Colorado State University
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture

The 2016 student cultural assessment was a combination of a prior sustainability cultural assessment ASCSU has sent for many years and the best practices provided by STARS. It was distributed by ASCSU (student government) Director of Environmental Affairs to a representative student population on campus. The faculty & staff sustainability cultural assessment was developed by the President's Sustainability Committee Engagement Subcommittee using the best practices provided by STARS. It was distributed to a representative sample of faculty & staff across CSU. The sustainability cultural assessment goes out every odd year to a representative sample of students and every even year to a representative sample of faculty and staff. The distribution of the survey takes place during the fall semester.

Question 1 What is your employment type? Administrative Professional Faculty State Classified Student employee Other (please specify) Questions 2 - 6 Please respond to the statements below: Strongly agree Somewhat agree Neutral Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree 5 4 3 2 1 Sustainability is important to CSU. Sustainability is important to the students who attend CSU. Sustainability on campus is important to me. I believe I have the ability to advocate for sustainable projects at CSU. If I had a sustainability project in mind, I know who to approach to see it implemented. Question 7 I participate in the following sustainable practices on campus: Turning off lights in unoccupied rooms Recycling Composting Turning up the ac and turning down the heater to minimize energy use Utilizing alternative transportation Participate in department or campus committee, org, or event devoted to sustainability Question 8 CSU should devote more financial resources to sustainability projects/efforts on campus to provide financing for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other sustainability projects that generate cost-savings? Strongly agree Somewhat agree Neutral Somewhat disagree Strongly disagree Questions 9 - 18 What are the top three most important sustainability initiatives, in your opinion, that CSU should pursue? Zero-waste events Education and research related to sustainability Alternative transportation options & accessibility (new transit routes, bike share, Zip Car expansion, carpooling, etc.) Energy efficiency - efficient lighting / heating & cooling improvements Additional on campus composting Solar and wind (renewable) energy production Reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions (meet our goal of carbon neutrality by 2050) Accelerate efforts to reduce GHG emissions (achieve carbon neutrality before 2050) Education on / improve process of single stream recycling and waste diversion Creating a Revolving Green Fund to support sustainability infrastructure and initiatives Question 19 Are you aware of sustainability initiatives on campus like Climate Action Plan, LEED buildings, and renewable energy projects? Yes No Question 20 Do you attend sustainability events on campus including lectures, Earth Week activities, or student presentations? Yes No Question 21 Are you aware of available alternative transportation options to/from campus including Transfort, MAX, biking, etc.? Yes No Question 22 Sustainability is often defined as striving for a balance between the environment, the economy, and social equity. Do you feel that CSU places equal value on the social equity aspect of sustainability? Yes (please explain) No (please explain)

For the student survey 2000 students were sent the sustainability & cultural survey from ASCSU. The students were given 3 weeks to respond to the survey. For the Faculty & Staff survey the Dean of Libraries and VP for IT provided a cross-section of 406 faculty and staff at CSU. This provided us with a representative sample of this unique population on campus. The survey was then administered through Campus Labs to all 406 faculty and staff members.

Please see the attached document for complete survey results. In summary both surveys demonstrate that our students and faculty strongly agree that sustainability is important at CSU and to themselves. Among faculty and staff, 83% indicate that sustainability is important or very important to CSU. Likewise, 83% of faculty and staff indicated that sustainability is important or very important to them. Among students, 92% indicated that sustainability is important or very important to CSU and 84% indicated that it is important or very important to them. Based on previous results of sustainability culture questions included in the graduate school assessment we know that the importance of sustainability to our students and faculty and staff has increased significantly over time. Awareness of sustainability initiatives, particularly awareness around alternative transportation has also significantly increased over time.