| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 46.13 |
| Liaison | Traci Knabenshue |
| Submission Date | March 3, 2021 |
West Virginia University
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.50 / 1.00 |
Donna
Kasich Director Market Research |
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:
Leadership from the Office and Sustainability met with Director of Market Research to develop two surveys: a student survey was developed/fielded in November 2019 an employee survey followed in December 2019. In both cases the survey was developed with the following objective in mind: Help shape the university’s efforts to make our campuses, policies, and processes more sustainable for students, faculty and staff; understand their awareness of current sustainability efforts across the university; and identify the aspects of sustainability that they felt WVU should prioritize.
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:
See attached.
A brief description of how representative samples were reached (if applicable) and how the cultural assessment is administered:
Student survey: A 22-question survey was included in an online weekly newsletter sent to all students, as well subsequently sent directly to all students via their email account at the university.
Employee survey: A 18-question online survey was included in the university’s daily email news sent to all employees. We also used internal digital billboards to promote the survey. The posting encouraged employees to take the survey and informed them where they could find it online.
A brief summary of results from the cultural assessment:
Students and employees take the issue of sustainability, primarily defined as the ability to meet today’s needs while not impeding future generations from meeting their needs, seriously and think it’s important that the University does so as well. The University’s recycling efforts have high visibility, but other actions the University are taking are far less noticed. The majority of students and employees believe that sustainability is a University-wide goal. Nonetheless, they have recounted events that have made them question this belief. Students ranked climate change higher than other sustainability related issues. Students and employees take personal responsibility for sustainability in a number of ways during their day and some of those habits are similar. Most also agree that the University provides resources and opportunities to participate in sustainability efforts. However, they acknowledged not knowing how, specifically, they can personally contribute. Their preferred method of learning more about sustainability differs. Far more students prefer email, followed by social media or sustainability events. While employees also prefer email, just as many prefer learning via eNews. The top three issues were unanimous between the two surveys-- expanding local and healthy food on campus, using renewable energy, and making buildings more efficient. Complete key findings are included at the end of the attachment.
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.