Introduction

Administered at the end of 2023, the Amherst Campus Sustainability Survey was designed to gauge campus attitudes, behaviors, and knowledge relating to the integrated concept of sustainability. A total of 888 campus members completed the survey, including 371 students (19.5% response rate) and 517 staff members (46.1% response rate).

Insights from this survey will contribute to the development of future sustainability programming on campus. A subset of these results will also be included in the college’s AASHE STARS report and are indicated as such below. Questions marked (SAA) indicate prompts to “select all that apply.”

Report Contents

  • Respondent Demographics
  • Campus Culture & Engagement Assessment
  • Transportation Assessment
  • Sustainability Literacy Assessment

Survey Sample

Culture & Engagement

EN 1.2 Percentage of campus stakeholders reached through sustainability outreach and communications (STARS)

## [1] 0.8023392

80% selected at least one of the following:

  • Office of Sustainability Newsletter
  • Social Media (Instagram / LinkedIn)
  • Flyers / Posters
  • Daily Mammoth
  • EcoRep

EN 2.3 Percentage of students that participate in sustainability activities (STARS)

84.3% of students have participated in at least one of the following:

  • Move-In Yard Sale
  • Free Clothing Giveaway
  • Bike Share Program
  • Tread Shed Bike Repair
  • Earth Week Events

EN 3.3 Percentage of employees that participate in sustainability activities (STARS)

34.7% of staff have participated in at least one of the following:

  • Move-In Yard Sale
  • Free Clothing Giveaway
  • Green Office Program
  • Tread Shed Bike Repair
  • Bike Share Program
  • Earth Week Events

EN 4.2 Percentage of students assessed for sustainability culture (STARS)

## [1] 0.195

EN 4.3 Percentage of employees assessed for sustainability culture (STARS)

## [1] 0.461

EN 5.1 Percentage of students that participate in civic engagement programs (STARS)

54% of students perform at least one of the following:

  • Community service (refers to uncompensated work performed for the benefit and betterment of a community)
  • Other civic engagement programs on campus (e.g., AC Votes, Reproductive Justice Alliance, Environmental Justice Alliance)

To what extent do you believe that each of the following will negatively impact your generation’s quality of life?

Please indicate the degree to which you agree with the following statements:

In your opinion, how important is it that Amherst engage in the following:

Transportation

On-campus residents:

Off-campus residents:

Methodology (Calculating Scope 3 Emissions from Commuting)

  1. Calculate total distance traveled per vehicle type
  • sum across all employees to determine total distance traveled per vehicle type:
  • for each vehicle type: ∑ [ (daily one-way distance between home and work (miles) × 2) × (# of commuting days per week) x (# of weeks per year) ]
  1. Calculate total fuel (gallons of gasoline) consumed
  • sum across vehicle types (cars, carpool) to determine total fuel consumed
  • for each fossil fuel vehicle type: ∑ [ total distance traveled (miles) / fuel efficiency of vehicle (mpg)) ]
  1. Calculate emissions (CO2) from fuel use
  • divide total fuel consumed by emission factor for the fuel
  • [ total gasoline consumed (gals) * emission factor for the fuel (kg CO2 e/gal) ]

OP 6.1 - GHG Emissions from Commuting (MT CO2 Emitted)

Total CO2 Emitted = 615.75 MT

OP 14.1 - % Using Sustainable Transportation Options

## [1] 0.1932059
## [1] 0.9892183
  • Percent of employees using more sustainable transportation options = 19.7%
  • Percent of students using more sustainable transportation options = 98.9%

Literacy Assessment