The Sustainability Literacy Survey is intended to be the benchmark in a series of annual surveys of incoming freshman, to be supplemented with periodic assessments of graduating seniors. The survey has been given to all incoming freshmen at the start of the 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2020 fall quarters. The post-test has been given to all graduating seniors in May 2017, Fall 2018, and Spring 2020.
The survey is sent out by Academic Affairs and administered by two Faculty members from SU’s Albers School of Business and Economics.
Survey questions can be viewed here; Sustainability Literacy Survey Questions(NOTE: Qualtrics, by default, numbers the questions in the order they are produced. Those are not the numbers that appear to the respondent.)
| *** | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2019* | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Climate Change | 3.36 | 3.73 | 3.99 | 3.98 | 4.14 | 4.42 | 4.09 |
| Energy | 2.77 | 3.41 | 3.36 | 3.30 | 3.44 | 3.52 | 3.43 |
| Planetary Assets | 3.34 | 3.80 | 3.89 | 3.90 | 4.08 | 4.01 | 3.96 |
| Systems | 2.26 | 4.24 | 4.35 | 4.32 | 4.49 | 4.41 | 4.44 |
| Environmental Justice | 3.01 | 4.02 | 4.10 | 4.09 | 3.60 | 4.32 | 2.55 |
| Business | 2.19 | 3.93 | 3.98 | 3.95 | 3.95 | 4.04 | 4.00 |
| Definitions | 4.39 | 3.41 | 3.39 | 3.36 | 3.39 | 3.16 | 3.11 |
| Attitudes | 2.17 | 3.71 | 3.85 | 3.84 | 4.02 | 4.94 | 3.80 |
| Behaviors | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 2.73 | 3.45 |
| I know enough about sustainability | N/A | N/A | N/A | 2.22 | 3.17 | 3.46 | 3.20 |
| SU's sustainability practices contributed to my decision to enroll here | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 15% very much 43% somewhat 42% not at all |
N/A | N/A |
| Willingness to support $1/credit fee for sustainability support | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 47% yes 47% maybe |
N/A | N/A |
| Importance of SU commitment to sustainability | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 3.06 | 2.90 |
| Importance of SU carbon neutrality | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 3.89 | 4.01 |
| Importance of fossil fuels divestment | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 59.4% yes 5.9% no 34.7% no understanding |
45% yes 23% no 32% no understanding |
| Would donate to offset | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 39% yes 55% maybe 6% no |
***Means are for 1-5 scales; higher numbers indicate more sustainability literacy.
*No survey conducted for 2018 Freshmen
| *** | 2017/18* | 2020** |
|---|---|---|
| Climate Change | 4.13 | 4.21 |
| Energy | 3.44 | 2.82 |
| Planetary Assets | 4.06 | 3.38 |
| Systems | 4.47 | 4.62 |
| Environmental Justice | 4.41 | 4.53 |
| Business | 4.20 | 4.13 |
| Definitions | 3.54 | 3.56 |
| Attitudes | 4.00 | 3.96 |
| Behaviors | 2.76 | 3.46 |
| I know enough about sustainability | N/A | 3.34 |
| Importance of SU commitment to sustainability | N/A | 3.09 |
| Importance of SU carbon neutrality | N/A | 4.22 |
| Importance of fossil fuels divestment | N/A | 80% yes 10% no 10% no understanding |
*The same survey was inadvertently distributed twice, to 2017 graduating seniors in the Spring and to 2018 graduating seniors in the Fall.
**No survey of grads was conducted in 2019.
***Means are for 1-5 scales; higher numbers indicate more sustainability literacy.