Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 56.79
Liaison Ryan Chabot
Submission Date April 23, 2024

STARS v2.2

University of Central Florida
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.25 / 1.00 Ryan Chabot
Sustainability Coordinator
Arboretum and Sustainability Initiatives
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Does the institution conduct an assessment of sustainability culture?:
Yes

Which of the following best describes the cultural assessment? The assessment is administered to::
A subset of the campus community or a sample that may not be representative of the entire community

Which of the following best describes the structure of the cultural assessment? The assessment is administered::
Without a follow-up assessment of the same cohort or representative samples of the same population

A brief description of how and when the cultural assessment(s) were developed and/or adopted:

During the Spring 2024 semester, a group of student from a UCF College of Undergraduate Studies Environmental Studies Capstone course began the process of developing both a Sustainability Literacy Assessment (AC-6) and an Assessment of Sustainability Culture (EN-6) survey, working directly with the UCF Sustainability Coordinator.


Their initial steps included consulting assessments used by other universities which had earned either partial or full STARS points for categories credits EN-6 and AC-6 to develop a spreadsheet cataloging information about their assessment(s). The spreadsheet contained information about what points were earned, whether the school implemented a combined survey for both categories, number of questions, and notes on sample sizes and survey administration. The length of surveys, number of questions, and question formats were significant considerations for how they developed their survey. Catalogued information from other STARS-reporting institutions identified common themes among surveys, such as topics covered, question formats, and administration techniques. In total, they cataloged assessment information for eight (8) institutions for EN-6 and thirteen (13) institutions for AC-6.


After reviewing other universities and their surveys, the students developed a combined literacy assessment and sustainability culture survey containing 27 questions, ranging from multiple choice, rank all, and matrix tables, as well as room for feedback at the end of the survey. These questions were based on other universities and what they used to evaluate students, as well as UCF-specific questions. Questions included, among other topics, how students travel to campus, what sustainability measures they take at home, and what they know about their school’s resources.


Questions 1-13 relate to assessing sustainability culture (EN-6), while questions 14-27 relate to the sustainability literacy assessment (AC-6).


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:
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A brief description of how representative samples were reached (if applicable) and how the cultural assessment is administered:

The students assembled their survey in Qualtrics, ensuring that question responses and formatting structures were friendly for mobile device users and to reduce potential fatigue. Once the survey was published through Qualtrics, it was administered to the students' Capstone course. The Capstone course's professor also distributed the survey to other teaching faculty within the College of Undergraduate Studies, who provided it to the students in their respective classes. The UCF Sustainability Coordinator will begin to engage with UCF's Operational Excellence and Assessment Support (OEAS) department to formalize the survey, hopefully allowing it to be administered to incoming freshmen and graduating seniors as a pre-post assessment.


A brief summary of results from the cultural assessment:

As of 13 April 2024, the survey was distributed to 222 students, of which 41 responded, for a response rate of 18%.


Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the assessment of sustainability culture is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.