Missouri State University
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture

The culture assessment was modeled on the Sustainability Cultural Indicators Project (SCIP) created by the University of Michigan, which was suggested by AASHE as an example of an effective sustainability culture assessment. The SCIP can be found here: http://graham.umich.edu/campus/scip/materials During fall 2016 and spring 2017, we adjusted the questions to fit our campus, removed some of the items, and also added a few of our own. We ended up with two surveys, one for students comprised of 46 questions and one for employees comprised of 34 questions.

The survey was hosted on survey monkey. During the spring of 2017, students were informed of the survey at the dining halls on campus. Dining Services provided candy bars as an incentive to students who complete the survey. Students were able to access the survey via survey monkey, which took them to the consent form, followed by the survey questions. During this same time, students also received a link to the survey via email through the Student Government Association newsletter, which is distributed to the entire student body. Transfer students also received the survey link via email from the Transfer Student Program Office. During the summer of 2017, employees received information about the survey several times via email in our weekly employee newsletter (Inside Missouri State). If they wanted to participate they were able to click the survey monkey link that took them to the consent form, followed by the survey questions.

A representative sample of Missouri State students (N = 321) completed the questionnaire, as well as 343 faculty and staff members. Frequencies of the responses were found to identify opinions, practices, and areas of improvement. Upon analysis, it was found that of the sustainable programs organized by the University (Flip the Switch, EcoPalooza, Eco-Reps Program, Green Room Certification, Campus Garden, Sustainability Fund, RecycleMania, and the ZipGrow Towers) students overwhelmingly had “never heard of this.” For each program, over 50% of the students surveyed were unaware of the programs offered; however, the campus garden proved to be an exception with high levels of awareness. Interestingly, 69.8% of students reported that they were somewhat or very committed to sustainability. Friends or classmates were the main influences on students’ views of sustainability. Based on the survey results, it is clear that more effective means of communication are needed in order to translate student commitment into action. Connecting with students through social groups such as fraternities and sororities, associations and clubs, could be an effective way of communicating sustainability on campus. Similar to students, faculty and staff had not heard of many of the sustainability programs on campus. However, they reported being significantly more committed to sustainability; 90.41% answered they were very or somewhat committed. When faculty and staff were asked how likely they were to act in sustainable ways in the future, they reported being very unlikely to change their transportation habits, but far more likely that they will reduce waste, recycle, and take care of their home in a more environmentally friendly way. Students’ responses to these questions were more varied but overall reported a greater likeliness of change in all areas. Employees reported that they heard about sustainability on campus through emails, other MSU employees, and the MSU website. By including more action oriented and specific information about ways to be more sustainable in emails, faculty and staff will have the resources to enact change. Not only that. but they will be able to communicate sustainability to other employees. By diversifying engagement tactics to best fit students, faculty and staff, the sustainable efforts already being practiced will receive more attention. With greater awareness of the topic of sustainability, more sustainability initiatives will hopefully ensue. From our Sustainability Culture Assessment, we have identified communication as the area in greatest need of improvement. With future assessments we will be able to analyze the changes in how Missouri State University students, faculty and staff think about and practice sustainability.