Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 65.64
Liaison Rob Andrejewski
Submission Date March 1, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Richmond
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Cassandra Collins
Sustainability Communications & Engagement Specialist
Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution conduct an assessment of sustainability culture (i.e. the assessment focuses on sustainability values, behaviors and beliefs, and may also address awareness of campus sustainability initiatives)?:
Yes

Which of the following best describes the cultural assessment? The assessment is administered to::
The entire campus community (students, staff and faculty), 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 University's first sustainability cultural assessment was created as part of the research process for the creation of the University's first Sustainability Plan in 2018. Some questions from a previous survey in 2014 were included to examine changes over time, and the remainder of the questions were designed to assess what the campus knows about sustainability and what about sustainability is important to the campus community. This survey will be administered every two years to measure changes in sustainability culture on campus over time.


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

The cultural assessment took the form of an online survey hosted through Survey Gizmo. The survey was shared with the entire campus via Spiderbytes (the University's daily email announcements), sent out to over 1,000 people on the Office for Sustainability's mailing list, made publicly available on the Office for Sustainability's website and social media accounts, and sent out to various departments to share with their faculty.


A brief summary of results from the cultural assessment, including a description of any measurable changes over time:

The assessment survey showed that the over 50% of respondents felt the University should focus resources on improving energy efficiency, waste, recycling, and composting. The most common ideas people associated with sustainability were the natural environment and the future. 68% of respondents felt that social issues like poverty, social equity, and justice are connected to sustainability. Respondents felt that it was very important for the University to adopt sustainable practices, but felt that UR is doing an average job of incorporating sustainability into its culture. Furthermore, over 80% of respondents engage in a sustainable habits to reduce waste or conserve energy, but over 40% of respondents were unaware of the University's waste diversion and carbon neutrality goals. Lastly, respondents felt that the two most pressing sustainability issues are climate change and energy use and conservation, and over 50% of respondents were willing to change their behavior and devote time and effort to support sustainability on campus.


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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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.