Stanford University
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

1) Do you believe that climate change is a serious issue? A) Yes B) Maybe C) No 2) When you think about the concept of sustainability, which of the following factors do you think sustainability includes? (Choose all that apply) A) Environmental factors B) Economic factors C) Social factors D) None of the above 3) What do you feel are the potential effects of global climate change? (Choose all that apply) A) Loss of habitats B) Increase in sea level C) More severe weather D) Expansion of glaciers

The three sustainability literacy questions above were first included in the 2015 Stanford Survey of New Students, which is administered annually to incoming Stanford freshmen in August before they arrive on campus. The survey is developed and administered in partnership with the Consortium for Financing Higher Education (COFHE), which includes 35 peer institutions. The survey covers several primary themes: 1) high school background, including academics, activities and demographics, 2) academic interests and expectations for college, including perceptions of academic fields and interest in majors at Stanford, and 3) self-perceptions, including self-described academic characteristics as well as experiences with stress and mental health concerns. In addition to the above topics, the sustainability literacy questions above were included for the first time in 2015. The questions were developed by the Office of Sustainability in collaboration with Stanford faculty and shared with IR&DS, who administers the survey.

The 2015 Stanford Survey of New Students was administered by Institutional Research & Decisions Support (IR&DS) between August and September of the 2015-16 academic year, before incoming freshmen arrived on campus for New Student Orientation. 1,730 matriculating Stanford freshmen were sent email invitations to take the survey, and 1,603 students responded to at least one question on the survey for an overall response rate of 93%. Given the very high response rate to the survey, the respondents were highly representative of the entire population of incoming freshmen. 50% of respondents were male and 50% were female, 26% were from underrepresented race/ethnic groups, 47% said that they were receiving financial aid, and 15% were first generation college students (no parent/guardian with a college degree).

86% of respondents said that they believe climate change is a serious issue, with 11% saying maybe and 3% saying no. 86% of respondents said they believed that the concept of sustainability includes environmental factors, 79% economic factors, and 65% social factors. 2% of respondents reported none of the above. It is interesting to see that social factors are the least well understood component of sustainability within this population. Finally, 85% of students felt that loss of habitats was a potential effect of climate change, 80% increase in sea level, 79% more severe weather, and 25% selected the incorrect answer: expansion of glaciers. Since this is the first year that these questions were included in the survey, we cannot measure change over time, but we will begin to measure that in coming years. Moreover, Stanford will include these same questions on the senior exit survey in order to measure changes in sustainability literacy between students arriving at Stanford and students nearing the end of their Stanford experience.