The NSSE Sustainability Education Consortium: A First Year Report William M. Throop, Provost Green Mountain College

The Aims of the NSSE Sustainability Education Consortium To acquire a cross institution data set on students’ engagement with aspects of sustainability throughout their educations. To enable member institutions to assess their strengths and weaknesses with respect to sustainability education compared to peers. To provide one source of assessment data for AASHE’s education initiative.

2011 SEC Members California State University, Monterey Bay College of the Atlantic Green Mountain College Luther College Prescott College St. Olaf College Unity College Washington and Lee University

My Questions Overall, how strong is sustainability education at member institutions ? How should member institutions strive to deepen student engagement with sustainability? What are the relative strengths and weaknesses of Green Mountain College’s approach to sustainability education? How can the survey instrument be improved and used more fruitfully?

Green Mountain College: An Overview 720 students (90 graduate students) 177 years old; 16 years with an environmental liberal arts mission 37 credit general education curriculum organized around sustainability A college-wide initiative to use STARS and other surveys to strengthen institutional sustainability

First Year StudentsSeniors GMC N=44 SustainEC N=1413 GMC N=60 SustainEC N=1456 Response options%% 1aCompleted an assignment that evaluates the sustainability of some activity. Never5%19%17%22% Sometimes18%37%25%35% Often46%28%25%26% Very often31%15%33%17% 1bAnalyzed the economic and/or social dimensions of an issue. Never2%8%10%6% Sometimes18%34%17%30% Often44%38%37%34% Very often35%21%36%30% 1cIntegrated knowledge from multiple academic disciplines in working on a project. Never2%7%8%3% Sometimes20%32%19%21% Often46%40%37%41% Very often32%21%36%35% 1dCompleted an assignment that evaluates our responsibilities to future generations. Never3%20%16%17% Sometimes21%36%29%34% Often38%28%30%28% Very often38%16%25%21%

First year students SeniorsFirst Year Students Seniors GMCSustainECGMCSustainEC During the school year, how much has your coursework emphasized the following? Response options %%& 2aUnderstanding the complex relationships between economic, social, and ecological systems Very little5%13%17%14% Some8%34%23%29% Quite a bit34% 33%29% Very much53%19%27%28% 2bEvaluating the moral dimensions of social and/or environmental problems Very little3%12%8%10% Some11%29%21%28% Quite a bit32%38%40%34% Very much55%21%30%29% 2cComprehending ways in which human activities may exceed the carrying capacity of systems that support us Very little0%20%12%18% Some8%32%21%30% Quite a bit40%29%33%26% Very much52%19%34%26%

First year studentsSeniors GMCSustainECGMCSustainEC During the current school year, about how often have you done each of the following? Response options %% 3aParticipated in a campus or community sustainability project. Never13%38%17%41% Sometimes53%40%33%35% Often20%15%22%15% Very often14%7%27%9% 3bAltered your behavior to become more sustainable. Never0%13%5%13% Sometimes32%40%32%36% Often36%32%37%32% Very often32%15%26%19% 3cWent on a field trip in your bioregion.Never9%59%32%52% Sometimes16%23%26%22% Often33%10%16%13% Very often42%8%25%13%

First year studentsSeniors GMCSustainECGMCSustainEC About how many hours do you spend in a typical 7-day week during each of the following? Response options%% 4aParticipating in service that enhances campus or community life. 0 hours/week20%39%24%32% 1-545%46%37%45% %10%26%14% %3% 4% %1%10%3% % 1% % More than 300% 1% 4bLeading or facilitating any group activities. 0 hours/week44%63%27%38% 1-544%30%50%42% 6-103%4%8%11% %1%9%4% %1%4%2% % 2%1% % More than 300% 1%

First Year studentsSeniors GMCSustainECGMCSustainEC About how many hours do you spend in a typical 7-day week during each of the following? Response options %% 4cEngaging in activities that reduce your environmental impact. 0 hours/week28%44%22%36% 1-550%46%52%48% 6-108%6%18%10% %2% 3% %1%0%1% %1%2%0% % More than 302%0%5%2%

First Year StudentsSeniors GMCSustainECGMCSustainEC To what extent does your institution emphasize each of the following? Response options %% 5aTaking responsibility for the welfare of your communities Very little6%10%9%8% Some22%25%23%27% Quite a bit35%37%24%37% Very much37%28%43%28% 5bLearning about sustainability.Very little0%9%3%9% Some7%23%5%23% Quite a bit26%34%23%36% Very much67%34%68%33% 5cUnderstanding local economies and/or ecosystems Very little3%12%11%13% Some18%32%10%33% Quite a bit28%32%30%32% Very much51%23%49%23%

First year studentsSeniors GMCSustainECGMCSustainEC To what extent has your experience at this institution contributed to your knowledge, skills, and personal development in the following areas? Response options%% 6aArticulating a vision of a just and sustainable society. Very little7%10%7%11% Some21%36%18%31% Quite a bit36%35%34%35% Very much36%19%41%23% 6bAcquiring skills to work for social change.Very little9%10%7%11% Some23%35%25%30% Quite a bit28%35%32%34% Very much40%20%36%26% 6cUnderstanding the consequences of your choices. Very little2%6%4%6% Some21%27%18%24% Quite a bit42%39% 40% Very much36%27%40%30%

First year studentsSeniors GMCSustainECGMCSustainEC To what extent has your experience at this institution contributed to your knowledge, skills, and personal development in the following areas? Response options %% 6dUnderstanding complex systems Very little4%9%12%8% Some24%33%24%25% Quite a bit46%38%26%38% Very much26%20%37%28%

Consortium strengths Overall, consortium institutions had a high percentage of students (>50%) indicating significant engagement with sustainability. The highest scores were on –Integrating knowledge from multiple disciplines (76% of seniors) –Understanding the consequences of one’s actions (70% of seniors) –Institutional emphasis on learning about sustainability (69% of seniors)

Overall weaknesses Although the emphasis on learning about sustainability is high (5b: 68%/69%), participation in sustainability projects is low (3a: 22%/24%). Although the emphasis on understanding of local economies and/or ecosystems is fairly high (5c: 55%/55%) but participation on field trips in the bioregion is low (3c: 18%/26%) Relatively few students actively participated in service (84%/77% <6 hours/week), although 56%/65% indicated that the institution emphasized taking responsibility for the welfare of one’s community.

Engagement Over Time Across the curriculum there is little increase in sustainability engagement from first year to senior year except for the items related to interdisciplinary treatments of issues (1c, 2a, 6d). Green Mountain College students showed significant decline between first year and senior year on multiple items (1d, 2a, 2b, 2c, 3c).

Individual and Community Students seemed more likely to focus on their own behavior than to engage in group sustainability-related activities. 87%/87% at least sometimes altered behavior to be more sustainable, but 62%/59% sometimes participated in a sustainability project. 90%/89% said they acquired at least some skills to work for social change, but 39%/32% spent no hours/week enhancing community life.

Green Mountain College scores As a result of GMC’s sustainability themed gen. ed. program, the means for GMC frosh are significantly above the SEC means on 18 of 20 items. The GMC means for seniors are significantly above SEC means on 7 items, with the largest effect sizes associated with participating in a sustainability project and institutional emphasis on learning about sustainability. GMC students’ scores were lowest on perceived development of skills to work for social change and on the understanding of complex systems.

Possible implications for GMC GMC needs to expand skill building related to sustainability throughout the four years. GMC needs to translate students’ sustainability vision into the perceived ability to solve real world problems. GMC needs to place greater emphasis on social and economic dimensions of sustainability.

Implications for the consortium Schools could improve the cultivation of skills through more experiential learning. The institutions seem to strongly emphasize learning about sustainability, but they should do more to ensure every student can articulate a vision of a just and sustainable society. Consortium members should engage students more in service and group activities in the first year.

Limitations to the survey The questions do not help us determine whether some dimensions of sustainability need more attention (e.g. social and economic dimensions). The questions related to time spent on activities are not very informative. The survey emphasizes learning activities over perceived skills.

Next steps Revise the survey – possible new questions : –Made significant contributions in a group project. –Acquiring skills to lead or facilitate productive group activities. –Understanding of the economic dimensions of sustainability. –Acquiring the skills to help organizations become more sustainable. –Understanding issues of social justice –Persevering in achieving long-term goals despite adversity. Enlarge the consortium Compare GMC’s survey results with its gen. ed. outcomes assessment to test validity.