Results are in on a survey of faculty, staff and student opinions on sustainability.
The survey aimed to assess the awareness, participation and attitudes of the Iowa State community towards sustainability initiatives on campus.
The first survey of faculty and staff, allocated to 1,757 faculty and 5,147 staff, had response rates of 14% and 17%.
It found that two-thirds of the respondents were aware of current initiatives at Iowa State, including the Office of Sustainability and Live Green! However, participation rates are below 25%.
“There is a whole range of initiatives that some people may not even realize are sustainability initiatives,” Kristine Micheletti, a graduate student, said. “Like recycling, water bottle refilling stations, just because those things have become so normal for the daily lives of most of us.”
A portion of the survey dove into why sustainability efforts were lower within the faculty and staff section. The findings found that most sustainable efforts were marketed towards students.
“I found that most faculty felt as though events for sustainability were marketed towards students, or they felt like it was a campus-life issue, and that campus-life did not apply to faculty and staff,” Micheletti said.
The faculty and staff showed considerable concern for the environment and strong backing for the university’s sustainability initiatives. Nearly 85% of the participants agreed that Iowa State should take a lead role in sustainability.
“I feel like the lack of awareness, of the sustainability efforts, is a symptom of Iowa State not putting as much effort into it as they could,” Gordon Arbuckle, professor of sociology and criminal justice, said.
Based on the survey, faculty and staff recommended new and more effective initiative programs. Respondents offered many suggestions, including expanding transportation options, improving recycling and waste management, encouraging energy conservation and providing more suitable dining choices.
They stressed the importance of the university being innovative and committed to sustainability.
A survey was also conducted on students, the portion being a research project that had focus groups, as well as the student body survey, to understand students’ views on how efficiently the curriculum and extracurricular activities are equipping them to tackle the social, economic and environmental sustainability challenges facing society.
Between Oct. and Dec. 2021, 21 students from various colleges took part in focus group discussions, and 1,206 juniors and seniors participated in a web-based survey conducted in April and May 2022.
“Similarly to the factual and staff survey, the student survey showed that they care a lot about sustainability and have high levels of concern about the environment and in particular climate change,” Arbuckle said.
Compared to the faculty and staff survey, the student perspective survey focused on different questions based on sustainability.
“One thing that was different about the student survey is that we focused on employment, sustainability training, skills and knowledge,” Arbuckle said. “And from that, 80% agreed that we should learn more about sustainability regardless of their study.”
The survey showed that Iowa State students want to learn more about sustainability related skills and knowledge to be able to implement them.
“From all the focus groups of all colleges, all of them agreed that they are graduating into a world with really major concerns with environmental challenges and they wanted to feel equipped to face those challenges,” Arbuckle said.
From the survey, students want more from the university to prioritize integrating sustainability into coursework and extracurricular activities. Participants in the survey and focus groups offered numerous suggestions for how ISU can weave sustainability learning more deeply into the student experience.
“Students feel like their education at Iowa State has been empowering, and helped them have really important skills and knowledge,” Arbuckle said. “They just wish there was more of a focus on sustainability.”
The full report can be found on the Consortium for Cultivating Human And Naturally reGenerative Enterprises’ website.
