| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 63.17 |
| Liaison | Carly Thibodeau |
| Submission Date | Aug. 21, 2023 |
Endicott College
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.25 / 1.00 |
Carly
Thibodeau Associate Director of Sustainability Office of Sustainability |
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:
The cultural assessment was sent out to the entire undergraduate population during the spring of 2022. It was developed by Office of Sustainability staff and staff in the Office of Research and Planning, after benchmarking sustainability surveys distributed at other higher education institutions.
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:
A brief description of how representative samples were reached (if applicable) and how the cultural assessment is administered:
The survey was sent out via email to all undergraduate students in the spring of 2022, and received 140 responses. There was a relatively even distribution of participants from each class year. Participants were incentivized to respond by being entered in to win a drawing for a $50 VISA gift card if they completed the survey.
A brief summary of results from the cultural assessment:
The cultural assessment allowed the Office of Sustainability to determine which sustainability topics (both in general and specific to Endicott) were students both most aware of, and viewed as most important.
For the sustainability topics in general, the three highest ranked (0-5 Likert scale) topics for awareness were recycling & waste reduction, climate change/global warming, and plastic pollution; the highest ranked for importance were water scarcity/access to clean water and sanitation, climate change/global warming, and recycling & waste reduction. Least aware were electrification, sustainable fishing, and careers in sustainability fields; least important were electrification, sustainable fishing, and green buildings. The top three topics students said they wanted to learn more about were all of the above, climate change/global warming, and clean/renewable energy; the bottom three were energy efficiency/conservation, sustainable fishing, and deforestation.
For sustainability topics specific to Endicott, the three highest ranked (0-5 Likert scale) topics for awareness were traditional recycling, beaches, and trails; the highest ranked for importance were beaches, traditional recycling, and trails. Least aware were stormwater capture, Campus Race to Zero Waste, and green buildings; least important were Move In/Move Out, Sustainability Week, and stormwater capture. The top three topics students said they wanted to learn more about were all of the above, beaches, and trails; the bottom three were traditional recycling, solar, and the Office of Sustainability.
The survey also asked about how students get around (majority walk), and how they could be encourage to use their car less on campus (incentives from the College).
Finally, it asked what the Office of Sustainability is doing well (common responses centered around recycling, our solar panels, composting) vs what could it improve on (responses centered around creating more awareness of sustainability efforts on campus, having more waste receptacles, and making sustainable transportation/walking more accessible).
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.