Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 49.04
Liaison Kayla Tillapaugh
Submission Date May 28, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Selkirk College
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 4.00 Laura Nessman
Sustainability Coordinator
Campus Management
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution conduct an assessment of the sustainability literacy of its students (i.e. an assessment focused on student knowledge of sustainability topics and challenges)?:
Yes

Which of the following best describes the literacy assessment? The assessment is administered to::
A subset of students or a sample that may not be representative of the predominant student body

Which of the following best describes the structure of the assessment? The assessment is administered as a::
Pre- and post-assessment to the same cohort or to representative samples in both a pre- and post-test

A copy of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment(s):
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A sample of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment or the website URL where the assessment tool may be found:

Example questions:
Which of the following is an example of sustainable forest management?
a. Setting aside forests to be off-limits to the public
b. Never harvest more than what the forest produces in new growth
c. Producing lumber for nearby communities to build affordable housing
d. Putting local communities in charge of forest resources
e. Don’t know

Imagine that we had to pay for all the costs associated with the goods we use every day. What would go into calculating the true cost of a product?
a. The cost of raw materials to the make the product plus labour
b. The cost of environmental damage caused by production
c. The cost of health care for employees who manufacture the product
d. All of the above
e. Don’t know

There are a number of citizen’s groups in Canada focusing on solutions to environmental issues. Which of the follow best describes your relationship to this movement?
a. Supportive and active
b. Supportive, but inactive
c. Neutral
d. Opposed
e. Unsure


A brief description of how the literacy assessment was developed and/or when it was adopted:

The literacy assessment was developed by faculty and staff from the Environmental Sustainability Committee. The assessment includes questions addressing sustainability literacy, as well as culture and engagement, however, 11 questions focus specifically on knowledge. During development, the Ohio State University Assessment of Sustainability Knowledge and the ACPA Sustainability Task Force resources were drawn upon.


A brief description of how a representative sample was reached (if applicable) and how the assessment(s) were administered :

The Sustainability Literacy Assessment was administered to all first year School of Environment and Geomatics students in September 2018. The assessment was distributed through an internal online platform. This cohort of students will be reassessed at the end of their second year and final year.


A brief summary of results from the literacy assessment(s), including a description of any measurable changes over time:

The students assessed showed an 85% average score on those questions assessing their knowledge of sustainability. We look forward to comparing this outcome to the result of the post-assessment.


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The assessment will continue to expand to more programs within the College, with the overall goal of assessing all students pre and post studies at Selkirk.


The assessment will continue to expand to more programs within the College, with the overall goal of assessing all students pre and post studies at Selkirk.

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.