University of St. Thomas
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture

The sustainability culture assessment was developed by faculty and staff in the Office of Sustainability Initiatives in March 2018, drawing from two established sources: fellow AASHE institution University of New Hampshire, and the National Survey of Students Engagement (NSSE). Our assessment included constructs of awareness, interest, agency, commitment, behaviors, perceptions of institutional commitment and pervasiveness of sustainability.

We administered surveys electronically via invitation of the university president. We sent the survey to all students and employees in both 2020 and 2023. We also used a pre- and post- approach directly comparing responses from the cohort of students and faculty/staff who took the survey both in 2020 and 2023. Questions referred to the timeframe of fall 2022 through fall 2023.

2023
The post-survey was sent to all 1,996 employees (faculty and staff) and 9,146 students. For employees, the response rate was 34% (n=672) and completion rate was 30% (n=583). For students the response rate was 11% (n=980) and completion rate was 7% (n=619).

Among those completing the survey, full time staff were slightly overrepresented (+14.7%) and adjunct faculty were slightly underrepresented (-14.3%). Among students, the male/female split of respondents was 37%/62% while the population is roughly evenly split (51%/48%); white respondents were slightly overrepresented (+7.5%). The state of representation was similar to 2020 with the exception that graduate students were represented better this time than in 2020 and underclass years were more balanced this year than in past surveys.

2020
The post-survey was sent to all 1,901 employees (faculty and staff) and 9,793 students. For employees, the response rate was 39% (n=743) and completion rate was 35.5% (n=675). For students the response rate was 16.4% (n=1604) and completion rate was 13.1% (n=1282).
Among those completing the survey, full time staff were slightly overrepresented (+12.9%) and adjunct faculty were slightly underrepresented (-10.1%). Among students, the male/female split of respondents was 37.8%/62.2% while the population is roughly evenly split (50.2%/49.7%); graduate students (-9.2%) were slightly underrepresented; white respondents were slightly overrepresented (+7%). Freshmen were overrepresented this year by 7.7%, whereas they were underrepresented in 2018.

Students
There continues to be a noticeable improvement in student perceptions about and engagement in sustainability at St. Thomas. 64% of student respondents (compared to 58% of students in 2020 and 28% in 2018) believe St. Thomas emphasizes learning about sustainability quite a bit or very much. There were differences between lower- and upper- class students. Specifically, 42% of 1st/2nd-year student believed “very much” that St. Thomas emphasizes learning about sustainability while only 25% of juniors and seniors believed this strongly. Of the students who answered this question both in 2020 and 2023, 18% demonstrated a positive change.

Now 80% of students agree or strongly agree that they have become more sustainable since attending St. Thomas (compared to 75% in 2020 and 65% in 2018). Of the students who answered this question both in 2020 and 2023, 16% demonstrated a positive change.

71% of student respondents indicated that in the last year they had completed an assignment evaluating the sustainability of some activity, while in 2020 it was 60% and in 2018 less than half (45%) had done so. Among the students who completed the question in both 2020 and 2023 there was a 26% increase in level of student engagement in such an assignment.

In the 2023 survey, 56% of student respondents participated in a campus or community sustainability project (an increase from 46% in 2020 and 37% in 2018). Among the students who completed the question in both 2020 and 2023, 32% of respondents increased this kind of participation.

We created a scale of 18 sustainability initiatives that were included in both 2020 and 2023 surveys. Knowledge increased for 14 of the 18 initiatives, with knowledge of 8 increasing 25-46 percentage points. Many new initiatives were also well known among students, with over 91% knowing both about the Sustainability Living Learning Community and the Theme-Based Learning Community, and over 80% knowing about the Student Sustainability Leadership Program (88%), the Center for Microgrid Research (86%), the Sustainability Essentials digital badge (88%), and the Pollinator Path digital badge (89%). Fewer students knew about the LEED Silver (47%) and LEED Platinum (43%) residence halls. When asked how much they knew about these efforts, 58% of students taking both surveys demonstrated increased knowledge with the average increase of 4 items.

We created a Topical Interest scale using 16 items (e.g., water, energy, etc.). The percentage of students “very interested” in racial equality dropped back to baseline, presumably as the memory of civil unrest after the murder of George Floyd fades (55% in 2023; 65% in 2020; 52% in 2018) as did the interest in climate change (51% in 2023; 61% in 2020; 52% in 2018). Otherwise, the level of interest increased slightly for labor practices, livable wages, access to healthcare, biodiversity and transportation, while level of interest decreased modestly for the remaining environmental items. Almost 52% of the students who completed the questions in both 2020 and 2023 demonstrated an increase in interest.

We created an Engagement scale comprised of 12 items (e.g., reducing waste, organizing sustainability events, etc.). Attending sustainability events continued its upward trajectory with 60% in 2023 compared to 57% in 2020 and 45% in 2018. Engagement in all environmental actions increased modestly 2-8 percentage points, while civic engagement actions dropped by a few percentage points. 56% of the students who completed the questions in both 2020 and 2023 demonstrated an increase in engagement.

The positive trend continues with 31% of respondents in 2023 considering sustainability when choosing to come to St. Thomas, up from 2020 when 25% did and 2018 when only 17% considered sustainability when choosing to enroll at St. Thomas. The perceived relevance of sustainability to their job/career was higher in 2023 at 89% than in 2020 (73%) and 2018 (67%) Furthermore, of the students who answered this question both in 2020 and 2023, the importance of sustainability KSAOs increased for almost 20% of respondents.

Employees
For employees, perceptions of and engagement in sustainability are mixed compared to 2020 when the last survey was conducted. All percentages remain substantially higher than in the initial 2018 survey.

96.8% of employee respondents in 2023 (compared to 96% in 2020) believe St. Thomas emphasizes learning about sustainability (for those answering in both 2020 and 2023, 27% reported a perceived increase in emphasis on learning about sustainability). In contrast, there was an overall decrease in the perception that St. Thomas contributes to their acquisition of skills that can help organizations become more sustainable, to 66% in 2023 (from 70% in 2020). Yet for those answering in both 2020 and 2023, 22% of respondents reported an increase. There has been a modest decrease in the proportion of employees altering their behavior to become more sustainable (93% in 2023 compared to 96% in 2020, but still better than the 89% in 2018), however, for those answering in both 2020 and 2023, over 14% reported increasing their sustainable behavior.

We created a scale of 12 sustainability initiatives that were included in both 2020 and 2023 surveys. From 2020 to 2023, general knowledge about five campus efforts stayed the same (Sustainability Week, Sustainability minor) or increased slightly (Tommie Shelf, organics recycling, food recovery in dining halls). Knowledge about the remaining 12 campus efforts dropped between 2%-10%, and one item, solar panels on campus dropping 16%. When asked how much they knew about these efforts, 41% of employees who answered at both times demonstrated decreased knowledge with the average decrease of 1 item.

The most known new initiatives were Tommies Closet clothing swap program (82%), new LEED Silver (66%) and LEED Platinum (62%) residence halls, first year Sustainability Living Learning Community (60%) and Sustainability Theme-Based Learning Community (60%).

We created a Topical Interest scale using 16 items (e.g., water, energy, etc.). The percentage of people “very interested” decreased slightly (between 0-11%) for 15 of 16 items, staying the same for the 16th item. There was no change in the percentage of people NOT interested in the topics. And over 35% of the employees who completed the questions in both 2020 and 2023 demonstrated an increase in interest. The topics exhibiting the largest decreases in “very interested” include racial equality (70% in 2023; 80% in 2020; and 64% in 2018) and diversity & inclusion (65% in 2023; 76% in 2020; and 61% in 2018).

We created an Engagement scale comprised of 12 items (e.g., reducing waste, organizing sustainability events, etc.). There was a general, moderate decrease in the percentage of respondents engaged in each activity most of the time or always. There were a few areas where the percentage of people who never engage increased substantially, typically having to do with civic engagement: 23% more respondents never participate in gatherings to facilitate positive change on campus, and 22% more never sign a petition. The remaining items showed nominal declines. Yet, again, 27% of the employees who complete the questions in both 2020 and 2023 demonstrated an increase in engagement.

Almost all responding employees (96%) are committed to contributing to sustainability at St. Thomas (slightly less than in 2020, 99% but more than the 94% in 2018). Important for systemic change, roughly the same percentage of employee respondents (81%) agree or strongly agree that they feel empowered (compared to 82% in 2020 and 69% in 2018) and, of the employees who answered the question both in 2020 and 2023, over 15% reported an increase in sense of empowerment.