Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 70.23
Liaison Daimon Eklund
Submission Date Oct. 17, 2012
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.2

University of Washington, Seattle
ER-13: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 2.00 Ruth Johnston
Associate Vice President
Finance & Facilities; Office of the Provost
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Has the institution conducted a sustainability literacy assessment?:
Yes

Did the assessment include a baseline evaluation of students and then a follow-up evaluation of the same cohort?:
No

A copy of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment:
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A copy of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment :

The UW has many initiatives to reduce its carbon emissions. How aware are you of the following on-going initiatives at the UW:
Very aware Somewhat aware Not aware I don't know what this is
Developing a regional Smart Grid network.
Offering “Zimride."
Operating free shuttle services around campus.
Monitoring all of its campus buildings' energy consumption.
Offering bike lockers , bike racks, and secure indoor “bike rooms” throughout campus.
Purchasing only Energy Star rated appliances.
Monitoring all of its campus buildings' water consumption.
Offering telecommuting options for staff.
Committing to a Climate Action Plan to reduce campus emissions.


A brief description of how the assessment was developed:

Five graduate students worked with a faculty mentor in the business school who has consulting/marketing expertise. Together they wrote a 15 question survey/questionnaire designed to assess campus knowledge of the University’s Climate Action Plan and by doing so, also begin building awareness.


A brief description of how the assessment was administered:

The students divided the audience into three groups:
• Official leaders (e.g. deans, union and staff representatives, and student association leaders)
• Opinion leaders (e.g. department chairs, registered student organization leaders, and student ambassadors)
• UW community at large (all students, staff, and faculty)
• The group pre-tested the survey with in-person interviews with selected official leaders, then sent it to the rest of the official leaders first, followed by opinion leaders. They manually put together a list of over 58 000 email addresses and sent the survey to the rest of the community. Feedback from each wave of the survey was reviewed and the survey was adjusted based on it.


A brief summary of results from the assessment:

The team received over 9000 surveys, a 15% response rate. They found that over 50% of responsdents had no awareness of the Climate Action Plan. Other data indicated that campus respondents had interest in sustainability and climate change, but need more guidance on how to help accomplish it. The questionnaire results are being used now in building a communications plan for the Climate Action Plan.


The website URL where information about the literacy assessment is available:
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.