Overall Rating Platinum - expired
Overall Score 85.51
Liaison Jennifer Andrews
Submission Date July 27, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of New Hampshire
AC-6: Sustainability Literacy Assessment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Colleen Flaherty
Communications and Information Coordinator
Sustainability Institute
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution conduct an assessment of the sustainability literacy of its students (i.e. an assessment focused on student knowledge of sustainability topics and challenges)?:
Yes

Which of the following best describes the literacy assessment? The assessment is administered to::
The entire (or predominate) student body, directly or by representative sample

Which of the following best describes the structure of the assessment? The assessment is administered as a::
Pre- and post-assessment to the same cohort or to representative samples in both a pre- and post-test

A copy of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment(s):
---

A sample of the questions included in the sustainability literacy assessment or the website URL where the assessment tool may be found:
A brief description of how the literacy assessment was developed and/or when it was adopted:

The Sustainability Institute and the Senior Vice Provost of Student Affairs assessed best practices for sustainability literacy assessments at other AASHE institutions. An assessment was developed and vetted by the UNH Research Office. The first assessment was published in November 2016 and available for all undergraduate students to complete until December 6, 2016. This assessment also included culture questions for students. A follow-up assessment was administered in April 2017.


A brief description of how a representative sample was reached (if applicable) and how the assessment(s) were administered :

The assessments were administered via Qualtrics. A link to the assessment was emailed to all undergraduate students at UNH in three separate emails from the Senior Vice Provost of Student Affairs and the Director of the Sustainability Institute. Students accessed the assessment by clicking the link and completing the assessment via Qualtrics.


A brief summary of results from the literacy assessment(s), including a description of any measurable changes over time:

Of the 12,489 students invited to participate in the survey, 1,894 participated. Participants indicated a high level of sustainability understanding. For all literacy assessment questions, over half the participants answered correctly. In April, 189 students participated. We attribute the change in participation to competing interests during the month and a quick follow-up from the November assessment. In the future, we will administer the survey annually.


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives 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.