Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 67.93
Liaison Emily Zabanah
Submission Date Feb. 1, 2024

STARS v2.2

Seneca Polytechnic
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Paula Echeveste
Sustainability Specialist - Engagement & Outreach
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution conduct an assessment of sustainability culture?:
Yes

Which of the following best describes the cultural assessment? The assessment is administered to::
The entire campus community (students and employees) directly or by representative sample

Which of the following best describes the structure of the cultural assessment? The assessment is administered::
Longitudinally to measure change over time

A brief description of how and when the cultural assessment(s) were developed and/or adopted:
An email with the survey link was sent to the representative sample of students and employees and the survey was open for responses over the course of one week.

A copy or sample of the questions related to sustainability culture:
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A sample of the questions related to sustainability culture or the website URL where the assessment tool is available:
https://senecacollege.qualtrics.com/jfe3/preview/previewId/4b5567a9-cb43-4fa6-a062-a9c9b9ddea0c/SV_a996wms0Gg8GehM?Q_CHL=preview&Q_SurveyVersionID=current

A brief description of how representative samples were reached (if applicable) and how the cultural assessment is administered:
The representative sample size for students was reached by setting a margin of error of 4% and a confidence level of 95%, with just under 600 responses needed for the survey. We assumed that we would receive a 10% response rate to the survey and the email invitation was sent to the stratified random sample (by campus) of 6646 students.
Seneca stratified the sample by campus (the team that conducted the survey made sure the sample was proportionally the same as the student population by campus).

The representative sample for employees was reached based on an estimated response rate of 20% or 326 responses needed for a margin of error of 5%. The sample size was 1630 from a total population of 2132 (employees in the summer of 2023). The sample was selected by a stratified random sample, by employee groups (full-time and part-time, support, administrative and faculty).

The survey was administered for the first time in 2023. Going forward, the survey is planned to be administered every three years to avoid survey fatigue.

A brief summary of results from the cultural assessment:
The assessment centered on evaluating the level of awareness within the Seneca community regarding campus sustainability initiatives, their preferences concerning sustainable transportation and their assessment of the waste reduction program.

The general sentiment gathered from the survey indicated that a significant portion of students and employees were moderately informed about Seneca's sustainability initiatives, with room for improvement in their awareness. In terms of transportation, the predominant choice among students was public transportation, whereas employees often used single-occupancy vehicles. Lastly, feedback on the waste reduction program was generally positive; however, there are opportunities for improvements in helping people understand the different waste streams acceptance criteria, waste program operations and increasing the availability of waste stations.

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the assessment of sustainability culture is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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