Faculty, Staff, and Student Perspectives on Sustainability
Sustainability at Iowa State University: Faculty and Staff Perspectives
This report presents the findings of a 2024 survey conducted to assess the awareness, participation, and attitudes of Iowa State faculty and staff towards sustainability initiatives on campus. The survey, distributed to 1,757 faculty and 5,147 staff, had response rates of 14% and 17%, respectively.
Key Findings
- Awareness and Participation: About two-thirds of respondents were aware of the ISU Office of Sustainability and its Live Green! initiative. However, awareness of other sustainability resources and events was generally lower, with participation rates below 25%. Notable exceptions included high usage of recycling bins, water bottle refilling stations, and solar-powered compactors.
- Sustainability Attitudes: Both faculty and staff expressed high concern for the environment and strong support for ISU's sustainability efforts, with nearly 85% agreeing that ISU should be a leader in sustainability.
Suggestions for Improvement: Respondents provided many suggestions for improving sustainability at ISU, including increasing transportation options, enhancing recycling and waste management, promoting energy conservation, and offering more sustainable dining options. They emphasized the need for ISU to be innovative and committed to sustainability.
Overall, the project found that ISU faculty and staff express high levels of environmental concern and believe that the university should place more emphasis on sustainability initiatives and leadership.
Student Perspectives on Sustainability at Iowa State University
This research project employed focus groups and a student body survey to understand Iowa State University (ISU) students' perspectives on how well the curriculum and extracurricular activities are preparing them to address the various social, economic and ecological sustainability challenges that society faces. Our data showed that ISU students value sustainability education highly and would like the university to place more emphasis on integrating sustainability into coursework and extracurricular activities. Survey and focus group participants suggested many ways that ISU could incorporate sustainability learning into the ISU experience to better prepare students with the sustainability knowledge and skills needed to face present and future sustainability challenges.
Twenty-one students from multiple colleges participated in focus group discussions between October 2021 and December 2021, and 1,206 students responded to a web-based survey of juniors and seniors conducted between April 18 and May 16, 2022. Our sample represents all colleges offering undergraduate degree programs at Iowa State University.