Thompson Rivers University
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture

TRU conducted a Sustainability Literacy Assessment of its student and employee populations during the Fall 2021 semester. The Assessment was given to both students and employees in a similar assessment but using separate 'student' and 'employee' documents. Both were finalized with separate assessment reports in March 2021. Then, just for students, a follow-up assessment was conducted a year later to the same representative sample (a final report was completed in March 2022). A similar employee follow-up assessment is scheduled to have the final report completed by the end of 2022.
TRU used part of the Sustainability Literacy Assessments from 2021 and 2022 to act as a sustainability cultural assessment. The cultural assessment is based on the Criteria spelled out in the STARS Technical Manual (page EN-06 p.1; in the fourth paragraph under Criteria):
"An institution may use a single instrument that addresses sustainability literacy, culture, and/or engagement to meet the criteria for this credit if a substantive portion of the assessment (e.g., at least ten questions or a third of the assessment) focuses on sustainability values, behaviors, and/or beliefs."
There are 17 questions from the Sustainability Literacy Assessment that pertain to assessing sustainability culture at TRU. Here are the questions from TRU’s Sustainability Literacy Assessment that focus on sustainability culture (values, behaviours and beliefs). These questions start on page 6 and go to page 27.

Here are the questions from TRU’s Sustainability Literacy Assessment that focus on sustainability culture (values, behaviours and beliefs). These questions start on page 6 6 and go to page 27.

For each of the following questions, please select the frequency with which you do these actions.
Always Often Sometimes Rarely Never Doesn't Apply

1) I compost food scraps and other compostable materials.
2) I turn off lights in common area rooms when I am the last person to leave (e.g. meeting room, washroom, lab, classroom, kitchen, industrial workshop & storage/supply room).
3) I unplug chargers and other small electronic devices when not in use.
4) I turn off my monitor at the end of every day.
5) I turn off my monitor when I will be away from it for an extended period, like for lunch, classes, or meetings.
6) I shut down my computer at the end of every day.
7) I print double-sided whenever I can.
8) I turn off or unplug large equipment (like printers, scanners, photocopiers, lab equipment, televisions, etc.) at the end of the day.

Please indicate to what extent you disagree or agree with the following:
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

9) If I feel slightly chilled in my home, I am more likely to put on another
layer (sweater, vest, etc.) than turn up the heat.
10) Energy conservation is an important issue, so people should try to do
everything they can at home, and at the TRU, to save energy.
11) Our energy in BC is clean energy so it has no impact on the environment.
12) Taking small sustainability actions is something I do regularly (like using
reusable coffee cups, water bottles and shopping bags).
13) Having TRU continue to demonstrate strong sustainability leadership is
important to me.
14) When it comes to environmental responsibility, I believe TRU backs up what it
says it will do with action and initiatives.
15) I feel the people at TRU truly practice green behaviours and don’t just talk
about them.
16) I am regularly trying to change my personal behaviours in order to be
more sustainability focused.
17) TRU has provided students with opportunities to learn about sustainability
and energy conservation and to get involved on campus.

The following is from the Executive Summary of the final report (see URL under 'Optional Fields' below for full reports ('Student; and 'Employee'), and it explains how a representative sample was reached and how the assessment was administered:

Administration Methodology
The Sustainability Literacy Assessment Survey (SLAS) was administered to a randomized sample of 1,000 on-campus undergraduate students enrolled in a baccalaureate program at TRU in the winter of 2021. A contact list was created and uploaded into Qualtrics—a web-based survey tool for conducting survey research, evaluations and other data collection activities—and the survey was sent through an email distribution on January 12, 2021. The first reminder email was sent on January 19, with the second and final one sent a week later on January 27. The survey closed on February 2, 2021.

Representation of the Student Population
By definition, a representative sample is a one that accurately reflects, or represents, the overall population from which it was chosen or selected. According to the latest enrolment numbers, reported by the Integrated Planning and Effectiveness (IPE) department, out of a population of 4,764 on-campus
undergraduate students—enrolled in a baccalaureate program at TRU in the winter of 2021—58% were female, 9% were Indigenous, and 29% were international. Of the 311 students who responded to the survey, 64% were female, 10% were Indigenous, and roughly one-in-three (34%) were international.

Response Rate
This survey was administered to 1,000 students, where 311 completed the survey, yielding an overall response rate of 31%.

Margin of Error
The margin of error indicates how much the results of a survey reflect the views of the overall population. With 311 completed responses—out of a census of 4,764 baccalaureate students—and a confidence level of 95%, the margin of error is +/- 5 percentage points.

Results:
Students 2021 report: https://www.tru.ca/__shared/assets/slas-2021-tru-student-report53379.pdf
Students 2022 post-assessment report: https://www.tru.ca/__shared/assets/student-report-2022-sustainability-post-literacy-assessment-survey55959.pdf
Employees 2021 report: https://www.tru.ca/__shared/assets/slas-2021-tru-employee-report53380.pdf

Results from both the 'Student Report' and 'Employee Report' for the TRU Sustainability Literacy Assessments (2021), and follow up Sustainability Post Literacy Assessment Survey for students (2022) can be found under 'TRU Sustainability Literacy Assessments' here: https://www.tru.ca/sustainability/sustainability-office/plans-reports-surveys.html