Sustainability survey to assess student perspectives
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Purpose – The purpose of this study was to assess environmental concern at a Midwest university, determine the effect of the development of a campus sustainability office, and to make recommendations to the university administration regarding sustainability efforts on campus. Design/methodology/approach – A multi-question survey was administered through peer-to-peer recruitment from an undergraduate environmental science class each fall from 2010-2017. This exercise was originally developed to provide practice in the scientific method. SPSS version 25 was used to test hypotheses about the environmental concern of our incoming students and the change of perspective of our students through academic classes (freshman through senior). A qualitative assessment was used to analyze an open response question about awareness of sustainability efforts around campus. Findings – Over eight years, incoming freshmen have expressed more concern that humans are harming the environment, that global warming is real, and that humans are causing global warming. Students also express greater concern as they progress through college, in line with the general public also express these concerns - approximately 82% somewhat or extremely concerned that humans are permanently harming the environment and 68% somewhat or extremely concerned that global warming is happening. Research limitations/implications – The first year of the survey (2010) and the year that the lead PI was on sabbatical (2014) saw reduced response rates (~1-3% of the student population) compared to 6-9% of the student population in other years. Practical implications - Responses to all of the questions in the survey provides guidance for university administrations and sustainability offices about the concerns of the campus community, awareness about campus efforts, and support for sustainability activities on campus. Originality/value – Few studies have been published on an in-depth view of sustainability understanding on university campuses. These data provide a broad overview of sustainability concern, perceived government action, and empowerment to action over an eight-year period. This approach is recommended as a technique to teach the scientific method in introductory classes and as a means to collect data about sustainability efforts on campus that can motivate administrators to adopt more sustainable practices on college campuses.
