| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 52.51 |
| Liaison | Josh Nease |
| Submission Date | May 10, 2022 |
Radford University
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.50 / 1.00 |
Josh
Nease Sustainability Manager Academic Programs |
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:
Radford University’s location in the “New River City” provides a valuable opportunity to highlight, improve, and create sustainability programs. This report based on the responses from n=410 students, faculty, and staff highlights a number of opportunities for which to improve awareness of sustainability initiatives at RU and suggestions for creating new initiatives such as online interdisciplinary programs. Important findings include perceptions of Radford University’s commitment to sustainability, awareness of sustainability initiatives, campus engagement with sustainability, academic programs, and recommendations for improvement.
Radford University has made several commitments to sustainability in the last several years. Sustainability is also one of the core values in Radford University’s 2018-2023 Strategic Plan. In 2009, President Kyle signed the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment. This commitment is to pursue net carbon neutrality by 2040. In 2020, President Hemphill signed the Carbon Commitment as a reaffirmation to pursuing net carbon neutrality. In an effort to work towards these goals, President Hemphill created the Presidential Task Force on Sustainability in 2020. These surveys were created by two sociology student researchers under the guidance of a member of the Task Force. Surveys were disseminated broadly to Radford University students, faculty, staff, and administrators in an effort to examine attitudes, behaviors, and desires pertaining to sustainability efforts at Radford University. Another student researcher aided in the analysis of the survey data.
The survey was submitted Fall 2021 and returned 204 student responses and 206 faculty and staff responses.
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:
- Which of the following best describes your perception of Radford University's reputation? Extremely Sustainable; Somewhat Sustainable; Average; Somewhat Unsustainable; Extremely Unsustainable.
- Do you believe Radford University is on track to achieve net carbon neutrality?
- I believe sustainability should be a primary focus of Radford University. Strongly Agree through Strongly disagree
- Faculty/Staff and Student support for making sustainability a primary focus at RU: Strongly Agree through Strongly Disagree
A brief description of how representative samples were reached (if applicable) and how the cultural assessment is administered:
Methods
In order to gauge student, faculty, and staff’s understanding and desirability of sustainability initiatives at Radford University, a team of student researchers, Alayna Carter and Emma Kegley from Dr. Aysha Bodenhamer’s SOCY 370 Environmental Sociology course developed two online surveys. An additional sociology student researcher from the Center for Social and Cultural Research (CSCR), Christiana Rolack, assisted with data analysis of the surveys. One survey consisting of 31 questions targeted only students.
Students were asked a variety of questions to gauge their knowledge of sustainability initiatives at Radford University, their perception of Radford University’s sustainability reputation, and their desires for improving the built environment and academic curricula with an eye towards sustainability. Most questions were on a 5-point likert scale, asking how strongly students desired certain sustainability initiatives. Other questions included matrices and open-ended responses asking for additional feedback and suggestions.
The faculty and staff survey is very similar to the student survey, but asked slightly different questions. The faculty/staff survey consists of 33 questions. Most questions were on a 5-point likert scale, asking how strongly faculty/staff desired certain sustainability initiatives. Other questions included matrices and openended responses asking for additional feedback and suggestions. Questions for both surveys asked why individuals chose Radford University, their perception of Radford University’s sustainability reputation, awareness of and engagement with sustainability initiatives across campus, on-campus dining habits, suggestions for improvements to the built environment, and desires for building new academic programs focusing on sustainability. Faculty/staff were asked additional questions about whether they had taught sustainability-focused courses at RU and if they thought sustainability should be a significant part of curricula across campus.
Student Sampling
A total of n=204 students participated in the Student Sustainability Survey in spring 2021.1 The student sample was overwhelmingly female (n=104, 72%), white (n=122, 81%), and traditional college-aged students aged 18-24 (n=115, 80%). Other important demographic information includes a fairly equal distribution between academic class (Freshman-Graduate), with majority of students from the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences (n=45, 31%). See Table 1 for the full student sample demographics.
Faculty/Staff Sampling
A total of n=206 faculty/staff participated in the Faculty & Staff Sustainability Survey in spring 2021.2 The faculty/staff sample was overwhelmingly female (n=135, 68%) and white (n=173, 86%). Ages were wide-ranging from 18-24 through 85+ with the
majority falling between 35-54 years old (n=105, 54%). The majority of faculty/staff participants have been at Radford 1-4 years (39%) and were almost evenly split between faculty (46%) and staff (42%). The majority of faculty/staff participants are from the
College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences (n=30, 22%). See Table 2 for the full faculty/staff sample demographics.
A brief summary of results from the cultural assessment:
Overall, it appears that there is a strong desire to improve existing programs and implement more sustainability-focused initiatives across campus. The location of Radford University appears to be a strong draw among students, faculty, and staff. The University should capitalize on the “New River City” location and implement better marketing around these themes. Ultimately, there seems to be limited knowledge about many of the initiatives across campus with the exception of recycling. There are ample opportunities to highlight sustainability initiatives across campus with better media, web, or social media presence and signage across campus. These could be turned into educational opportunities to teach students about proper recycling habits, net carbon neutrality, and improve sustainability literacy. Among both groups of students and faculty/staff, there was a strong desire for sustainability to be a primary focus at Radford University. There was also strong support for on-campus solar and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. Without being prompted, multiple faculty/staff mentioned improving access, decreasing barriers, and
improving transportation options to Selu Conservancy. Better strategic use of this property may satisfy a number of sustainability desires across campus among students and faculty/staff.
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.