| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 65.69 |
| Liaison | Jennifer Kleindienst |
| Submission Date | April 5, 2023 |
Wesleyan University
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.50 / 1.00 |
Jennifer
Kleindienst Sustainability Coordinator Finance and Administration |
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:
Every year since May 2019 (no survey went out in 2020 due to COVID), Wesleyan has asked four questions about sustainability on the senior survey for all graduating students. This was deemed the most viable option for assessing sustainability, as there are no longitudinal surveys of the same population of students and increasing the number of surveys would result in poor response rates.
In Fall 2022, Institutional Research hosted pop-up focus groups to take student pulse on sustainability in personal and collective actions.
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:
Senior Survey (all 4 questions on 5-point Likert scale strongly disagree - strongly agree):
1. Sustainability is integrated into classes at Wesleyan
2. Sustainability is a part of the overall culture at Wesleyan
3. My lifestyle has become more sustainable since attending Wesleyan
4. Sustainability is important to my likely career path
Fall 2022 Pop-Up Forum Questions (3 versions, changed over time):
V1
- Where do you behave more sustainably: at Wesleyan or at home?
- What makes you say that?
- Can you give me an example of what makes it easier (or harder) to behave sustainably at Wesleyan?
- How would you define “living sustainably” for a college student?
- Where do you go (if anywhere) if you have questions about sustainable living at Wesleyan?
V2
- Do you think Wesleyan cares about sustainability?
- What makes you say that?
- What have you experienced that has shaped your view?
- How does Wesleyan’s actions/processes line up with (or conflict with) the spirit of sustainability?
V3
- Do you think Wesleyan cares about sustainability? What makes you say that?
- If yes, where have you seen sustainability (activities, behaviors) on campus?
- If no, where do you think sustainability has been missing?
- If no, who does care about sustainability on this campus?
- What do you think a sustainable campus looks like? How do you imagine it to be? What programs/resources would there be?
- Where do you think you behave more sustainably - at home or at Wesleyan? Why?
- How do you think we can get students to engage more with sustainability efforts?
- What have you observed about any of the following sustainability initiatives/behaviors on campus? Eco-to-go, scooters/rideshare, recycling, heating/cooling in residential spaces, turning of lights, sustainability course cluster, digital course packs
A brief description of how representative samples were reached (if applicable) and how the cultural assessment is administered:
The senior survey is distributed annually to the senior class. Response rates from the 700-800 person class have been between 258 and 358 people.
In Fall 2022, Institutional Research hosted 49 pop-up focus groups, speaking with a total of 85 students outside the main dining hall on campus.
A brief summary of results from the cultural assessment:
Senior survey: See attached documentation for results from 2019, 2021, and 2022. Positive responses have declined across the first three questions and increased for the fourth question.
Pop-up focus groups: Complete analysis of results won't be available until mid-spring 2023.
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:
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.