The 2025 edition of the Sustainability in the Curriculum at Iowa State was published Nov. 9 by J. Gordon Arbuckle, a professor in the department of sociology and criminal justice at Iowa State University.
The third and final edition of this report looks at general perspectives regarding how universities should approach sustainability issues and ways that sustainability should be incorporated into the curriculum.
Arbuckle shared the reason for conducting this research, citing an increased emphasis on sustainability around the world.
“It is increasingly recognized that universities need to do a better job of incorporating sustainability into the curriculum and extra-curricular activities to give students the knowledge and skills they need to address sustainability challenges both in the workplace and as engaged citizens,” Arbuckle said.
Expressing whether the purpose of this report was achieved, Arbuckle responded in the affirmative.
“The goal of the study was simply to understand the perspectives among students and faculty, and to compare their opinions about how well ISU is meeting their expectations in terms of prioritizing sustainability. Yes, we think we achieved that goal,” Arbuckle said.
The report finds that both faculty and students are currently dissatisfied with the overall efforts made regarding sustainability, while also expressing a passion for more sustainable solutions across campus, as well as in education.
Arbuckle shared these overall findings, highlighting the general call for more effort.
“It was interesting to see how close students and faculty were in terms of sustainability attitudes,” Arbuckle said. “Huge majorities of both groups are concerned about environmental issues and would like ISU to be more of a leader in terms of sustainability.”
Arbuckle also said one factor of the report surprised even him. Namely, the overwhelming opinion that sustainability should be taught more, paired with the fact that faculty hold the power to control their syllabi.
“That’s a big take-home of the report, actually,” Arbuckle said. “The research shows that both students and faculty support much greater emphasis on sustainability, so faculty have an awesome opportunity to respond to student demand by doing something about it.”
On a more solemn note, Arbuckle said one of the report’s key factors highlights the potential that students and faculty believe ISU has to become more sustainable.
“Also a little surprising in a sad way was how few students and faculty see ISU as a leader in sustainability,” Arbuckle said. “But the hopeful part was that most respondents from both groups really support change and movement toward better integration of sustainability into the educational experience for students. They really feel like sustainability knowledge and skills are important, and want to see more of it.”
In the future, Arbuckle expressed interest in revisiting the topic.
“We don’t have any immediate plans for next steps, but I would like to repeat all three of these studies in the future, to track change in perspectives over time. Maybe in 2027, which will be five years after the student survey,” Arbuckle said.
Arbuckle suggested that everyone should review the report, as well as advising faculty and administrators to make an effort to deliver on the findings.
“The major recommendation that the study results pointed to is for ISU faculty and administrators to respond to student demand for greater emphasis on sustainability in the curriculum and beyond,” Arbuckle said. “All of us — students, faculty and staff — were very closely aligned with strong majorities wanting to see ISU be more of a leader in sustainability, so let’s make it happen.”
Casey Thomas, a junior in animal science, shared his perspective on sustainability around campus, as well as suggestions for what could be improved.
“A big thing about sustainability in general is always working to try to better things and always trying to fit in new tactics,” Thomas said.
Thomas also said sustainability needs to be taught more, further solidifying the report’s findings.
“I think just trying to have students notice and think about ways that could make campus more sustainable and just raising awareness would really help give a push to sustainability and let people know what students on campus want,” Thomas said.
