Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 83.37
Liaison Ruairi O'Mahony
Submission Date Feb. 11, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of Massachusetts Lowell
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Craig Thomas
Assistant Director
Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution conduct an assessment of sustainability culture?:
Yes

Which of the following best describes the cultural assessment? The assessment is administered to::
The entire campus community (students and employees) directly or by representative sample

Which of the following best describes the structure of the cultural assessment? The assessment is administered::
Longitudinally to measure change over time

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

The Office of Sustainability reengaged our partners at the Center for Program Evaluation in the School of Education, the Rist Institute for Sustainability & Energy, and the UMass Lowell Climate Change Initiative to restart campus cultural assessments upon our return to in-person campus operations in fall 2021. Our goals were to build off the successful 2019 Getting Heads Out of Sand (GHOOTS) campus cultural assessment and create a survey that can be used as a post-survey to that work. In addition, we worked together to develop new questions about campus sustainability culture and attitudes to guide the development of the university sustainability program and define key focus areas. A second use of the survey tool is planned for fall 2022 to begin annual assessments to further development and refine our longitudinal data. For 2022, the literacy assessment and cultural assessment were combined into a single survey.


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 assessment was administered through Qualtrics, an online survey management tool and sent to the entire campus community through email and featured prominently in campus announcements. A prize-drawing incentive was offered to participants in the initial post-survey and will be offered again in fall 2022 to ensure a representative sample is achieved. Follow-up is conducted as needed.


A brief summary of results from the cultural assessment:

The Sustainability Literacy and Cultural Assessment was sent out the entire campus population when spring semester classes resumed in January 2022. Data collection is complete, and analysis is underway of the survey in comparison to the initial GHOOTS cultural assessment in 2019 to create a pre/post data set. Final data will be shared with the campus partners to guide program development and may be published. The analysis is structured to build in ongoing assessment information with the second survey administration in fall 2022 and annual fall surveys moving forward.


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