| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 81.96 |
| Liaison | Lindsey Lyons |
| Submission Date | March 1, 2024 |
Dickinson College
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Neil
Leary Director Center for Sustainability Education |
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:
Surveys to assess sustainability culture were administered to students and employees in spring 2023. The student and employee surveys are nearly identical, allowing for comparisons across students and employees, and are largely the same as surveys that were administered in 2018 and 2019, allowing for assessment of changes over time.
The 2018 and 2019 survey instruments were developed by Dickinson’s Center for Sustainability Education (CSE) with input from students, staff, recent alumni, faculty with expertise in survey design, CSE steering committee members, the President's Commission on Environmental Sustainability, and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, as well as from a review of surveys used by other institutions and relevant literature. CSE staff made small changes to the survey instruments for 2023 in consultation with the CSE steering committee. The surveys include questions about sustainability values, perspectives, practices, engagement, and outcomes.
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:
The student survey instrument with all the questions is uploaded to the link above. Questions in the employee survey instrument are nearly the same.
A brief description of how representative samples were reached (if applicable) and how the cultural assessment is administered:
The student survey of sustainability culture was administered to a representative sample of 1,000 students in April 2023, representing 47% of all matriculated students at the college. The sample was selected by Dickinson's Office of Institutional Effectiveness and is different from a sample of 1,000 students who were selected for participation in a sustainability literacy survey that was administered during the same period. The sample included 250 first-year students, 250 sophomores, 250 juniors, and 250 seniors. 273 students completed the survey, for a response rate of 27.3%. This includes 39 first-year students, 94 sophomores, 66 juniors, and 73 seniors.
The employee survey of sustainability culture was administered to the entire population of Dickinson staff and faculty employees. At the time the survey was administered, Dickinson had exactly 1,000 employees. 402 employees completed the survey, for a response rate of 40.2%. Responses were received from 262 salaried and hourly employees and 140 faculty members.
Both surveys were administered online using Qualtrics. Dickinson's Office of Institutional Effectiveness sent emails to the sample of 1,000 students and to all 1,000 employees inviting them to participate in the survey relevant to them. Both groups were offered entry into drawings for $35 gift cards as an incentive to participate: four gift cards for the student survey and four gift cards for the employee survey. The surveys were open for two weeks. Two reminder emails were sent during the survey period to students and employees who had not responded yet.
A brief summary of results from the cultural assessment:
Selected results from the assessment:
High percentages (≥ 74%) of students and employees associate environmental issues with sustainability while lesser but significant percentages associate issues of human wellbeing, access to basic services, equity, justice, discrimination, peace, and local economies with sustainability.
Very high percentages (≥ 79%) of students and employees agree with value statements that are associated with environmental and social sustainability worldviews. Agreement with value statements that are associated with economic sustainability worldviews are more variable across statements. The results for 2023 are largely similar to findings from 2018 and 2019.
Over 90% of students often or occasionally use active transportation, turn off lights and other electronics, buy less & consume less, recycle, choose products that are environmentally sustainable. 82% of students often or occasionally choose socially responsible products and 55% avoid or limit meat consumption.
Over 96% of employees often or occasionally turn off lights & other electronics, buy less & consume less, recycle, and choose products that are environmentally sustainable, while 66% use active transportation often or occasionally and 89% choose socially responsible products. 33% of employees walk or ride a bike to work one day or more per week during fall & spring semesters, while 78% commute by driving alone in a car one or more days per week, and 30% telecommute at least one day per week. Similar results were obtained in 2018 and 2019.
90% of Dickinson students reported engaging in one or more high-impact practice related to sustainability within the past year, 82% reported engaging in 2 or more, 57% in 4 or more, and 36% in 6 or more. High-impact practices included substantial research projects, group sustainability projects, oral and poster presentations, using a campus resource (e.g., college farm) to learn about sustainability, examining sustainability in non-U.S. contexts, interacting with off-campus community members, and creating or performing sustainability-related artistic works.
72% of students and 86% of employees report taking pride in Dickinson’s commitment to sustainability; 57% of students agree that sustainability has enriched their college experience at Dickinson; and 75% of employees say sustainability efforts make Dickinson a better place to work.
69% of students agree that they have gained sustainability knowledge and skills that they can apply in future professional work; 59% agree they have gained confidence for creating positive change in the world; 66% say they have become more motivated to promote sustainability in their communities; and 53% say they have become more sustainable in their personal lifestyles.
Complete results from the cultural assessment can be found online: https://www.dickinson.edu/info/20052/sustainability/4134/sustainability_literacy_and_culture
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.