University of California, Los Angeles
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.50 / 1.00 |
Christophe
LaBelle Sustainability Analyst Sustainability |
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:
Under the auspices of the Sustainability Action Research (SAR) program, a team of UCLA undergraduate students complete a project focused on equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in the UCLA sustainability community (defined as all UCLA undergraduate and graduate students, staff, and faculty “invested and involved with sustainability initiatives, education, and policies at UCLA”). The cultural assessment was thus an EDI-centered climate survey of sustainability at UCLA.
The SAR project team completed its work during the 2020-2021 academic year, with its survey conducted in Spring Quarter 2021. The survey was designed with equity and inclusion in mind, and reached a diversity of participants. The student team worked with EDI faculty specialists to ensure they prepared a survey meeting EDI expectations.
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:
Knowledge of and Experience with Sustainability at UCLA
1. How familiar are you with the concept of sustainability? (Not very familiar, somewhat familiar, mostly familiar, or very familiar)
2. Please provide a brief description of what sustainability means to you.
3. Where would you say your knowledge on sustainability and environmental issues/solutions comes from? (e.g. college courses, student organizations, etc)
4. How familiar would you generally say you are with environmental issues? (e.g. air pollution, deforestation, etc)
5. How familiar would you generally say you are with SOLUTIONS to environmental issues?
6. How familiar are you with the concept of environmental justice?
7. Which major environmental organizations, centers, or resources are you aware of or familiar with on campus? (check all that apply)
8. Please list the sustainability clubs, organizations, or extracurricular activities you are involved with on campus (if any).
9. How familiar are you with places, offices, clubs, etc at UCLA where you can go to learn more about or get involved with sustainability?
10. Do you know who to contact to voice your opinions on the sustainability community at UCLA?
11. Are you familiar with UCLA's sustainability goals?
12. Are you familiar with the EDI page on the sustain.ucla.edu website?
13. If you answered "yes" to the previous question, please briefly describe how helpful you find the EDI page. If you answered "no" to the previous question, please proceed to the next question.
14. Which of the following EDI in sustainability student, faculty, and/or staff-led project(s) would you like to see at UCLA? (select all that apply)
The assessment tool is no longer active online now that the project is complete.
A brief description of how representative samples were reached (if applicable) and how the cultural assessment is administered:
The SAR project team contacted various student organizations and faculty, whose connections to students and academic organizations were leveraged to share the survey with general email lists. This allowed the SAR team to reach students beyond their comprehensive list of student organizations provided by UCLA Sustainability staff.
In addition to the survey with individuals’ responses, a series of community conversations facilitated a more comprehensive understanding of student experiences. The community conversations focused on three key demographic categories: race and ethnicity; class and socioeconomic status; and gender and sexuality. Approximately 27% of community conversation participants were involved in the Race and Ethnicity session, and the same proportion in the Class and Socioeconomic Status session, while the remaining 45% attended the Gender and Sexuality session.
A brief summary of results from the cultural assessment:
The SAR project survey found that UCLA students have a strong, multifaceted understanding of sustainability. These survey respondents believe sustainability at UCLA can improve by becoming more accessible and welcoming to all students. 68.2% of survey participants do not know whom to contact with comments about sustainability at UCLA. 97.6% of participants were not familiar with the UCLA Sustainability EDI page.
In terms of perspectives on sustainability in academics, survey respondents found a lack of diversity in the sustainability course material presented to students. Approximately 50% of students believe that professors do not present them course material from authors of different racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.
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:
UCLA does not have an established sustainability culture assessment survey. In our last STARS submission, we used the Cool Campus Challenge - a University of California systemwide initiative - as the survey required for this credit.
For this latest submission, UCLA has a different type of survey - the SAR EDI project - to use for this credit. It can be complemented by a 2023 SAR project focused on the efficacy of UCLA Sustainability communications: https://www.ioes.ucla.edu/project/communications2023/.
The 2021 project team’s work was followed by another SAR effort in 2022: https://www.ioes.ucla.edu/project/equity-diversity-and-inclusion-edi-team-understanding-the-intersection-of-edi-and-sustainability/. The 2022 project serves as a follow-on to the 2021 one, including in its use of a survey related to sustainability culture.
There are other UC and UCLA surveys that touch on sustainability issues, though not in any intentional or comprehensive fashion. The surveys include the University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES) and the UCLA Student Affairs Graduate and Professional Student Survey (GPSS), which either touch on sustainability through single explicit questions (e.g. “In the past month, have you done any of the following to improve your health and reduce your carbon footprint?”) or multiple sustainability-related questions (physical and emotional wellness, ability to cover expenses, likelihood of participation in cocurricular activities, etc.). The UCUES and GPSS are examples of existing surveys that are sent to the student body and other broader campus communities and can be leveraged in future to better assess sustainability culture.
For more information on the UCUES, visit https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/about-us/information-center/ucues-data-tables-main. To access GPSS and other campus survey data, visit UCLA’s Student Affairs Information & Research Office (SAIRO) website: https://sairo.ucla.edu/.
UCLA does not have an established sustainability culture assessment survey. In our last STARS submission, we used the Cool Campus Challenge - a University of California systemwide initiative - as the survey required for this credit.
For this latest submission, UCLA has a different type of survey - the SAR EDI project - to use for this credit. It can be complemented by a 2023 SAR project focused on the efficacy of UCLA Sustainability communications: https://www.ioes.ucla.edu/project/communications2023/.
The 2021 project team’s work was followed by another SAR effort in 2022: https://www.ioes.ucla.edu/project/equity-diversity-and-inclusion-edi-team-understanding-the-intersection-of-edi-and-sustainability/. The 2022 project serves as a follow-on to the 2021 one, including in its use of a survey related to sustainability culture.
There are other UC and UCLA surveys that touch on sustainability issues, though not in any intentional or comprehensive fashion. The surveys include the University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES) and the UCLA Student Affairs Graduate and Professional Student Survey (GPSS), which either touch on sustainability through single explicit questions (e.g. “In the past month, have you done any of the following to improve your health and reduce your carbon footprint?”) or multiple sustainability-related questions (physical and emotional wellness, ability to cover expenses, likelihood of participation in cocurricular activities, etc.). The UCUES and GPSS are examples of existing surveys that are sent to the student body and other broader campus communities and can be leveraged in future to better assess sustainability culture.
For more information on the UCUES, visit https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/about-us/information-center/ucues-data-tables-main. To access GPSS and other campus survey data, visit UCLA’s Student Affairs Information & Research Office (SAIRO) website: https://sairo.ucla.edu/.
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.