura Young |
| Submission Date | March 3, 2022 |
Michigan State University
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.50 / 1.00 |
Adam
Zwickle Assistant Professor Environmental Science and Policy Program |
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:
"The cultural assessment surveys have been administered annually since 2013 in coordination with the university's sustainability literacy assessment. About one-third of the items on the survey instrument assessed sustainability culture, attitudes and perceptions about sustainability. The assessment includes social, environmental, and economic sustainability. It looks at the differences in knowledge and attitudes over time, and between MSU's various colleges as well.
Several papers have been published related to this surveying effort that further detail the development of the assessment:
Sustainability behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge: comparing university students and the general public. 2021.
CK Kirby, A Zwickle
Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences 11 (4), 639-647
The effect of information source on higher education students’ sustainability knowledge. 2019.
JO Michel, A Zwickle
Environmental Education Research, 1-19
Sustainability Knowledge and Attitudes—Assessing Latent Constructs. 2018.
A Zwickle, K Jones
Handbook of Sustainability and Social Science Research, 435-451
Sustainability behaviors among college students: an application of the VBN theory. 2018.
CT Whitley, B Takahashi, A Zwickle, JC Besley, AP Lertpratchya
Environmental Education Research 24 (2), 245-262
Assessing the role of college as a sustainability communication channel. 2017.
AP Lertpratchya, JC Besley, A Zwickle, B Takahashi, CT Whitley
International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 18 (7), 1060-1075"
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:
See uploaded file.
A brief description of how representative samples were reached (if applicable) and how the cultural assessment is administered:
The assessments are administered via email utilizing Qualtrics. A randomized set of 10,000 student names and emails are obtained from a data request through the Registrar's Office. We then send an initial email to each member of the sample requesting participation, followed by three reminder emails to maximize the response rate.
A brief summary of results from the cultural assessment:
"The following results are from the assessment administered in the fall of 2020.
A population of 10,000 students received the initial survey. The total number of responses was 1,450 with an overall response rate of 14.5%. This survey specifically addressed changes in programming at MSU related to sustainability, including the addition of a sustainability module in New Student Orientation and the launch of the MSU Sustainability Pledge, which encourages simple sustainable behaviors.
Out of 1,892 students, 28% (533) had heard of the pledge and 25% (474) had taken it. 67% of students (1,355) had not heard of the sustainability pledge. All of the students who took the pledge, plus some who did not, stated that the pledge increased their efforts to be more sustainable. Given this data, more efforts should be placed into promoting the MSU Sustainability Pledge in the future as a method of encouraging more sustainable behaviors among students. Behavioral change theory suggests that stating one’s behavioral intention creates normative pressure to act in line with those declarations. The fact that more students reported changing their behavioral as a result of a pledge than actually took the pledge suggests that simply learning that the pledge exists is enough to exert a small positive effect. Several of the behaviors included in the sustainability pledge were included in the survey. Students reported highest levels of mask wearing and social distance, with a mean response of 4.67 out of 5. Students were least likely to volunteer at the student organic farm (1.32) and limit their shower time (2.64, Figure 1).
As in years past, MSU students reported very positive sustainability attitudes that did not change much between grade levels, averaging 5.2 out of 6 across the 11 items in the Sustainability Attitudes Scale. For additional information on results from the survey, refer to the survey report that has been uploaded under "additional documentation" for this credit.
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.