ISF and Campus Sustainability Working Group to Conduct Student Survey

West Lafayette – March 31, 2025

In summer 2024, ISF initiated the formation of a Campus Sustainability Working Group (SWG) to study recent and current sustainability practices and initiatives on campus and identify ways to enhance and improve efforts across campus and further position Purdue as a leader in sustainability among its peers in the Big Ten Academic Alliance and beyond.

Part of the work of this group is to conduct two surveys to gain insight into sustainability knowledge, behavior and campus culture. Many universities regularly conduct such surveys, including schools such as Indiana University, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Iowa State University.  

 The first of these two surveys, focusing on undergraduates, will be conducted at Purdue from April 10th-20th, 2025. The request to participate will be sent to all undergraduates through email coming from the Institutional Data Analytics + Assessment team, located within the Office of the Provost.

This “Student Sustainability Literacy and Culture Assessment,” IRB Protocol Number: IRB-2025-102, has been developed to help the working group achieve the following goals:

1. Identify strengths and gaps in students’ understanding of sustainability concepts.
2. Evaluate how students' sustainability knowledge evolves throughout their undergraduate careers at Purdue.
3. Inform the development of academic opportunities for students in sustainability education.
4. Create targeted strategies to offer students opportunities to participate in campus sustainability initiatives.
5. Inform current sustainability efforts across campus.

This is the first time a survey of this kind is being conducted at Purdue. The questions are based on models from peer institutions, insights from academic literature, and interviews with campus offices such as transportation, procurement, and dining services. This survey is one of the criteria included in the AASHE STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System), a framework Purdue uses to benchmark sustainability performance. Analysis of the survey will be conducted in summer 2025 and a report will be made available.

A second survey for faculty, staff and graduate students, is scheduled for late September.

If you or your students have any questions about this survey, they can reach out to Dr. Valentina Negri,  ISF Research Scientist, at vnegri@purdue.edu.