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Office of Sustainability Practices

Student Outcomes

Assessment of Student Outcomes

Outcome Sust-A Sustainability Literacy

Sustainability Literacy includes knowledge, skills and mindsets that allow students to become deeply committed to building a sustainable future and assisting in making informed and effective decisions.
Objective 1 Students will apply sustainability best practices to their everyday lives.

Measure 1

2021 Status
Achieved
The Office of Sustainability Practices implemented a sustainability literacy survey in Fall 2020 and submitted an updated AASHE STARS report in Winter 2021. The survey found that students were most aware of very visible sustainability efforts on campus (ie. green roofs, the bus system). About 45% of students were aware of the office and scored highly in terms of sustainability literacy; however, this is a small sample and hopefully the survey can be expanded in the future. GVSU's score on the AASHE STARS report increased from 70.79 in 2019 to 74.94 in 2021. As a result, GVSU was recognized as a top performer in the Sustainable Campus Index, ranking second among masters institutions.

2020 Status
Not Yet Achieved
We continue to measure best practices and sustainability culture to the best of our ability. We complete the AASHE STARS report and a sustainability literacy survey every other year. We also continue to monitor participation in sustainability-related events, implement transportation surveys, monitor enrollment in sustainability-related courses, track sustainability-related student organizations, etc.

2019 Status
Not Yet Achieved
We implemented a sustainability survey in 2018 and used to results to inform our 2019 AASHE STARS submission (https://reports.aashe.org/institutions/grand-valley-state-university-mi/report/2019-03-01/EN/campus-engagement/EN-6/).

2018 Status
Not Yet Achieved
GVSU has been assessing its sustainability culture through other assessments (class, transportation, etc), but as sustainability has grown, we've decided to pilot a strictly sustainability assessment to look at both sustainability literacy and sustainability culture. This survey was designed and implemented in 2018. A representative sample was selected by our institutional analysis team and they were invited to participate via email. The actual assessment was administered using Qualmetrics.

2017 Status
Not Yet Achieved
AASHE STARS was submitted in March 2017 and GVSU received an increased score of 69.45. GVSU showed improvement in waste minimization, indicating that best practices are being utilized by students, faculty, and staff. The number of sustainability-related courses also increased.

Outcome Sust-B Sustainability Resources

Students will be connected to useful resources and information in order to engage in sustainability education and opportunities during their time at GVSU.
Objective 2 Students will receive information and support on ways to engage in sustainability through tabling at undergraduate and graduate student orientation, brochures, a website and social media, and events or guest lectures.

Measure 1

2021 Status
Achieved
The Office of Sustainability Practices continued to attend orientations, maintain a social media presence, and host a variety of events to engage students in its work. This year, it also worked to find creative ways to engage students in more outdoor and remote learning opportunities as a result of the pandemic. Many of its events took place at the Sustainable Agriculture Project which allowed for social distancing. One silver lining of the situation is that staff from the office were able to participate in more conferences than usual and had the opportunity to give more presentations to raise awareness about sustainability and the work of the office.

2020 Status
Not Yet Achieved
The Office of Sustainability Practices continued to attend orientations, maintain social media presence, and update materials as we've done in the past. This year, we expanded our sustainability ambassador program and explored new activities to engage students who might not self-select sustainability programs and opportunities. We tried a variety of events including a succulent planting event with Student Senate, a film series, and a 3x3 basketball tournament.

2019 Status
Not Yet Achieved
The Office of Sustainability Practices has been attending all incoming undergraduate and graduate student orientations. In 2017, we designed a new brochure and put additional efforts into our social media outreach. In 2018, we began hiring student "Sustainability Ambassadors" to provide peer-to-peer education. In 2019, we expanded our "Sustainability As A Lifestyle" course offering from 1 course per year to 3 courses per year. Additionally, we created a Sustainability Library and Recharge Room to encourage students to visit and engage with our office.

2018 Status
Not Yet Achieved
The Office of Sustainability Practices has been attending all incoming undergraduate and graduate orientations. Additionally, we began hiring student "Sustainability Ambassadors" to provide peer-to-peer education on behalf of our office. They table and provide information about sustainability and opportunities throughout the school year.

2017 Status
Achieved
The Office of Sustainability Practices has been attending all incoming undergraduate and graduate orientations and created a new "Explore Sustainability" brochure aimed at introducing new students to all of the sustainability-related options at GVSU. The 1-credit class "Sustainability as a Lifestyle" is also being taught and has 30 students enrolled.