Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 66.57
Liaison Rebecca Collins
Submission Date Dec. 14, 2023

STARS v2.2

Temple University
EN-6: Assessing Sustainability Culture

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 1.00 Rebecca Collins
Director of Sustainability
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:
The 2022 Temple University Transportation and Sustainability Culture Survey was launched to students using Qualtrics on March 16, 2022. Questions relating to students, faculty, and staff perceptions, beliefs, dispositions, and behaviors related to sustainability, as well as awareness of campus sustainability initiatives were included in the survey.

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://sustainability.temple.edu/sites/sustainability/files/2022TransportationSustainabilityCultureSurveyReport_TU_FINAL.pdf

A brief description of how representative samples were reached (if applicable) and how the cultural assessment is administered:
All faculty, staff, and graduate students received the survey. 60% of undergraduates received the survey.

A brief summary of results from the cultural assessment:
When asked to rank things the University could do, students, faculty and staff all ranked “more resources and budget dedicated to sustainability and energy efficiency” as the top priority. Students faculty and staff ranked “improved facilities and equipment” as their second top priority. Students ranked “better education and communications internally” as third top whereas faculty and staff ranked changes to transportation policies and practices as third top priority.
When asked values in relation to the environment, only 7% of students, 11% of faculty and 5% of staff classified themselves as environmentally environmental activists. Thirty-two percent of students said they are an advocate for the environment whereas 53% of faculty said they were advocates and 42% of staff. The majority of students classified themselves as environmentally concerned (51%).
When asked directly about climate change, 28% of students, 40% of faculty and 26% of staff reported that they it was extremely important to them personally. Thirty-nine percent of students, 41% of faculty and 39% said that climate change was very important to them personally.
The majority of students (62%), faculty (70%), and staff (64%) reported that they thought Temple had a responsibility to be a leader in sustainability and environmental issues. When asked about how they might vote, 79% of students reported that they would consider a candidate’s stance on environmental issues as being important to consider.

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:
The 2022 Transportation and Sustainability Culture Survey Report direct link is:
https://sustainability.temple.edu/sites/sustainability/files/2022TransportationSustainabilityCultureSurveyReport_TU_FINAL.pdf

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.