| Overall Rating | Platinum |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 85.88 |
| Liaison | Sam Lubow |
| Submission Date | March 3, 2022 |
Stanford University
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Melissa
Maigler Sustainability Coordinator Sustainability & Energy Management |
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:
A survey gauging individual sustainability attitudes and behaviors is offered to the entire campus community (faculty, staff, and students) through the My Cardinal Green action network. The survey was developed to directly inform the My Cardinal Green program, which offers personalized sustainability action recommendations to individuals based on their survey responses. Thus, the survey contains questions that are tailored to the actions included in the network in order to inform the recommendations that each individual receives. After taking the survey once, each individual is prompted to take the survey again after three years of active participation in the program. In addition to directly informing the My Cardinal Green action recommendations for each individual, the survey tool also provides valuable data to the Office of Sustainability on how campus sustainability behaviors may change over time. Furthermore, feedback and comments delivered through the survey helps to inform other sustainability programming on campus.
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:
The survey differs slightly for students vs. faculty and staff. The version available to students is attached above, and the version available to faculty and staff is attached as additional documentation for this credit.
A brief description of how representative samples were reached (if applicable) and how the cultural assessment is administered:
The survey is directly accessed online at: http://sustainable.stanford.edu/cardinal-green/my-cardinal-green
Respondents access the survey with their Stanford online IDs, which allows the survey to be tracked to each individual. The survey is offered to all faculty, staff and students and is pushed out via multiple channels, including emails to student, faculty and staff listservs and promotions in the Stanford Report, the university-wide newsletter.
A brief summary of results from the cultural assessment:
Generally, survey results on campus indicate the community has strong opinions and feels quite connected to the work of sustainability on campus. Of the nearly 5,300 My Cardinal Green actions completed in 2020, nearly 40% were based on the 32 actions that are designed to be done at home. This helps demonstrate that wherever campus community members may be, they are eager to adopt sustainable practices and are active in doing so. For students, the three actions most often completed were related to composting food waste and packaging, focusing on sustainability in their curriculum or field of study, and learning about home municipal waste systems.
FACULTY/STAFF:
1) 75% of respondents consider sustainability/environmental impact when making decisions either "a good deal" or "very much so."
2) 88% of respondents feel that it's important for Stanford leadership to prioritize sustainability either "a good deal" or "very much so."
3) The top three barriers for participating in sustainability efforts are not knowing what to do, not having enough time, and not feeling as though participation will make a difference.
STUDENTS:
1) 58% consider sustainability/environmental impact when making decisions either "a good deal" or "very much so."
2) 79% feel that it's important for Stanford leadership to prioritize sustainability either "a good deal" or "very much so."
3) The top three barriers for participating in sustainability efforts are not having enough time, not knowing what to do, and other (with comments typically pointing to policy barriers or not feeling like individuals have an impact).
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.